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

[0:00] Hey, it's Aaron with Sequoia GEO. And
[0:03] today we're going to run some searches
[0:05] through ChatGPT
[0:07] and find out what it's showing for an
[0:11] emergency plumber situation in Las
[0:14] Vegas.
[0:15] And so this uh send out a help
[0:18] contractors that are trying to
[0:20] understand why they are or are not,
[0:24] mostly are not, showing up in AI search
[0:27] and potentially what you can do about
[0:30] it. So,
[0:31] uh first things first, to start this off
[0:34] and if you were going to do this
[0:35] yourself, what I would recommend in
[0:37] chat, and you can also do this in
[0:39] Gemini,
[0:40] is set this up as a temporary chat. So,
[0:43] that's up here, you click this little
[0:45] bubble, that turns it on, and then you
[0:47] go to unpersonalize. So, it is not using
[0:50] anything that's uh been searched or uh
[0:54] that you've done in chat before as a
[0:56] reference. And so, here we've got our
[0:59] temporary chat, we've already got our
[1:01] prompt in here as well, "I need an
[1:02] emergency plumber for a toilet
[1:04] overflowing in Las Vegas." And go.
[1:09] All right, so we're sending that prompt
[1:10] over to chat. It's going to start doing
[1:12] its research here,
[1:14] and it's going to give us a couple
[1:16] recommendations.
[1:19] All right, so it came back pretty quick,
[1:21] uh four recommendations for us, uh
[1:23] Rodeo, Impact, Hips, and Pure.
[1:27] And [snorts]
[1:27] you'll notice that it's given us the
[1:29] star rating, the reviews,
[1:31] and uh if they're open 24/7. And because
[1:35] it's associating that with emergency.
[1:37] Now,
[1:38] it's only about 2:00 right now in Las
[1:41] Vegas, so it's not that we need the
[1:43] 24/7, but I think because we use the
[1:46] term emergency, that's that's why it
[1:48] brought that up. Uh so, it gives me the
[1:50] phone numbers here, I can also go here
[1:52] and click on their website and so forth.
[1:54] Um but these These only four that it
[1:56] listed. If we scroll down,
[1:58] uh it's got some recommendations for you
[2:00] the homeowner on what to do.
[2:02] And um
[2:04] it acts
[2:06] asks a uh follow-up. It actually prompts
[2:09] you what to say
[2:11] uh when you call. Now,
[2:14] for this search, it's not giving us our
[2:15] sources. In some searches, it will. And
[2:18] if you can get the sources, you can
[2:21] start to see what other websites or
[2:24] companies that it checked before giving
[2:27] you these four.
[2:28] And so, if you're a plumbing company,
[2:31] specifically in Las Vegas, it doesn't
[2:33] really matter. It could be any kind of
[2:35] home service company as well. No matter
[2:37] what city you're in, and you run a
[2:39] search like this as a customer might,
[2:42] you'd want to find out, you know, why
[2:44] aren't you ranking?
[2:46] Um what does what's also interesting is,
[2:50] depending on the search term, just
[2:52] because it's related to plumbing,
[2:54] doesn't mean that these four companies
[2:57] are going to pop up every time.
[2:59] And so, if we said uh I need a new
[3:02] tankless water heater in Las Vegas,
[3:12] and sent that over to chat,
[3:14] it's going to
[3:17] search that for us,
[3:19] and we'll see which companies it comes
[3:22] up with.
[3:25] All right. These are good local
[3:27] installers to call for quotes.
[3:29] So, we've got Nothing But Water Heaters,
[3:31] Water Heater Pros, Rodeo Plumbing of Las
[3:33] Vegas, and Ninth Island Plumbing. So,
[3:37] let's see here. Actually, we've got
[3:39] Rodeo Plumbing of Las Vegas showing up
[3:41] twice. So,
[3:43] just from this brief review, it looks
[3:46] like Rodeo Plumbing has spent
[3:49] some time and probably some money
[3:52] understanding how they show up in AI
[3:55] search because you'll notice that uh
[3:58] the companies it's recommending have got
[4:01] 700, 500, 1300 reviews. Up here, I think
[4:05] they're even lower.
[4:07] Um 350, 422. I mean, a fair amount of
[4:10] reviews, no doubt. But
[4:13] in a large market like Las Vegas, there
[4:16] are companies who have many many more
[4:18] reviews than this. So, it's not just
[4:20] basing how they rank on reviews alone.
