How plumbers, electricians and home services get recommended by AI
Updated · 2 min read
“Emergency plumber near me”, “electrician in Bristol who can come today”, “roofer for a leaking flat roof in Toronto”: homeowners ask AI assistants for a trusted tradesperson, often in a hurry.
For home services, AI recommendations depend on three things: what you do, where you'll go, and whether people trust you.
1. Spell out your services and service area
Give each main service its own page (“Boiler repair”, “Emergency call-outs”, “EV charger installation”) and list the towns or postcodes you cover. Say whether you offer emergency or same-day visits, and when. AI can only match “can come today” questions if your pages say so.
2. Show your licences and guarantees
List licences, registrations, insurance, trade memberships and guarantees on your website, using the official names for your country. Credentials help AI, and customers, choose you over an unknown name.
3. Be on the platforms homeowners use
Beyond Google Business Profile, Bing Places and Apple Business Connect, complete your profiles on the main trade and review platforms in your country, such as Angi, Houzz, Checkatrade, Trustpilot or local equivalents. AI assistants often cite these when recommending tradespeople.
4. Use the right structured data
Use specific types such as Plumber, Electrician, HVACBusiness, RoofingContractor, Locksmith or HousePainter, with your service area (areaServed), hours and profile links. Create it with the free schema generator.
5. Collect reviews that mention the job and the place
“Fixed our leaking boiler in Clifton within two hours” beats “Great service!”. Ask after every job, with a direct review link. See how to get more Google reviews.
6. Answer pricing and availability questions
Customers ask AI “how much does a plumber charge for…”. A page or FAQ with typical prices or price ranges, call-out fees and response times makes you the business that answers. Use the FAQ schema generator.
Questions
I don't have a shop address. Can I still be recommended?
Yes. Service-area businesses can hide their address on Google Business Profile and list the areas they serve. Make the same areas clear on your website and in your structured data's areaServed field.
Should I publish prices?
Typical prices or ranges help, both for customers and for AI answers to price questions. You can always note that final prices depend on the job.