Get found in AI search: the tradie's guide

Your next customer is asking ChatGPT for a tradie. This is how you become the answer.

Wombid Guides · Updated 29 July 2026

The short answer

AI search is when customers ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity or Google's AI Overviews for a tradie instead of scrolling search results. Getting named in those answers is called Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). This guide covers the fixes that help Australian trades businesses get recommended, in order of impact.

Something big changed in how Australians find a tradie. Instead of scrolling ten blue links, they ask an AI a question: "who's a good electrician near Sutherland?" and the AI names two or three businesses. Job done. If your business is one of the names, you are in the conversation from the start. If it isn't, the conversation happens without you.

45% of consumers now use AI tools to choose local businesses, up from just 6% a year earlier.

Getting named in those answers is called Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), or AI search optimisation. Where classic SEO is about earning rankings, GEO is about being named in AI answers. The good news for tradies: in a 2025 industry survey of 1,025 Australian tradespeople, only 17% used SEO at all, so the field is wide open for whoever gives AI something worth citing.

Not sure where you stand today? Run the free AI visibility check first, then work through this guide.

How do AI engines pick which tradies to recommend?

AI assistants like ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, Claude and Perplexity read the live web when they answer local questions. They lean on a handful of signals:

Google reviews: volume, recency and what the reviews actually say. This is the single strongest signal.
Your Google Business Profile: complete, active, correct categories, real photos, regular posts.
Consistent listings: the same business name, phone and area across directories like Yellow Pages, True Local, hipages and Localsearch.
Website content that answers questions: a page that plainly answers "how much does a switchboard upgrade cost?" is a page an AI can quote.
Being mentioned by others: local roundups, community pages, forums.

Curious where you sit today? Run the free AI Visibility Audit for your trade and suburb and see which engines name your business, which name someone else, and where you land in the Google Maps local pack. No login, no card.

What are the five fixes, in order?

Get your Google reviews flowing. Ask every happy customer, ideally by text with a direct link. Aim for a steady drip, not a one-off burst, and ask them to mention the suburb and the job.
Complete your Google Business Profile. Every category, every service, service area suburbs, opening hours, photos from real jobs. Post to it monthly at minimum.
Fix your listings. Pick one exact version of your business name, address and phone, then make every directory match it.
Answer real buyer questions on your website. Write the questions your customers actually ask, then answer them directly in the first sentence. That structure is what AI engines lift into answers.
Keep measuring. AI answers change constantly as competitors gather reviews and models refresh. Check monthly whether the engines name you, and for which questions.

See your own AI visibility, free

Free, no login, no card. We put the questions a customer would ask to five AI engines for your trade and area, and email you the report.

Run the free audit

How long does it take?

Reviews and profile fixes can influence AI answers within weeks. Content and listings compound over one to three months. The tradies who win treat it like tool maintenance: steady, boring, effective.

Common questions

What is GEO or AI search optimisation?

GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) is the work of improving how often AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity recommend your business when people ask for your trade in your area. SEO is about ranking in search results; GEO is about being named in AI answers.

Do tradies really get work from AI search?

Yes, and it is growing fast. 45% of consumers now use AI tools to choose local businesses, up from 6% a year earlier. When an AI names only two or three businesses per answer, being one of them matters more than ranking eighth on Google.

Can I do this myself?

The fixes are not technical: reviews, a complete Google profile, consistent listings and plain-English content. The hard part is doing it consistently and knowing whether it is working. That is what Wombid automates, starting with a free audit.

How do I check if AI recommends my business right now?

Run Wombid's free AI Visibility Audit. It asks ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity the questions a customer would ask, scores your visibility out of 100, and shows which competitors are being named instead.

Find out where you stand, free

Wombid checks what ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity say about your business, plus your Google Maps positions, and hands you the fix list.

Run your free AI Visibility Audit

Trade-specific guides: AI marketing for tradies (overview) · AI marketing for electricians · AI marketing for plumbers · AI marketing for builders · all guides