A family-owned HVAC and plumbing company in Tampa, with 22 trucks and 18 years in business, found that when homeowners asked ChatGPT or Google’s AI who to call, the answers named two large competitors and almost never named them.
01The problem
The company filled its schedule with Google ads and shared leads from Angi and HomeAdvisor. Those leads cost about $95 each and closed only about 12% of the time, because the same lead was sold to several competitors.
Meanwhile, homeowners weighing a $10,000 AC replacement were asking AI assistants for advice first. Across 250 test questions, the company was named in just 4% of the answers.
02What was built
An eight-month AI search programme timed for the summer AC season, at $4,500 a month.
It made the company easy for AI systems to read and trust, published clear answers to the questions homeowners ask, and traced every AI-sourced lead to booked revenue in the company’s field service software.
03How it works
- 01Measure the gap
Tested 250 local questions, from repair costs to “best AC company in Tampa”, across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google’s AI Overviews.
- 02Fix the foundations
Added structured data for services and service areas, and made the name, address and phone number match across more than 60 listings.
- 03Answer the real questions
Published cost guides, repair-or-replace guides and financing explainers written to be quoted in AI answers.
- 04Track it to revenue
Used dedicated call lines, tagged links and an intake question so every AI lead could be traced to a booked job.
04What changed
After eight months the company was named in 52% of the 250 tracked AI searches, up from 4%, and appeared in Google’s AI Overviews for 47 high-intent searches, up from 2.
AI search brought 380 leads and 214 booked jobs. Those leads closed at 56%, against 12% for shared leads, at about the same $95 per lead. The jobs were worth $421,520, including 28 system replacements, on a $36,000 spend.
What this could look like for your clients
Your home-services clients still buy shared leads that every competitor also gets. A similar programme could make them the company AI assistants recommend, and bring in customers who are ready to book.