[4:23] Now, let's see if it gave us the sources
[4:25] over here.
[4:26] Yes, it did. Okay. So, let's check these
[4:29] sources here.
[4:30] And it came up with 23 sources.
[4:33] And these are all the companies that
[4:36] chat looked at
[4:38] before giving us this information. It
[4:40] actually pulled some installation cost
[4:43] data
[4:44] uh from this
[4:46] uh
[4:47] costadedier.com
[4:49] website at quite a few times. Uh Get
[4:52] Low's in there, uh Ideal Services, and a
[4:55] few others down here as well. Um you see
[4:57] a couple websites showing up more than
[5:00] once.
[5:01] Um but what it doesn't clearly tell us
[5:04] is why it recommended some of these over
[5:08] others. So, let's ask it. Why these
[5:10] companies
[5:12] over others?
[5:15] >> [laughter]
[5:15] >> And you can do the same.
[5:17] Actually, you know, um what's also
[5:18] interesting here we noticed that cost
[5:21] data
[5:22] uh it's saying right here
[5:24] a complete tankless install in Las Vegas
[5:27] 2250 to 5550.
[5:30] Gas systems potentially running higher.
[5:33] Um and it's re- recommending what kind
[5:36] of gas unit to use.
[5:38] So, there's a lot of information that
[5:42] chat is providing to a customer
[5:45] that if I don't know anything about
[5:46] tankless water heaters,
[5:48] I'm going to think, okay, well, I am
[5:50] going to ask about these things. And I'm
[5:51] going to look to make sure that the
[5:53] quote includes the permit, removal, gas
[5:57] line charges, venting, condensate drain,
[5:58] and warranty. Which is a very important
[6:01] note for the estimates that you're
[6:04] sending to customers. Let's say the
[6:06] company called you out. They saw your
[6:08] truck, saw your yard sign, you worked
[6:11] with them in the past, but now they're
[6:14] using AI to help them refine their bids
[6:17] and determine which company they're
[6:19] going to end up choosing. Well, if Chat
[6:22] is telling them here to look out for
[6:23] these things, and your estimate doesn't
[6:26] specifically say old heater removal or
[6:30] gas line changes or venting, then it may
[6:34] actually look at another estimate that
[6:36] does clearly call those out, assuming
[6:38] that you may not be doing those things.
[6:41] Now, most companies, you're going to
[6:42] remove the old heater
[6:44] uh, and to put in the new tankless water
[6:47] heater, and you're going to haul it
[6:48] away. But, because it didn't
[6:49] specifically state that, Chat's not
[6:52] going to assume that you're going to do
[6:54] that. Okay, so let's go down here.
[6:56] Why these companies over others? Uh, and
[6:59] it gives us the rationale. Um, not
[7:02] simply because they were plumbers with
[7:03] high ratings. They weren't meant as
[7:05] definitive top four in all of Las Vegas.
[7:08] So, it's not giving us It just told us
[7:11] it's not giving us the top uh, four top
[7:16] plumbing companies in Las Vegas. Uh, it
[7:18] said water heater specialization,
[7:21] demonstrated tankless work, review
[7:24] history, licensing information. Now,
[7:26] licensing permitting information.
[7:29] Where's it getting that from?
[7:32] I didn't see in its sources anything
[7:36] about city or county. So, those
[7:39] companies must be talking about the
[7:42] permitting or licensing requirements in
[7:45] those areas,
[7:47] um which is another layer.
[7:49] Um so then it goes through and it talks
[7:51] about
[7:52] uh specifically each one of these
[7:55] companies, what
[7:57] uh stood out about them versus um
[8:01] you know, the others.
[8:02] And so again, you can go through AI,
[8:06] um whether it's ChatGPT or Gemini. In
[8:10] Gemini, you can do something very
[8:11] similar where you're also looking at a
[8:13] temporary chat. And that's ultimately
[8:16] what you want to use.
[8:18] Um and you notice here it's it's rec-
[8:21] recommending three written quotes.
[8:24] I get the exact model number and BTU
[8:26] rating. And and then um
[8:28] you know, most of the time now
[8:30] their customers going to be feeding this
[8:32] back into AI. If they use it to find
[8:35] you, assume they're going to use it to
[8:37] go through your proposal.
