What to Check Before Hiring a Texas Landscaper
Texas has 16,902 landscapers tracked in our database, and the average AI Trust Score across the vertical sits at 35.1/100. That number reflects how verifiable a business is across three dimensions: identity consistency, legitimacy signals, and digital readability. Most landscapers in this state fall well short of what you'd want before handing over a deposit.
Here's what to verify before signing anything.
1. Confirm Business Identity Is Consistent
Only 16% of Texas landscapers have JSON-LD structured data on their websites. That markup is how search engines (and AI systems) confirm that a business name, address, and phone number are consistent across the web. When it's missing, the business is harder to verify automatically and easier to misrepresent manually. Check that the company name, address, and contact details match across Google, their website, and any invoice or estimate they send you.
2. Don't Let Star Ratings Substitute for Review Volume
The average Texas landscaper carries a 4.51-star rating across 118 reviews. That looks reassuring until you see the median: 0 reviews. More than half of listed businesses have no reviews at all. A clean rating on a business with two reviews tells you almost nothing. Look for contractors with sustained review history, not just a high average.
3. Verify Insurance and License Status Directly
Texas does not require a statewide landscaping license, but irrigation work does require a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) license. If the contractor will touch your irrigation system, ask for their TCEQ license number and verify it at tceq.texas.gov. For general landscaping, ask for a certificate of general liability insurance and workers' compensation coverage. Do not accept verbal confirmation.
4. Check Their AI Trust Score
The top 10% of Texas landscapers average 69.7/100 on the AI Trust Score, with 239 reviews on average. The bottom 50% average 22.0/100 with 136 reviews. That gap is significant. A higher score means more of the publicly available signals about that business are organized, consistent, and verifiable. You can look up any contractor at /find or browse verified options at /landscaper/texas/.
5. Compare Landscapers Against Other Trades
Texas landscapers (35.1/100) score below plumbers (42.3), painters (41.1), HVAC contractors (40.2), roofers (40.0), and foundation contractors (39.1). The verification gap in this vertical is real. Hold landscapers to the same standard you'd apply to any other contractor entering your property.
For city-specific recommendations, see the Texas landscaper hiring guides.
Red Flags in the Data
The score distribution across 16,902 Texas landscapers reveals patterns worth understanding before you hire anyone.
23.8% of Texas landscapers score below 40, the threshold where identity, legitimacy, and readability signals become too thin to rely on. Within that group, 2,166 contractors (13%) score between 0 and 9. Those aren't just weak profiles: they're businesses with near-zero data consistency, meaning their name, address, and contact information likely don't match across any two sources.
The next two bands compound the picture. Another 403 contractors (2%) score between 10 and 19. Another 2,453 (15%) score between 20 and 29. Combined, that's 30% of the Texas landscaping market scoring below 30 out of 100.
Only 1.7% of Texas landscapers reach the Excellent tier (80-100). For a state with nearly 17,000 listed businesses, that's roughly 287 contractors with genuinely well-documented, verifiable profiles.
Several cities show average scores of 0.0: Texas City, Smithville, Santa Fe, San Leon, and Red Rock. That doesn't mean no legitimate contractors operate there. It means none of the tracked businesses in those areas have sufficient data signals to generate a meaningful score.
The review data tells a parallel story. The median review count for Texas landscapers is 0. Over half of listed businesses have no verified review history at all. The bottom 50% average 136 reviews, while the top 10% average 239, a 1.8x gap that reflects sustained customer documentation over time.
The table below maps each red flag to its prevalence across the state:
| Red Flag Indicator | % of TX Landscapers Affected |
|---|---|
| Score below 40 (minimum credibility threshold) | 23.8% |
| Score 0-9 (near-zero data consistency) | 13.0% |
| Score 20-29 (insufficient identity signals) | 15.0% |
| No JSON-LD structured data | 84.0% |
| Only Fair tier (40-59, present but undocumented) | 56.8% |
| Median review count of 0 | 50%+ |
| Not in Excellent tier (80-100) | 98.3% |
84% of Texas landscapers lack JSON-LD structured data. That markup is what allows AI systems and search engines to confirm a business's identity automatically. Without it, the business's name, address, and phone number cannot be validated programmatically. You're left doing that verification manually, which most homeowners don't.
The 56.8% sitting in the Fair tier (40-59) are the subtler risk. These businesses have a web presence, likely some reviews, and appear legitimate at a glance. What they lack is documentation depth: consistent identity signals, structured data, and verifiable credentials that hold up to scrutiny.
Check any landscaper's score before you call them at /find. Full state-level context is available in the Texas market report.
Verification Checklist
Follow these steps before hiring any landscaper in Texas. Each one takes under five minutes and significantly reduces your risk.
