We audited 629 small business websites: 64% show no price
Key findings
- Shows a price (a visible amount) : 39 % of sites in France, 34 % in the US.
- A clear main call to action : 99 % of sites in France, 99 % in the US.
- Reviews or proof visible : 51 % of sites in France, 54 % in the US.
- A path to a quote, booking or contact : 86 % of sites in France, 85 % in the US.
- Direct contact (phone, email, WhatsApp) : 80 % of sites in France, 90 % in the US.
- A Google description filled in : 85 % of sites in France, 83 % in the US.
Results by industry : France
| Industry (sites read) | Shows a price (a visible amount) | A clear main call to action | Reviews or proof visible | A path to a quote, booking or contact | Direct contact (phone, email, WhatsApp) | A Google description filled in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing agencies (37) | 16 % | 100 % | 43 % | 86 % | 86 % | 84 % |
| Trades and contractors (77) | 26 % | 99 % | 42 % | 92 % | 92 % | 75 % |
| Real estate, insurance, driving schools (68) | 54 % | 100 % | 51 % | 90 % | 75 % | 85 % |
| Software startups (Y Combinator) (61) | 52 % | 98 % | 67 % | 72 % | 67 % | 98 % |
Results by industry : United States
| Industry (sites read) | Shows a price (a visible amount) | A clear main call to action | Reviews or proof visible | A path to a quote, booking or contact | Direct contact (phone, email, WhatsApp) | A Google description filled in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing agencies (68) | 26 % | 99 % | 68 % | 82 % | 79 % | 88 % |
| Trades and contractors (87) | 29 % | 100 % | 53 % | 94 % | 95 % | 84 % |
| Dentists and clinics (82) | 23 % | 98 % | 29 % | 85 % | 95 % | 78 % |
| Real estate, insurance, driving schools (79) | 34 % | 97 % | 58 % | 87 % | 95 % | 73 % |
| Software startups (Y Combinator) (70) | 59 % | 100 % | 66 % | 74 % | 81 % | 93 % |
Method
Sample: websites drawn at random (fixed seed, no filtering) among businesses that list a website in OpenStreetMap, in twelve large cities per country, for four industries; and among active companies in the public Y Combinator list for software. 629 sites measured and published out of 803 drawn (unreachable or unreadable sites, and industries that were too small, set aside).
Measurement: price is measured directly, by looking for an amount in euros or dollars on the homepage and, if there is one, on the linked pricing page (amounts in legal notices, such as share capital, are excluded). The five other checks come from the Brift.ai reader (homepage and main linked pages), applied automatically and identically to every site. Industries with fewer than 30 sites read are not published. No request was sent to any business.
Limits: a price shown as an image or loaded only with JavaScript is not seen, so price figures are a floor; samples per industry are modest; OpenStreetMap covers businesses unevenly. The figures describe the sample, not every small business.
List sources: © contributors OpenStreetMap (ODbL) ; yc-oss. Aggregated results published under CC BY 4.0: cite “Brift.ai, 2026 study” with a link to this page.