[8:40] And I've been saying that for months. Um
[8:42] hopefully some of you have started to
[8:45] uh adapt that process so that you know
[8:49] kind of what Chat or Gemini might say
[8:52] about your proposal when you send it to
[8:53] customers.
[8:55] Um so why these companies over others?
[8:57] Now, you can go on and continue this
[9:00] conversation with Chat and say, "How
[9:03] would I get my company
[9:05] to rank
[9:07] and be recommended
[9:10] if
[9:11] if it's not here now?"
[9:14] >> [snorts]
[9:15] >> And it We can give it your company name,
[9:19] your company website and it will
[9:21] actually go through and create a list of
[9:25] hey, here's why.
[9:27] These are the things that I saw on your
[9:28] site. These are the reasons that I
[9:31] didn't recommend you. And here's here
[9:33] are some of the things that I was
[9:34] looking for.
[9:35] And so yeah, you can spend the time and
[9:38] go back and forth with uh chat or Gemini
[9:41] or Claude or Grok or
[9:44] any number of the different AI platforms
[9:47] that are out there now. Um
[9:50] but, you know, and then actually just
[9:52] based on this generic question we asked,
[9:55] it came back with make your company
[9:56] company unmistakably relevant to the
[9:58] exact searches you want.
[10:01] So, a little bit of research is going to
[10:03] be required there for you to go in and
[10:06] say, "Okay, what is my customer going to
[10:09] search?" Um I was having a conversation
[10:11] with a plumber in Southern California on
[10:15] Facebook. This is about 2 weeks ago. And
[10:18] the customer had searched
[10:20] uh cuz he had a screenshot of their uh
[10:23] ChatGPT session.
[10:25] Uh the customer had searched, "Recommend
[10:28] a plumber for a new HVAC system."
[10:33] I don't know why a customer would want a
[10:36] plumber to put in their air conditioning
[10:38] system, but that's what they searched.
[10:41] And so, even if it doesn't make sense
[10:44] to someone in the industry,
[10:46] uh there are going to going to be
[10:48] questions and queries that you're not
[10:50] thinking of because you're in the
[10:53] industry. And so, um
[10:57] assume that if a customer's gotten a
[10:59] quote from you uh for a tankless water
[11:02] heater, and you included the model
[11:04] number,
[11:05] maybe you deal with Navien.
[11:08] And they go in and search that Navien
[11:11] brand, who installs it, what's it going
[11:12] to cost,
[11:14] assume that
[11:17] chat is going to give them more
[11:18] information about that. I mean, we we
[11:20] just simply asked about tankless water
[11:22] heater up here. It didn't specify type
[11:25] or installation method or location, and
[11:28] it's given us a range of 2,500 to 5,500.
[11:32] I am certain that there are a
[11:35] significant amount of companies in the
[11:36] Las Vegas area
[11:38] um because I know a few of them
[11:40] that are well above that 5,500 mark.
[11:44] And so, they would look at that number
[11:46] and go, "Whoa, wait, what about this?
[11:48] What about this? What about this?"
[11:49] Um
[11:51] but understand this is what chat is
[11:54] telling customers when they search.
[11:56] Um
[11:57] if you want to establish
[11:59] a different cost that would be something
[12:02] you could put on your site uh if you
[12:05] list your pricing online.
[12:07] And then that might be uh helpful for
[12:10] you. Now, if you're charging $20,000 for
[12:13] a tankless water heater and it's saying
[12:14] five that could be a challenge, right?
[12:17] So, those are some of the things to
[12:19] consider.
[12:20] Um
[12:21] make sure ChatGPT can actually crawl
[12:23] your website.
[12:25] So, depending on your host hosting
[12:29] settings
[12:30] you can actually tell AI bots, "Don't
[12:33] crawl my website."
[12:35] And if your website is set up that way
[12:38] it won't.
[12:40] But that means you're not going to show
[12:41] up in AI. And so, understand that some
[12:44] of those uh settings are important to
[12:47] understand um
[12:49] when considering whether or not you show
[12:51] up in AI. And then uh this one's
[12:53] interesting.
[12:55] Okay, we're on ChatGPT. This is a
[12:57] product by OpenAI.
