A homeowner used to type "siding repair near me" into Google and scroll through ads and maps. More and more, they ask a question instead: "Who's a good siding repair guy in Columbus?" They ask ChatGPT, or they get an AI answer at the top of Google. Either way, the AI names a few businesses. If your name isn't one of them, you never get the call.
Nobody can promise you'll be named. But the AI tools have to get their answers from somewhere, and almost all of it comes from things you can control.
Where AI answers come from
When an AI names local businesses, it leans on what's published about them online: business listings like your Google Business Profile, your own website, reviews, and other sites that mention you. It's looking for the same things a careful homeowner would: who does this exact work, in this exact area, and what do customers say about them.
That's good news for a real local pro. You have real jobs, real customers and a real address. Lead-gen operators have to fake all of that. See why Google Maps shows "companies" that don't exist.
The steps
- Ask the AI about yourself. Open ChatGPT and Google and ask the questions your customers ask: "Who does [your trade] in [your town]?" "Is [your business name] any good?" Write down what comes back. That's your starting point.
- Fix your Google Business Profile. Right category, every service you actually do, your real service area, your hours, and real job photos. See your job photos, filed and captioned by AI.
- Say it plainly on your website. One page for each main service, and say where you work. "We repair vinyl and fiber cement siding in Columbus, Dublin and Westerville" is something an AI can read and repeat. A page that just says "Quality You Can Trust" gives it nothing.
- Keep your name, address and phone the same everywhere. Your Google profile, website, Facebook, Yelp, the BBB, your truck. Mismatches make it harder for anyone, person or machine, to be sure it's the same business.
- Get reviews that say what and where. "Mike fixed the siding the storm tore off our house in Dublin" tells an AI more than "great job!" See getting more reviews with AI.
- Get mentioned locally. A local news story, a sponsor listing at the Little League, a supplier's "find a contractor" page, a trade association. Real mentions on real local sites.
- Answer the calls you earn. Being named does no good if the call goes to voicemail. See customers expect an answer in 5 minutes now.
What not to do
Don't buy fake reviews, don't make up locations, and don't stuff your website with town names. The FTC has rules against fake reviews, Google removes them, and it can cost you the trust you're building.
Why it matters now
This is early. Most tradesmen haven't heard of it yet, and the ones who start now will be the names AI already knows when everyone else catches on. It's the first thing we work on at Fixer School: get named by AI, then get found on Google, then let an AI apprentice answer the phone.
More to read: AI for your trade, how lead-gen sites steal your customers' calls, and what a lead really costs you.
Photo: from a real siding repair job by Fixer School founder Jack.
