Is Your Trade Business Invisible in AI Search?
TL;DR
AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude are reshaping how people find local services—but 87% of trade businesses aren't mentioned. Our audit of 137 contractors found a median visibility score of 32 out of 100. The top performers hit 79. That's a 47-point gap between invisible and discoverable. This gap costs you leads.
Why This Is Happening
AI models train on web data. When someone asks ChatGPT "where can I find a reliable HVAC contractor in Rhode Island," the model pulls from its training data—articles, directories, reviews, industry sites, and Google results. If your business name, location, service area, and credentials aren't present in that training data, you don't exist in the model's world.
Most trade contractors have a basic website and maybe a Google Business listing. That's enough for traditional Google search. But AI search works differently. These models look for mentions across the web—not just your own site. Industry directories, local news coverage, third-party reviews, case studies, and cited content. If you're only living on your website, AI models have no reason to mention you.
The invisible contractors we've audited have zero presence in ChatGPT answers. Zero mentions in Perplexity research results. Not even a footnote in Claude summaries. Meanwhile, the contractors scoring 79+ appear in multiple AI responses, capture inbound research traffic, and position themselves as the default answers.
How to Fix It in Three Steps
1. Get audited. You need a baseline. Our 90-second audit scans your presence across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini. You'll see exactly where you rank (0-100) and which AI systems know about you. Takes less time than checking email.
2. Build cited authority. AI models reward third-party mentions over self-promotion. This means getting mentioned in industry articles, trade publications, local news, and review aggregators. Not as an ad, but as a cited resource. Case studies work. Guest posts work. Interviews work. If the mention includes your credentials, service area, and a link back to your site, that's a signal the model picks up.
3. Optimize for AI indexing. Your website needs to be structured so models understand it. Schema markup (structured data) for your service, location, and credentials. Clear service area language. Citation consistency across platforms—same business name, phone, address, service descriptions everywhere. When AI models see consistent signals, they trust them.
Most contractors skip step 2. They think step 3 (website optimization) is enough. It's not. You need mentioned authority. The gap between invisible and discoverable is mostly about who's being cited versus who isn't.
Common Mistakes Trade Contractors Make
Mistake 1: Assuming Google visibility equals AI visibility. You can rank #1 on Google and still be invisible in ChatGPT. Google and AI search have different signals. Google rewards on-page optimization and backlinks. AI models reward diverse third-party mentions. Build for both, not one.
Mistake 2: Only optimizing your own website. AI models don't care how pretty your site is. They care what the internet says about you. If you're not mentioned elsewhere, your site is just background noise. Flip the effort: 70% on getting cited, 30% on your site.
Mistake 3: Ignoring consistency. If your business name is "Smith HVAC Inc" on your site, "Smith HVAC" on Google, and "Smith's Heating" on Facebook, models get confused. They don't know you're the same business. Standardize everything now.
Mistake 4: Waiting for "someday." Every month you're invisible is a month competitors are capturing AI-driven research traffic. The contractors scoring highest started this 18 months ago. Start now, even imperfect.
How Mentioned Helps
We audit your visibility in AI search and build a custom roadmap to get you mentioned. No generic tactics. We identify which AI models know about you, why they don't (if they don't), and exactly what moves move the needle. Founder cohort members get first access to our cited authority framework—the full playbook trade businesses use to go from invisible to trusted authority in AI search.
Find Out Your AI Visibility Score
Take the free 90-second audit at mentionedinai.com. See where you rank in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini. No credit card. No email required (optional if you want the full roadmap).
Founder cohort closes July 4. Early members lock in lifetime pricing on cited authority buildouts. Limited to contractors moving fast.
See your general 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 general contractors in
Google ranks pages. AI search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity name specific businesses in answers. A general 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 general 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.