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Home › Guides › How Do Contractors Get Recommended by ChatGPT? What the 2026 Studies Show

How Do Contractors Get Recommended by ChatGPT?

By · Updated · 10 min read

Short answer: Contractors get recommended by ChatGPT mainly by having more Google reviews than nearby competitors. Studies from 2026 link being named by AI to review count first, then a claimed profile with photos, a website stating services and towns in plain text, and mentions on other sites. Nobody can buy a spot.

Key facts
  • Zarla found named businesses had a median of 444 Google reviews against 192, with ratings of 4.9 versus 4.8.
  • Insites found businesses named by both assistants averaged 133 Google reviews, while those named by neither averaged 11.
  • Only 9.8% of businesses were named by both ChatGPT and Google's AI Mode, so they pick different winners.
  • OpenAI says sites opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers.
  • Google says no special markup is needed for AI Overviews or AI Mode; pages must be indexed.
  • These studies show links, not proof of cause, so treat them as a direction.

What is an AI recommendation?

An AI recommendation is when ChatGPT, Google's AI answers, Gemini or Siri names your business when someone asks for a contractor. The asker types "best roofer near me" or says "who should I call for a leaking water heater." The assistant replies with a short list of names instead of a page of links.

That is a different game from the ten blue links. A list of ten gives you ten chances. An AI answer might name three. If you are not one of them, the homeowner may never see your name.

How many homeowners actually ask AI for a contractor?

Enough that you should care, but not so many that Google stopped mattering.

A 2026 survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers by SOCi found that 52% had used AI to find a local business in the last 30 days, up from 9% the year before. The report also says 57% of consumers use ChatGPT and 51% use Gemini. The survey was sponsored by SOCi, a local marketing software company, so read the numbers as a direction, not a precise count. (MarTech: SOCi Local Discovery Index report, 2026)

Trades are a step behind. In a 2026 homeowner survey of 782 people, 37% said they would look up HVAC contractor reviews through AI tools such as ChatGPT. Google Business Profiles were still the first stop at 54%, and contractor websites came second at 45%. (ACHR News: homeowner survey on AI and HVAC, 2026)

So your Google listing and your website still do most of the work. AI is the fastest growing slice, and the same work feeds both.

Two more numbers from the SOCi survey matter to you. 81% of people take a step to check a business after an AI names it. And 67% of AI users say they have been given wrong local business information at least once. That means wrong phone numbers and old hours cost you jobs. Fix those first.

What do the studies say gets a contractor named?

Three studies are worth knowing. All three show links, not proof of cause. Businesses with many reviews may also just be bigger or better run. Still, the pattern is consistent.

Zarla: 1,851 home service listings

Zarla asked ChatGPT and Google's AI Mode for "best [trade] in [city]" across 10 trades (plumbers, electricians, roofers, HVAC and others) and 10 U.S. cities. It checked 1,851 businesses taken from Google's top 20 local results for each trade and city. (Zarla: AI Visibility Index, 2026)

What it found:

  • 43.65% of the businesses were named by at least one assistant.
  • ChatGPT named 35.6%. AI Mode named 18.4%.
  • Only 9.8% were named by both. The two assistants pick different winners.
  • Named businesses had a median of 444 Google reviews. Businesses not named had 192.
  • Ratings barely differed: a median of 4.9 stars for named businesses and 4.8 for the rest.

Read that last line again. A 4.8 and a 4.9 look the same to a homeowner, and they looked the same to the assistants. The review count was the gap.

Insites: 10,000 local businesses

Insites checked 10,000 U.S. local businesses (not only trades) in ChatGPT and Perplexity. (Insites: Do Google reviews affect AI recommendations, 2026)

MeasureNamed by both assistantsNamed by neither
Average Google reviews13311
Profile completeness77.8%31.5%
Photos on the profile88.9%34.8%
Profile claimed by the owner91.5%38.2%

The invisible group had almost no reviews and half-finished profiles. Many had never claimed the listing. That is cheap to fix.

What the studies do not tell you

They do not give a magic review number. A plumber in a small town with 80 reviews may be the biggest name there. A roofer in a big metro with 300 may be ordinary. The count that matters is your count against the other businesses the assistant could name in your area. We cover that in how many Google reviews you need to get named by AI.

Which AI assistants matter for a contractor?

Here is the plain version.

AssistantWhere it gets local factsWhat you control
ChatGPTIts own search crawler and other websitesYour website, reviews, listings, robots.txt
Google AI Overviews and AI ModeThe Google index and Google's local dataYour Google profile, reviews, website
GeminiGoogle's own dataSame as Google
SiriApple's crawler, Applebot, and Apple MapsApple Business Connect, website
PerplexityIts own crawler, PerplexityBotWebsite, reviews, listings

OpenAI says its OAI-SearchBot crawler is what surfaces sites in ChatGPT search. A site that blocks it will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers. (OpenAI: crawler documentation) Apple says its Applebot crawler powers Siri, Spotlight and Safari. (Apple: About Applebot)

For Google, there is no secret. Google says there are no extra requirements and no special markup to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. A page needs to be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet, like any other page. (Google Search Central: AI features and your website) Anyone who sells you a special AI trick for Google is guessing.

