Field notes
Playbooks, data studies, and field notes on AI visibility for the trades. Learn how ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google's AI decide which contractors to recommend and what actually moves the needle.
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Millions of logged AI citations, in one breakdown: which contractors ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity recommend, which sources they cite, and why most local companies never appear.
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Semrush added AI visibility to a general SEO suite. Tibly built it for one industry. An honest head-to-head on price, prompts, and fit for a local contractor.
Profound is a strong AI visibility platform for brand teams. If you run a trades business, here are the alternatives that fit local prompts and budgets better.
Yelp and Reddit disclosed AI deals. Angi, BBB, and Houzz haven't. What the public record shows about which directories feed AI answers for contractors.
No, but the payoff changed. The numbers on falling click-through, ranking decoupling from AI citations, and why abandoning SEO today would still be a mistake.
Probably on Google's own surfaces, with a real path into ChatGPT via Yelp, but no study proves reviews cause an AI to name you. The layered, honest answer.
You can't optimize for 'AI' as one thing, the engines read different sources. The per-engine checklist that works, plus the honest truth about schema and llms.txt.
The short answer is no, you can't buy an organic placement in ChatGPT today. But paying platforms the engine reads is a real, indirect path. Here's the honest breakdown.
The honest answer: ChatGPT names very few local businesses at all, and you may be visible on other engines. What actually keeps a contractor out of its answers.
Solar buyers ask AI about payback, incentives, and whether you'll last for the 25-year warranty. How installers get named on the questions that decide the sale.
Painting is the most crowded trade, and buyers judge the result themselves. So AI names the painters who prove process: prep, timeline, cleanup, and warranty.
Concrete serves two buyers: the builder sourcing a sub and the anxious homeowner asking AI if their foundation crack is serious. How to get named by both.
Remodeling buyers research for months before calling anyone, asking AI what a kitchen costs and if they need a permit. How to be the remodeler AI keeps naming.
When an owner or developer asks AI which GCs to invite to bid, a short list comes back. How general contractors earn a spot on it, and pass diligence.
A panel fails or a homeowner needs an EV charger, and they ask AI who to call. How electricians get named, starting with the license only you can prove.
The honest answer: nobody has measured how Claude recommends local contractors, and it has no maps surface. Here is what is documented and what to ignore.
Copilot's consumer usage is small, and it cites the fewest sources of any engine. The honest case for when a contractor should care, and when to skip it.
Gemini recommends far more local businesses than ChatGPT, which makes it the most winnable AI engine for a contractor. What SOCi found and what to do about it.
Google's AI summary now sits above your listing and it is eating clicks. What Pew and Ahrefs measured, and why ranking #1 no longer buys you the citation.
Perplexity is the AI engine that most rewards classic SEO. What Ahrefs and Profound found about how it picks sources, and the pages a contractor should publish.
There's no ranking on ChatGPT, only getting named. A practical GEO (generative engine optimization) guide for contractors: how AI picks companies, what to publish, and how to measure it.
An honest comparison of AI visibility (GEO) tools for trades businesses: Tibly, Profound, Peec AI, Otterly, and Semrush. What each costs, who each is for, and what matters for local contractors.
Homeowners now split their hiring research between Google and AI assistants, and the two reward different work. What changes for a contractor when the answer replaces the results page.
Homeowners now ask ChatGPT and Google who to hire, and the answer is a few names instead of ten links. What AI visibility means for a trades business, and how to know where you stand.
SEO earns you a position on a results page; AEO earns you a place inside the AI answer itself. What each one is, where they overlap, and how a trades business should invest in 2026.
When a homeowner asks AI who should replace their roof, only a handful of companies get named. What the research shows about who gets picked, and what a roofer should publish.
"My AC died, who do I call?" now goes to ChatGPT, and only a sliver of HVAC companies ever get named in AI answers. What the public research shows about who gets picked, and the playbook for being on the list.
Burst pipe at midnight? Homeowners now ask AI who to call, and ChatGPT names just 1.2% of local brand locations (SOCi, 2026). The playbook for being a plumber AI names again and again.
When someone asks ChatGPT for a roofer or an HVAC company, it names names. What we've learned about where those names come from, and what gets a company onto the list.
A working checklist for trades companies that want to show up when ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google's AI recommend contractors. Ordered by impact, with the reasoning behind each item.
You can't improve what you can't measure, and in AI answers most companies are measuring nothing. A plain-English tour of the four numbers that describe your standing, and how to read them.
Every post here started as something we measured across thousands of live AI answers. See where your company stands by running the free report or starting to track your market today.