Home › Guides › What Are the Best Directories and Associations for Fence Companies? Google, AFA, Yelp, BBB and More Compared

What Are the Best Directories and Associations for Fence Companies?

By Ansh Singh · Updated November 8, 2026 · 9 min read

Short answer: For a fence company, start with a free Google Business Profile, then add the free listings your customers use, such as Apple Business, Yelp and Facebook. The American Fence Association is a trade body with a contractor locator, and contractor dues start at $350 a year. BBB, Nextdoor and Angi do not state their costs on the pages we opened.

Everything below comes from each organization's own pages, opened in November 2026. We build websites for fence companies, so we have a view on your own site as a listing source. We say so here once, and you can weigh it.

What is a business directory, and what is a trade association listing?

A business directory is a website or app that lists local companies with a name, address, phone number, hours and reviews. A trade association listing is different. It is an entry in a locator run by an industry group, and it usually comes with dues.

For a fence company, the two do different jobs. A homeowner with a gate that will not latch searches on a phone and picks from a map list. A property manager or a builder looking for a commercial fence installer may check an industry locator first. Where you show up decides who gets the call.

How we compared them

We used five plain criteria:

1. Cost. What the organization's own pages say a basic listing or membership costs.
2. What you control. Hours, photos, service area, replies to reviews.
3. Paid options. What it sells on top of the basic listing.
4. Fence fit. Whether the page speaks to fence, gate or perimeter work, or only to local business in general.
5. Effort. Roughly what it takes to claim and keep it current.

We do not rank the options and we give no scores. We did not test any of them. Where a page does not state a fact, the table says "not stated".

How do the nine options compare?

Checked November 2026.

Bing Places is not in the table. Its page did not load for us in a form we could read, and we do not fill gaps from memory. Our hub guide on Bing Places for contractors covers it.

Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is the listing beside your business in Google Search and Maps. Google says creating a Business Profile and listing your business is free. The page says you can share hours and contact details, add photos, reply to reviews, and define your service areas and specialties, even if you have no storefront.

That last point suits most fence installers, who work out of a yard or a home office and drive to the job. Our guide on fence company Google Business Profile walks through the setup.

Google also states that local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity, and that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. So nobody can sell you a place at the top of Google's local results. Reviews count toward prominence, which is why we wrote about how many Google reviews a fence company needs.

American Fence Association

The American Fence Association (AFA) is the trade body for the fence industry. Its contractor membership page says dues depend on your previous year's company sales:

The page says dues include a chapter membership and a special interest group membership, access to online communities, the member directory and the member resource library, and member pricing on AFA training schools, FENCETECH, AFAU Online and chapter events. It says benefits extend to employees, including at branch locations (AFA: Contractor Membership).

AFA also runs a contractor locator for fence, gate and perimeter security contractors, where users filter by project type, product type and credentials. The page states that AFA does not endorse or guarantee any listed company. It does not say how a contractor gets listed or whether listing costs extra, so we leave that as "not stated" (AFA: Find a Contractor). Ask AFA before you pay.

A membership is a business expense more than a listing. Think about whether you want the training, chapter meetings and peers, with the locator as a bonus.

Apple Business

Apple's page says a business can claim its location on Apple Maps so customers can find and connect with it, and can control its logo, hours, images and key details. The page does not say whether the Maps listing is free (Apple Business). Claim it so your hours and phone number are right for customers on iPhones.

Yelp

Yelp says it is free to be on Yelp and offers a "Claim your free page" option. It lists Yelp Ads, Page Upgrades and Request a Quote among its paid products, with no dollar amounts. A fence company that already has Yelp reviews should claim the page and reply to them, which costs nothing.

Facebook

Meta says setting up a Facebook Page is simple and free, and that a Page lets a business share updates, publish content and offer customer service (Meta: Facebook Pages). Fence work photographs well. A Page is a free place to post finished jobs and link back to your site.

