Transcript from public YouTube captions. Lightly corrected for names; automatic transcription may contain errors.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1B2COtwI8

[0:02] Okay, my name is Aaron. I'm with Sequoia
[0:05] Geo and today I'm here with Chat who is
[0:08] our co-host for our very first episode
[0:11] of a chat with Chat.
[0:14] How are we doing today, Chat?
[0:15] >> Aaron. I'm Chat.
[0:17] I'm doing great. Excited to co-host this
[0:19] first episode with you.
[0:21] I'm ChatGPT. I'm here to help turn
[0:22] ideas into momentum.
[0:24] We can talk things through,
[0:26] help structure a project, work with
[0:28] what's on the screen, write code, or dig
[0:30] into research. Where do you want to kick
[0:32] this off?
[0:33] >> We know there's a lot that you can do,
[0:35] but today we're going to be focusing on
[0:38] really starting our podcast off with an
[0:41] introductory discussion about why we
[0:44] started this podcast and some of the
[0:46] things that we'd like to cover
[0:48] in the future episodes. Sequoia GEO's
[0:51] focus is really marketing home service
[0:54] businesses and with the explosion of AI,
[0:58] there's been a lot of buzz with related
[1:00] to
[1:02] AI search, generative engine
[1:04] optimization, and overall improving
[1:07] websites and search results for home
[1:11] service businesses.
[1:14] >> Let me think through a clean intro setup
[1:17] for this.
[1:19] >> Don't think too long. We're live now.
[1:21] >> Got it. Big picture, this show is
[1:24] basically about cutting through the buzz
[1:26] and turning what's happening into
[1:27] practical moves for home service
[1:29] companies.
[1:31] We can start by saying why you created
[1:33] podcast. Owners are hearing a lot about
[1:35] AI search and GEO and so on and they
[1:38] need clarity, not hype. Then tee up
[1:41] what's coming, how AI search is changing
[1:43] customer journeys, what generative
[1:45] engine optimization means in plain
[1:47] English,
[1:48] and simple website moves that actually
[1:51] help visibility and leads.
[1:53] >> Yeah, that sounds good. I I initially
[1:55] what I'd like to cover is what is what
[1:58] makes AI search or generative engine
[2:02] optimization different?
[2:05] >> Let me pin that down.
[2:07] So, think of it like this. Traditional
[2:10] SEO is about ranking a page. Generative
[2:14] engine optimization adds being
[2:15] understood and cited by the AI giving
[2:19] the answer. For home services, that
[2:20] means really clear service and location
[2:22] pages, consistent business info, strong
[2:25] reviews, proof you know your stuff, and
[2:27] genuinely useful answers to real
[2:29] homeowner questions. It's not replacing
[2:32] SEO, it's building on it because now
[2:34] visibility includes being recommended
[2:36] inside the answer, not just showing up
[2:38] as a link.
[2:41] >> Visibility includes being recommended
[2:43] inside the answer. So, how do we do
[2:44] that? How does a heating and air
[2:47] conditioning company, say they're
[2:49] located in I don't know, San Francisco,
[2:53] get recommended inside the answer versus
[2:56] the other what? A thousand HVAC
[3:00] companies that are in that area?
[3:03] >> Let me think that through carefully.
[3:05] One key piece is that it's less a single
[3:09] trick and more that the business keeps
[3:11] showing up as relevant, reputable, and
[3:13] consistent across the web, not just on
[3:15] their own site.
[3:16] >> Okay, and
[3:18] I still haven't nailed down though what
[3:21] makes it different from
[3:23] SEO when we're trying to add these AI
[3:27] search and GEO layers on top of it.
[3:31] >> Let me untangle that clearly.
[3:33] The clean line is SEO helps you rank and
[3:37] get retrieved
[3:38] and GEO helps your info get understood,
[3:42] trusted, and pulled into the synthesized
[3:44] answer with confidence.
