The AI search punch list for contractors
Every source an AI tool might read about your business falls into one of four piles. Work through them in order, and check your results once a month.
1. Own: fix your website first
State the basics in plain text
Business name, phone, services and the cities you serve, on the homepage, in words.
Give each main job its own page
Roof replacement and roof repair should not share one paragraph on a services page.
Answer the question in the first sentence
Write headings the way customers ask, then answer right away.
Make sure the words load with the page
Turn off JavaScript in your browser and look. What remains is what some tools get.
Add business structured data
LocalBusiness or a more specific type. It keeps your facts clear, though it does not guarantee a mention.
Check robots.txt once
Make sure OAI-SearchBot and other search crawlers are not blocked, and ask your host whether a firewall blocks them.
2. Claim: take control of your profiles
Finish your Google Business Profile
Categories, services, service area, hours and real photos.
Claim the directories AI cites in your trade
Use the sources you wrote down when you asked the tools. BBB, Yelp and Angi are common, but your list may differ.
Use one name and one phone number
Old numbers and past business names cause mixed-up answers.
3. Earn: get real mentions
Ask every happy customer for a review
Make it part of closing out the job.
Get named by people who know your work
Suppliers, manufacturers, trade associations, local news and community groups.
Do not pay for fake lists
Google has said its spam policies also apply to its AI responses.
4. Contest: correct what is wrong
Fix wrong facts at the source
If an AI tool gives the wrong phone or service area, find the page it read and get that page corrected.
Then check again every month
Ask the same questions, in the same words, several times each. Answers change between runs, so one good or bad answer does not tell you much.
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