[12:59] It is recommending that you strengthen
[13:01] your Google Business Profile
[13:03] aggressively. Which is the first
[13:05] workshop video that I made
[13:07] um when I just got started was on
[13:11] improving your Google Business Profile
[13:13] and the importance of Google Business
[13:15] Profile.
[13:16] Um Google rankings and ChatGPT
[13:18] recommendations aren't the same thing.
[13:21] However
[13:22] um even to ChatGPT, it's saying that
[13:25] your Google Business Profile is very
[13:28] important. And so, aggressively is an
[13:30] interesting term there.
[13:32] Um, but making sure that it's up-to-date
[13:35] and um, you're posting on it frequently,
[13:38] you're getting relevant reviews on that
[13:41] platform as well, and then responding to
[13:43] those reviews. All of those things are
[13:45] important. Um, get get reviews, as we
[13:49] just talked about, and then make sure
[13:51] your business identity is consistent
[13:52] everywhere.
[13:54] Um,
[13:55] this work is is like related to
[13:58] citations.
[13:59] Um, and so, everywhere that you're
[14:02] mentioned online needs to be consistent.
[14:06] I did an assessment for a foundation
[14:08] company out of Texas last week, and they
[14:12] had three different company names
[14:15] on their website. Not on Yelp and BBB
[14:18] and these other places out in the, you
[14:20] know, in the world, but on their own
[14:23] website, they had three different
[14:25] company names.
[14:26] And so, what do you call that company,
[14:28] right? How how do you even know what to
[14:30] call that company if that's the case?
[14:33] And getting that cleaned up is going to
[14:34] be the first order of business. And so,
[14:38] pretty straightforward there. However,
[14:41] it may not be obvious unless these are
[14:43] things that you're actively looking for.
[14:46] Um, show evidence of expertise, not just
[14:49] SEO copy. And that last piece is is
[14:52] interesting because
[14:55] of chat and AI now, it's easier than
[14:58] ever to create content.
[15:00] It's also easier than ever for your
[15:02] content to sound like everyone else's
[15:04] and sound very generic.
[15:06] Use your unique experiences.
[15:09] You're out in the field, you know this
[15:10] type of housing stock, you know this age
[15:13] of homes for the city that you're in,
[15:15] for the neighborhood that you're in.
[15:17] Again, understanding what customers may
[15:19] search.
[15:20] Uh, and so, if you've got a name for the
[15:22] neighborhood that you live in,
[15:25] um, that may be what customers are using
[15:28] to search for your services if, uh,
[15:31] they're looking for that specific area.
[15:33] You know, you think about, um,
[15:36] uh, down in used to live in San Diego,
[15:38] and there's a lot of different pockets
[15:40] and neighborhoods. San Diego's a very
[15:42] big place.
[15:43] And so, um, the homes that are in North
[15:46] Park are going to be significantly
[15:49] different, uh, in terms of,
[15:52] uh, what they're looking for, what they
[15:54] need as opposed to homes that are, uh,
[15:56] further inland.
[15:58] Or closer to the coast. And so,
[16:00] understanding those differences,
[16:02] uh, is important. And showing that you
[16:05] have expertise and that you understand
[16:08] those differences needs to be visible on
[16:10] your website. So, it's some of it is
[16:12] getting what's out of your head,
[16:14] what's in your CRM, whether that's
[16:16] Service Titan or Housecall Pro or
[16:19] Jobber, whatever it is,
[16:20] getting those customer experiences onto
[16:22] your website. And there's a right way to
[16:25] do that. So,
[16:26] um,
[16:28] I hope this has been interesting for you
[16:30] and you've kind of understood a little
[16:31] bit more about what it takes to rank on
[16:34] AI search. Again, my name is Aaron with
[16:37] Sequoia GEO. Happy to help. If there's
[16:39] anything I can do, you can head over to
[16:41] my website at sequoiageo.com.
[16:45] I do provide a free assessment of what's
[16:48] going on with your AI search rankings
[16:51] and I'd be happy to provide you that
[16:53] assessment, no cost. I don't need any
[16:55] logins. It's all publicly available
[16:58] information and I have a specific
[17:00] process that I follow to search, uh, AI
[17:03] not only AI, but the web for what's
[17:06] going on with your business and your
[17:08] public display online. So, thank you so
[17:10] much for watching. I hope this was
[17:12] helpful and I'll see you next time.