AI Search Optimization for Contractors

What AI search optimization is

AI search optimization is the work of getting your business named and cited when someone asks ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity or Google's AI Overviews who to hire. For a contractor, it comes down to one question: when a homeowner asks an AI tool for the best plumber in their town, does your name come up?

The longer you wait on it, the harder it gets.

AEO, GEO and AI SEO: what's the difference?

Mostly the names. Answer engine optimization (AEO) is getting your business picked as the answer when someone asks a question, in Google's AI Overviews or an AI assistant. Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the same goal aimed at generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity. AI SEO and AI search optimization are the umbrella terms. For a contractor, all four come down to the same work below.

What a campaign covers

• The basics AI pulls from. AI tools build their answers from what they can find about you: your Google Business Profile, your website, your reviews. If those are weak, nothing else here works, so that's where I start.
• Your name around the web. Listings, reviews and mentions on other sites, including the "best of" lists these tools lean on. The more places that describe your business the same way, the easier it is for AI to recommend you.
• Pages written to be quoted. Service pages and articles that answer homeowners' questions in plain sentences an AI tool can lift straight into its answer.
• Tracking that's honest. A set of real questions your customers would ask, checked over time, showing how often you're named or cited compared with your competitors.

What I've done with it

I've done this for a personal injury law firm, one of the most competitive local markets there is. Through targeted articles and getting the firm onto "best of" lists, I grew its share of voice in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity to more than 27%. Contractors get there the same way: solid basics first, then building your name around the web.

What I won't tell you

I can't promise ChatGPT will name you, and neither can anyone else. These tools change their answers from one question to the next. What I can show you is where you stand today and whether it's moving month to month.

It also isn't a separate magic button. If someone is selling you AI search before your Google Business Profile and website are in shape, they're selling you the wrong thing first. AI search is part of hyperlocal search, not a replacement for it.

What you get

• No contracts. If you're not happy working together, why keep going?
• You own everything. The site, the content and the Google Business Profile stay in your name. You add me as a manager, and you stay the owner.
• A monthly report that starts with leads. Calls and form fills and where they came from, then profile activity, local rankings and how you show up in AI search.

Who it isn't for

If your Google Business Profile and website aren't working yet, start with local SEO. That's what AI tools read first, and it's what gets your phone ringing this month.