How to show up when customers ask AI for a recommendation.

A customer used to type "roofer Oakville" into Google and scroll. Now some of them ask ChatGPT "who's a good roofer in Oakville for an older house?" or read the AI summary Google shows at the top of the results. If your business isn't in that answer, you never get a look.

The industry calls this AEO (answer engine optimization) or GEO. The name doesn't matter much. What matters is understanding where AI tools get their information, because that tells you what to work on.

Where AI tools get their answers

AI assistants don't have a secret directory of good businesses. When they recommend someone, they're pulling together information that's already out there:

• Search results. Google's AI answers draw on Google's own index. Other assistants search the web too, and some lean on Bing's results.
• Your website, especially pages that clearly say what you do, where, and for whom.
• Business listings like your Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Maps and directories.
• Reviews on Google and other sites, including what people actually say in them.
• Mentions elsewhere: local news, association member lists, "best of" articles, community sites.

So the businesses that show up in AI answers are mostly the ones that are easy to find, easy to understand, and well talked about. That's good news, because none of it requires a big budget.

What AI tools seem to reward

Clear, specific pages

A single "Services" page that lists twelve things in a paragraph gives an AI tool very little to work with. A page per service that says plainly what it is, who it's for, where you offer it, roughly what it costs and how it works gives it plenty. Write the way customers ask questions, and answer the question in the first couple of sentences.

Answers to real questions

Think of the questions you get on the phone every week. "Do you do emergency calls?" "How long does it take?" "Do I need a permit?" Put those questions and straight answers on your site, in an FAQ on the relevant service page. AI tools are built to answer questions, so content shaped like questions and answers is easy for them to use.

Consistent details everywhere

Your business name, address, phone number, hours and services should match on your website, Google, Bing, Apple Maps, Facebook and the main directories. When the details conflict, every system (AI or not) is less confident about you. Our local listings service cleans this up.

Reviews that say something

Fifty reviews that just say "great service" help your rating. A handful that mention the specific job, the town and what went well also help AI tools understand what you're good at. You can't script reviews, but you can ask every customer (see how to get more Google reviews), and the detail tends to come naturally.

Structured data

Structured data (schema markup) is code on your pages that spells out facts in a machine-readable way: your business type, location, services, hours, FAQs. Visitors don't see it, but it helps search engines and AI tools read your pages accurately.

Being mentioned by others

A mention in a local news story, a supplier's "where to buy" page, a business association directory or a well-known local blog all add up. They tell AI tools (and Google) that real people know who you are.

A simple plan to start

1. Ask the AI tools about yourself. Try ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI answers with questions a customer would ask: "best [your service] in [your town]", "who does [specific job] near [town]". Note who comes up and what they say about you, if anything.
2. Fix your Google Business Profile. Right categories, full services list, accurate hours, real photos. See why your Google Business Profile isn't showing up.
3. Set up Bing too. Claim Bing Places and verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools. It takes an hour and most competitors haven't done it.
4. Build or improve one page per main service, with a short FAQ that answers real customer questions.
5. Clean up your listings so your details match everywhere.
6. Ask every customer for a review.
7. Check again in a couple of months. AI answers change often, so look for trends rather than one-off results.

What doesn't work

• Paying for a placement. There's no ad slot inside an organic AI recommendation. Be wary of anyone selling a guaranteed mention.
• Stuffing pages with keywords or AI-written filler. Thin, repetitive pages give AI tools nothing useful to quote.
• Fake reviews or fake mentions. They break Google's rules and Canadian advertising law, and they're a risk to the business you've built.
• Ignoring your normal SEO. AI answers lean heavily on search results. If you don't show up in search, you're unlikely to show up in AI answers either.

Is AI search replacing Google?

Not for local businesses, at least not yet. Most people still search on Google and still look at the map. AI answers are an extra place to show up, built mostly on the same foundations. The good news is that work on one helps the other, so you're not choosing between them.