How do you get named by ChatGPT, step by step?

Do these in order. The first three take a weekend. The rest run all year.

Step 1. Claim and finish your Google Business Profile

Add your main category, every service, your service area, hours, phone number and at least 20 real photos of real jobs. Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local search. (Google Business Profile Help: improve your local ranking) Our walk-through is in how to set up a Google Business Profile.

Step 2. Ask every happy customer for a review

Send a text with your Google review link the same day you finish the job. Google lets you share a direct link or QR code for this. It also bans offering a discount or freebie in return for a review. (Google Business Profile Help: get reviews from customers) Aim for steady, not a burst. Reply to every review in your own words.

Step 3. Make your name, address and phone number match everywhere

Use the exact same business name, address and number on your site, Google, Bing, Apple and Facebook. Mixed details make it easier for an assistant to get you wrong, and 67% of AI users in that survey report bad local information. See Bing Places for contractors and Apple Business Connect for contractors.

Step 4. Put your facts in plain text on your website

Write what you do, the towns you serve, your license number, your warranty and your hours as words on the page. Do not hide them in images or sliders. Give each main service its own page, and each main town its own page if you really work there. The checklist is in what a contractor website should include.

Step 5. Let the search crawlers in

Check your robots.txt file. It should allow Googlebot, Bingbot, OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot and Applebot. Google-Extended is a separate setting that controls Gemini training and grounding, and Google says it does not affect your place in Google Search. (Google Search Central: Google's common crawlers) Perplexity says to allow PerplexityBot so you appear in its results. (Perplexity: crawler documentation) Details are in robots.txt and AI crawlers.

Step 6. Add LocalBusiness markup

Schema markup is code that labels your facts for machines. Google says LocalBusiness markup can go on any page and needs your business name and address. (Google Search Central: LocalBusiness structured data) No study we found shows it raises AI mentions by itself, so treat it as tidy housekeeping. See schema markup for contractors.

Step 7. Get named on other sites

Assistants read what other sites say about you. Get listed on your chamber of commerce page, your supplier's "find a pro" page, local "best of" lists and the directories that already rank for "best [trade] in [your city]." Answer real questions in your city's forums when you can add something useful. Do not post fake praise. A listing that names you correctly is worth more than ten you made up.

Step 8. Test it every month

Ask ChatGPT and Google the same ten questions a homeowner would ask. Write down who gets named. Do it again next month. Answers change from run to run, so look for a trend over a few months, not one result. Our method is in how to check if ChatGPT recommends your business.

What does this look like in each trade?

The studies cover trades as a group, so the details change by job. The homeowner's question changes too.

  • A plumber wins on urgency: "emergency plumber near me" and "water heater replacement." Reviews that mention the same-day arrival help.
  • An HVAC company is judged on season. Heat in January, cooling in July. Your profile should show current hours and service areas.
  • A roofer sells a big job. Homeowners cross-check roofers, so reviews with photos of finished roofs count.
  • A tree service has storm spikes. Your page should say plainly that you work after storms.

We wrote a version for each trade, with its own search terms, licensing and examples:

What should you not do?

  • Do not buy reviews or trade free work or discounts for them. Google prohibits incentives for reviews, and the FTC's 2024 rule bans fake reviews.
  • Do not pay anyone who promises a spot in ChatGPT. Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.
  • Do not block search crawlers to "protect" your content. You would disappear from the answers.
  • Do not let the details drift. A wrong phone number is a lost job.

How long does it take?

Reviews take the longest. If you finish ten jobs a month and ask every customer, you can add 5 to 8 reviews a month. That is our estimate, because not every customer will reply. A profile, a clean website and crawler access can be done in a few days. Expect months, not weeks, before the pattern in the studies shows up in your own tests. If you want a site that already has the facts, markup and crawler settings in place, see a free demo site.

Common questions

No. For organic answers there is no listing you can buy. Google says in its help pages that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. What you can pay for is the work: more reviews through better follow-up, a better website and correct listings.

Is ChatGPT better than Google for getting contractor leads?

Not yet. Homeowners in the 2026 ACHR survey still used Google Business Profiles and contractor websites more than AI tools. AI use is growing quickly in the SOCi data, so it makes sense to cover both. The work overlaps heavily.

How many reviews do I need to be named?

There is no fixed number. In the Zarla study, named businesses had a median of 444 reviews and unnamed ones had 192. Compare yourself with the businesses that rank near you for your trade and town, and aim to pass them.

Does my star rating matter?

Less than you might think. Zarla found medians of 4.9 and 4.8 for named and unnamed businesses. Steady new reviews and a good rating beat a perfect score on a handful of reviews.

Do I need a new website to get named?

Not always. You need a site where the facts are in plain text, the search crawlers are allowed, and your details match your listings. If your site hides these behind images or a blocked crawler, a rebuild may be the quickest fix. Read what a contractor website should include first.

Sources

About the author

Ansh Singh runs Contractor Websites. He builds websites for electricians, plumbers, roofers and other home service trades, and writes the guides on this site. More about Ansh Singh.

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