How We Get Referrals from ChatGPT for Our Construction Business (And How to Steal This for Your Clients)
AI isn’t just answering trivia questions anymore. It’s sending people to local businesses. Here’s how to make sure it sends them to yours.
At the end of 2025, a client called to book in a job with us. Without us even prompting, she mentioned that ChatGPT had recommended us to her (and made some kind of joke about whether or not to trust the bot lol), but my partner couldn’t wait to tell me – ChatGPT actually recommended us!!!!!
To quote Love Island UK – we were buzzing.
Since then, we have had four more ChatGPT mentions (that we know about!!)
AI referrals are the new word of mouth. And just like word of mouth, they’re earned — not bought. Here’s what actually moves the needle.
Why would ChatGPT recommend anyone at all?
When someone asks ChatGPT “who are the best builders in [your city]” or “who should I call for a granny flat in Canterbury,” it doesn’t pull from a secret database. It draws on everything it was trained on… think websites, forums, directories, review platforms, news mentions, blog content, and then it synthesises an answer.
The businesses that show up most confidently in AI answers are the ones that show up most consistently across the internet. Not necessarily the biggest. Not necessarily the most expensive. The most present.
This is genuinely great news if you’re a smaller operator with a good reputation and a halfway decent website, because you can compete with the big dogs.
How we got ChatGPT to refer us to clients
So every week I am still working on this, adding little bits and bobs to our website, making sure i’m doing at least a post a week on Facebook (I would love to say Instagram too but my plates a little full haha) and uploading recent photos/updates to our Google Business Profile. But here are some points for you to get cracking.
We got really specific about location + service combinations in our content.
Not just “Canterbury builder.” We wrote blog posts and service pages targeting “granny flat builder Rolleston,” “new home build West Melton,” “full-service commercial builder in Christchurch CBD” — the long-tail stuff that reads naturally but covers every way a human (or an AI) might describe what we do.
Where possible we also wrote ‘priced from $XXX’ and we found AI absolutely ate this up as it loves to give it’s users as much relevant info as possible. (eg. post and rail fencing starting from $95 per metre type thing)
We prioritise reviews.
Google Business, local directories — consistent NAP (name, address, phone), up-to-date info, recent reviews. AI cross-references this stuff. A business with 40 reviews and a complete profile looks more credible to a model than one with a gorgeous website and nothing else. We aren’t afraid to ask for reviews directly after a customer pays their final invoice.
We wrote content that answered real questions.
“How much does a granny flat cost in NZ?” “Do I need consent for a sleepout?” “How long does a new build take?” When AI answers these questions, it cites or draws from content that answers them clearly. We wanted to be that content.
We kept our brand name consistent everywhere.
Same business name. Same spelling. Same service description. AI pattern-matches — inconsistency creates noise.
and then something I think would work wonders, but we are yet to implement…
Get mentioned in places that aren’t our own website.
Guest posts, local news, industry roundups, being quoted in other people’s content. AI training data rewards breadth.
What this looks like in practice
AI recommendations aren’t fully predictable or controllable — although ChatGPT is rolling out ads, you can’t pay to be mentioned organically by the ChatGPT or Gemini or the likes, and results vary by model, query phrasing, and how recently the model was trained. What you can control is how credible, consistent, and findable your business looks across the web. Do that well, and the AI recommendations follow.
Think of it less like SEO and more like reputation management at scale. The businesses AI trusts are the ones the internet trusts.
AI search behaviour is still in early days. The marketers who understand this channel — who are actively building for it — are going to have a significant head start on everyone who figures it out in two years’ time.
You’re already here, reading this, which means you’re already ahead. Go do the thing.
The best time to start optimising for AI referrals was twelve months ago. The second best time is right now, before your competitor does.