1. Look up their AI Trust Score.
Search any Texas landscaper at /find. The state average is 35.1/100. Prioritize contractors scoring 60 or above. Only 19.4% of Texas landscapers reach that threshold. If a business has no score or scores below 30, that's a data gap you should treat as a hiring risk.
2. Browse verified options by city.
The Texas landscaper directory lets you filter by location and score. Top-performing cities by average score: Haslet (47.2/100), Round Rock (47.0/100), Cedar Park (46.4/100), Leander (46.0/100), and Bastrop (45.7/100). If you're near those areas, start there.
3. Confirm reviews exist on at least two independent platforms.
The average Texas landscaper carries 118 reviews, but the median is 0. That means most listed businesses have no verified review history. Check Google and at least one other source (Yelp, NextDoor, the BBB). A 5-star average on three reviews is not a track record.
4. Cross-reference business name, address, and phone number.
Only 16% of Texas landscapers have JSON-LD structured data, the markup that enables automatic identity verification. Without it, you need to confirm manually that the business name, address, and phone number match across their website, Google Business Profile, and any written estimate they provide. Mismatches are a red flag.
5. Check irrigation and pesticide licenses if applicable.
If the job includes irrigation installation or modification, the contractor must hold a license from the Texas State Board of Irrigation Installers, administered through TCEQ. Pesticide applicators must be licensed through the Texas Department of Agriculture. Ask for the license number and verify it directly at tceq.texas.gov or TexasAgriculture.gov. Do not accept a verbal claim.
6. Request proof of insurance in writing.
Ask for a certificate of general liability insurance and, if they have employees, workers' compensation coverage. Confirm the certificate names your address and is current. A legitimate business sends this without hesitation.
7. Get itemized written estimates from at least two contractors.
Top-performing Texas landscapers average 239 reviews compared to 136 for the bottom half. That volume reflects years of documented work. A contractor willing to provide a detailed written scope alongside verifiable credentials is demonstrating the same accountability pattern that separates the top 10% from the rest.
Using AI to Verify Texas Landscapers
The AI Trust Score measures three things: identity consistency (up to 25 points), legitimacy signals like reviews and license verification (up to 35 points), and digital readability including website quality and structured data (up to 40 points). A high score means the publicly available information about a business holds together. A low score means gaps exist that you'd have to close manually before trusting the contractor.
Texas landscapers average 35.1/100, just below the all-vertical state average of 35.7. That puts landscapers near the bottom of every tracked Texas trade vertical, ahead of only general contractors (34.1). Plumbers average 42.3, painters 41.1, HVAC contractors 40.2. The verification gap in landscaping is measurable and consistent.
The tier breakdown makes that concrete:
| Score Tier | Range | Share of TX Landscapers |
|---|---|---|
| Excellent | 80-100 | 1.7% |
| Good | 60-79 | 17.7% |
| Fair | 40-59 | 56.8% |
| Below threshold | Under 40 | 23.8% |
Only 1.7% of Texas landscapers score Excellent. The Good tier (60-79) represents a reasonable minimum for hiring confidence, and only 17.7% reach it. The top 10% average 69.7/100.
One structural reason for the low scores: only 14% of Texas landscapers have JSON-LD structured data on their websites, below even the 16% state average across all verticals. That markup is how AI systems automatically confirm a business's name, address, and contact details are consistent. Without it, the burden of verification falls on you.
For context, Texas landscapers (35.1) still outperform California (21.5 average) and Florida (19.8 average) on trust scores. Low doesn't mean worst.
Browse scored and verified Texas landscapers at /landscaper/texas/. Full state analysis is available in the Texas market report.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Texas landscapers are actually trustworthy?
Of the 16,902 landscapers tracked in Texas, only 1.7% score in the Excellent tier (80-100). Expanding to Good and Excellent combined (60-100), that's 19.4%: roughly 1 in 5. Those are your realistic hiring candidates.
Does Texas require landscapers to be licensed?
General landscaping has no statewide license requirement. Two exceptions apply: irrigation installation requires a TCEQ license, and pesticide application requires a Texas Department of Agriculture license. Ask for the license number and verify it directly before any irrigation or chemical work begins.
Why does the average rating look high if the scores are so low?
Texas landscapers average 4.51 stars, but the median review count is 0. Most listed businesses have no review history at all. A high star rating on a thin review base tells you very little about consistent performance.
What score should I look for before hiring?
Target contractors scoring 60 or above. Only 17.7% of Texas landscapers reach that threshold. The state average sits at 35.7/100, with the landscaper vertical specifically averaging 35.1.
Which Texas cities have the most verifiable landscapers?
By average score, Haslet (47.2/100) and Round Rock (47.0/100) lead the state. You can check any contractor's score at /find or browse by location at /landscaper/texas/.