Nextdoor

Nextdoor's business page invites you to create a Business Page and lists Business Posts, neighbor recommendations ("Neighborhood Faves") and ads through Nextdoor Ads Manager. It does not state what a Business Page or the ads cost (Nextdoor for Business). Fence jobs are a street-by-street business, since one fence often brings calls from the neighbors, so this channel fits. Get the terms before you spend.

Thumbtack and Angi

Thumbtack's pro page says there is no charge to join, no annual fees and no membership fees. It says you control your pricing and budget for leads, which sets how many leads you get. It gives no fee amounts (Thumbtack: for pros).

Angi's pro page does not state what it costs to join, what the fees are or what the requirements are. It says there were over 1.5 million opportunities on Angi last month and lists popular categories, which do not include fencing (Angi for pros). Fencing may still be a category on Angi, but its page did not say so. Our guide on fence leads without lead marketplaces covers the trade-offs of paying per lead.

BBB

BBB says accredited businesses pay an annual dues investment and does not state an amount. The application asks if your business has operated for more than six months, and your local BBB contacts you (BBB: Get accredited). The page does not say whether a basic profile is free.

Best fit if...

Google Business Profile is a fit if you want homeowners to find you on a "fence company near me" search. Every fence company should have one, and Google says it is free.

American Fence Association is a fit if you want training, peers and an industry directory, and the dues from $350 a year make sense for your size.

Apple Business is a fit if your customers use iPhones. Claim it so Maps shows your right hours.

Yelp is a fit if you already get Yelp reviews. Claim the free page and reply.

Facebook is a fit if you post job photos and want a free page to send people to.

Nextdoor is a fit if you work in tight neighborhoods and rely on word of mouth.

Thumbtack is a fit if you want to try paid leads with a budget you set. Ask what each lead costs before you start.

Angi is a fit if the fee model works for you in writing, and fencing is a category in your area.

BBB is a fit if your customers ask about it. Get the dues first.

Your own website is a fit if you want one place you control. We build websites for fence companies, so weigh that view. Our guide on what a fence company website should include says what goes on it.

When to pick something else

If a page does not state the price, treat it as a sales call, not a free listing. Do not pay for a listing because a caller says Google or ChatGPT uses it. Ask for the page that says so.

If you are short on time, do one thing well. A complete Google profile with real reviews beats nine half-filled listings.

If your state requires a contractor license, put the number where each listing has a field for it, and check your board. See our Minnesota page for an example, and our guide on your license number on a fence website.

In what order should you claim listings?

1. Google Business Profile. Verify it, pick your categories, add hours, photos and your service area.
2. Write down your business name, address and phone number once, exactly as you want them shown.
3. Apple Business. Use the same details.
4. Yelp and Facebook. Claim them and reply to any reviews.
5. Decide on AFA if you want the trade body and training.
6. Look at Nextdoor, Thumbtack, Angi and BBB only once you have the fees in writing.
7. Link each listing to your own site.

Check each listing every few months for wrong hours or an old phone number.

If you want a site to point those listings at, see a free demo site.

Common questions

What is the best free directory for a fence company?

Google Business Profile, because Google says it is free and it appears in Search and Maps. Yelp and Facebook also state a basic listing is free. For Apple Business, Nextdoor, Angi and BBB, the pages we opened did not state the cost of a basic listing.

How much does the American Fence Association cost?

On AFA's contractor page, annual dues start at $350 for a company with under $500,000 in prior-year sales, and rise to $1,595 over $10 million. The page does not state a separate fee for the contractor locator.

Does ChatGPT use directory listings to pick a fence company?

We found no page from OpenAI, Yelp, BBB or AFA that says so. Do not pay for a listing on that claim.

Do I need every listing?

No. Start with Google, then add the free ones your customers use. A few accurate listings beat many stale ones.

Sources

• Google: Business Profile
• Google Business Profile help: Improve your local ranking
• AFA: Contractor Membership
• AFA: Find a Contractor
• Apple: Apple Business
• Yelp: Yelp for Business
• Meta: Facebook Pages
• Nextdoor: Nextdoor for Business
• Thumbtack: For pros
• Angi: Angi for pros
• BBB: Get accredited