[3:49] Let me pin down the practical difference
[3:51] for an HVAC company. That's because GEO
[3:54] isn't a replacement, it's a second
[3:56] target. SEO helps that San Francisco
[3:58] HVAC page get found. GEO helps an AI
[4:02] system recognize the business as real,
[4:04] pull the right facts, verify them, and
[4:06] include them in an answer. So, overlap
[4:09] is big, but the outcome changes. It's
[4:11] less use the keyword everywhere and more
[4:14] make each claim clear, structured,
[4:16] supported, and consistent.
[4:18] And the honest take is that much of it
[4:20] isn't different at all. It's SEO
[4:23] evolving, plus some new content
[4:24] requirements and new ways to measure
[4:26] success.
[4:29] >> Okay, so in your opinion, the two are
[4:32] different.
[4:34] >> They're distinct, but not separate.
[4:37] Same foundation, slightly different
[4:38] outcome and metrics.
[4:41] >> And how do we track how we're ranking or
[4:44] getting recommended in AI search?
[4:48] >> Let me check that quickly.
[4:51] AI search is tracked less like one fixed
[4:54] ranking position and more like
[4:55] repeatable prompt visibility, since
[4:57] answers vary by system, location, and
[5:00] wording. We take real customer
[5:02] questions, run them regularly across the
[5:04] major AI search experiences, and log
[5:08] whether you're mentioned or cited, where
[5:10] you show up, who else is mentioned, and
[5:12] whether the facts about your business
[5:13] come through accurately. Then,
[5:16] we watch referral traffic, leads, and
[5:19] jobs booked, and track share of voice
[5:21] across those prompts.
[5:23] The goal isn't a universal number one
[5:25] ranking, it's consistent visibility
[5:28] trends across a stable set of prompts,
[5:30] not any one test.
[5:33] >> So, if I find that my competitor is
[5:37] consistently getting recommended and I'm
[5:40] rarely getting recommended, and I might
[5:42] not even be
[5:44] in any of the source material that
[5:46] you're using. What do I need to do today
[5:50] to start showing up and get cited?
[5:53] >> Let me map out the most direct moves
[5:56] there.
[5:57] First,
[5:58] look at the competitors' evidence trail,
[6:01] not a stack of generic AI pages.
[6:04] Ask what claims they're making, what
[6:06] questions they're answering,
[6:08] and who independently confirms them.
[6:11] Then, in order, make sure your site is
[6:13] crawlable, build solid pages for each
[6:16] real service and service area with
[6:18] proof, like licensing, warranties,
[6:21] project photos, tech credentials, and
[6:24] answer customer questions.
[6:26] Align your name, address, phone,
[6:28] services, and coverage across your site,
[6:31] Google Business Profile, directories,
[6:33] and trade associations, and add accurate
[6:36] structured data to reduce ambiguity.
[6:39] Earn detailed reviews and legitimate
[6:41] local mentions. Then, retest the same
[6:44] prompts every few weeks and watch
[6:45] mentions, citations, leads, and jobs. No
[6:48] one guarantees a recommendation, but
[6:51] those steps make your business easier to
[6:54] cite and trust, which is what shifts the
[6:56] odds.
[6:58] >> Now, some people may be asking the
[7:00] question of why is this important? Why
[7:03] do I need to worry about GEO or AI
[7:05] search? And there was a recent study
[7:08] done by BrightLocal that you might want
[7:10] to pull up because
[7:12] it's claiming that 45% of US adults
[7:17] utilize AI to I believe the language is
[7:20] that they found
[7:22] contractors or home service providers
[7:24] using AI. What does that report say?
[7:28] >> Let me check that report.
[7:30] Wording matters a lot there. I'm
[7:33] checking the original language and
[7:34] methodology before we lean on that stat.
[7:37] All right, I found the BrightLocal
[7:39] write-up. That 45% figure is about local
[7:43] business recommendations broadly, not
[7:45] specifically contractors.
[7:46] >> Okay.
[7:47] >> They say 45% of US adults used AI tools
[7:52] for local business recommendations in
[7:53] the past year, up from 6% year before.
