Mentioned vs Searchspring: AI Visibility for Trade Contractors
The honest difference
These tools solve completely different problems. Searchspring optimizes search inside your website. Mentioned measures whether you show up inside AI engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini — when homeowners ask for contractors by name or location.
If your site search is broken, homeowners bounce. If you're invisible to AI, homeowners never find you at all. Different failure mode. Both need fixing.
What Searchspring does well
Searchspring excels at on-site discovery. It powers search bars, filters, faceted navigation, and recommendations inside your website or e-commerce platform. If you sell products or have deep content, Searchspring helps customers find what they're looking for once they land on you. Fast autocomplete, merchandising controls, analytics on what people search for internally.
For an HVAC contractor with a large services catalog, FAQs, or a parts shop, site search matters. A homeowner lands on your site, uses search to find "furnace repair near me" or "emergency service," and Searchspring makes that fast.
Where Mentioned is different
Mentioned solves AI visibility. It measures whether you get named when a homeowner asks an AI engine directly, before they even land on your site.
Homeowners are now asking ChatGPT "best HVAC near me" instead of Googling. AI engines name 5 specific companies. If you're not in that 5, you're invisible — and Searchspring won't help because they never reach your site.
- What we track: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini — all four at once.
- What we measure: How many times you get cited in AI recommendations across 30 real homeowner queries in your city and trade.
- What we fix: Schema deployment, citation networks, NAP consistency, training-data partner submissions, Reddit/forum mentions. These are mechanical, one-time fixes that move your AI rank.
Real numbers: 137 trade contractor audits. Median score 32/100. Top 5% over 79/100. Gap between top and median is 47 points — and it compounds monthly. AI search traffic is growing 27% month over month.
Quick comparison
| Feature | Searchspring | Mentioned |
|---|---|---|
| Measures | On-site search experience | AI engine visibility (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini) |
| Primary use case | E-commerce, product discovery | Local service visibility |
| What gets fixed | Site navigation, internal search results, merchandising | Schema, citations, NAP, training data, mentions |
| Main problem it solves | Bounce rate once someone lands on your site | Invisibility to AI before they land on you |
| Assumes | Traffic already coming to your site | Zero traffic from AI (most contractors) |
| Setup time | Implementation heavy (platform integration) | Free 30-second audit. Fixes are mechanical. |
Can you use both?
Yes, and you should — but prioritize differently depending on where your problem is.
If 80% of your traffic comes from Google or your own brand searches: Searchspring could be an upgrade. You have traffic to optimize for.
If you're invisible to AI and don't know it: Start with Mentioned. Run the free audit, see your score. 87% of trade contractors score under 20. Most don't even know they're invisible. Once you fix AI visibility, traffic lands on you — then Searchspring's on-site experience matters.
Order matters: fix the funnel top first. Get named in AI. Then optimize the experience once people land.
The real problem neither solves
Your Google ranking can be #1. Your AI rank can be 0. Your site search can be flawless. And you still lose deals because homeowners are asking AI now, not Google.
Searchspring doesn't track AI. Mentioned doesn't optimize your site search. Your SEO agency optimizes Google, which is becoming irrelevant for contractor discovery.
That's why you need both layers: be visible to AI (Mentioned), and have a smooth experience once they land (Searchspring). But if you pick one, pick the one that solves your actual problem first.
What to do right now
Run the Mentioned audit free. Takes 30 seconds. No card. You'll see your AI score, who's beating you in ChatGPT/Perplexity, and whether fixing this is worth your time. Then decide: DIY via playbook ($47), we run it monthly ($497/mo), or we guarantee a 30-point climb in 60 days ($1,497/mo — zero payment upfront).
Free 30-second audit. No card. Score in 30 seconds. Built by an operator.
Run my auditSee your Searchspring AI visibility score in
Enter your business below. We run live queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini. You get your score in under 90 seconds.
Common questions about AI visibility for Searchspring contractors in
Google ranks pages. AI search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity name specific businesses in answers. A Searchspring contractor in can rank #1 on Google and still be invisible in ChatGPT, because the signals are different (schema, citations, structured data, training-data presence).
Most Searchspring contractors see meaningful score lift within 30-60 days of implementing the three core fixes: Google Business Profile completion, consistent industry directory listings, and schema markup. The 47-point gap between median (32) and top performers (79) is closeable.
Yes. Roughly 40% of homeowner searches now start in ChatGPT or Perplexity instead of Google. Even with strong Google rankings, you can be completely invisible in AI answers, which means losing calls you don't even know about.
Your AI visibility score across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini. Specific gap analysis against top performers in . Three highest-leverage fixes prioritized by impact. Takes 90 seconds, no card required.