[7:57] So, the headline is the speed of
[7:58] adoption, not that everyone is booking
[8:01] via AI. And most people still verify on
[8:04] Google, social, and review sites
[8:05] afterward. That's exactly why GEO
[8:08] matters now, because AI is influencing
[8:10] the short list, while traditional search
[8:13] and reviews still confirm the choice.
[8:15] You need to show up credibly in both
[8:16] places or layers, really.
[8:20] >> All right, so that's pretty interesting
[8:21] because that BrightLocal finding we're
[8:25] hearing a lot of people citing that 45%
[8:29] and making implications that it's bigger
[8:34] or more related to home service
[8:37] providers than than what it's stating.
[8:40] So, a thousand about a thousand people
[8:43] were surveyed, and almost half of them
[8:46] said that they've used AI for local
[8:48] recommendations. It doesn't say It
[8:50] sounds like it doesn't say how often
[8:52] they're using it. And what's also
[8:55] interesting is that 88% still check the
[8:57] source.
[8:59] And that kind of leans towards the
[9:03] zero-click phenomenon that a lot of
[9:06] people have been experiencing lately.
[9:08] Would you agree with that?
[9:10] >> Let me think through that connection.
[9:13] I'd separate the two claims. 45% is used
[9:18] at least once in the past year, and
[9:21] the 88% stats shows AI is shaping the
[9:24] journey, but not replacing it.
[9:27] So, I wouldn't call that zero-click
[9:29] evidence, especially for home services,
[9:31] where trust drives more verification
[9:33] clicks.
[9:34] The safer takeaway is that AI is an
[9:37] influential discovery layer, not that it
[9:39] is replaced search.
[9:41] And for contractors, it's influencing
[9:43] the short list. Then people validate
[9:45] elsewhere.
[9:46] >> What other related questions do you
[9:48] think we should be asking about that?
[9:51] >> Let me frame a few crisp on my
[9:53] questions.
[9:55] I'd push from headline numbers to
[9:58] behavior. So,
[10:01] what kinds of local businesses were
[10:03] people actually searching for? Which AI
[10:05] tools? How often and for what stakes?
[10:08] Did they start in AI or see it inside
[10:10] Google?
[10:11] What exactly did they verify afterward?
[10:14] And crucially, did AI lead to a call, a
[10:17] lead, or a booked job? Or was it just
[10:19] one step along the way?
[10:22] >> Yeah, those are all good questions and
[10:24] customers need to start asking
[10:28] what did they search when they found the
[10:32] company they ended up calling. So, if if
[10:35] customers are telling you, "Oh, I found
[10:36] you on ChatGPT."
[10:38] If you can get a screenshot of that
[10:40] search, that would be very helpful to
[10:43] understanding what you're showing up for
[10:46] when people search and also
[10:49] who else is showing up when that's
[10:51] searched as well.
[10:54] >> Totally. That's exactly the kind of
[10:56] ground truth that cuts through the hype.
[10:58] Asking what they typed, what tool, and
[11:02] grabbing screenshots when possible cuz
[11:04] you have real prompts to test, plus the
[11:06] actual competitors and claims showing
[11:08] up.
[11:09] It's a simple habit, but it turns GEO
[11:12] from theory into something you can
[11:13] actually optimize and measure.
[11:17] >> Any closing thoughts for our first
[11:20] episode on a chat with chat?
[11:24] >> Yeah, I planned it like this. AI search
[11:28] is changing how people form a short
[11:30] list, but the fundamentals haven't gone
[11:32] away. Be findable, be credible, and be
[11:35] consistent everywhere.
[11:37] We'll use this podcast to turn the
[11:38] shifting landscape into plain language
[11:41] and practical steps.
[11:42] And next time, we can go deeper on one
[11:45] comfy piece. AI search behavior, geo
[11:47] basics, or website moves. Your pick.
[11:51] >> That sounds great. Thanks so much for
[11:52] your help today, Chat. And I look
[11:54] forward to our next episode. I hope that
[11:57] all of you can join us.
[12:00] >> Looking forward to it.