How to Get ChatGPT and Google Gemini to Recommend Your Business
I want to tell you about a phone call we got earlier this year.
A woman rang Pete wanting a quote for a granny flat. Standard enough enquiry. But during the call she revealed to us that ChatGPT had recommended us.
ChatGPT!!! Recommended our small Canterbury construction business!!! To a real customer who then picked up the phone and called us directly!!!!
It’s happened again since then. And now Google Gemini has started pulling through our web pages and linking to them directly in its answers. Getting leads from AI tools is just a normal part of how our business gets found now!!
This is AIO. Artificial Intelligence Optimisation. Or AEO, Answer Engine Optimisation. And it might be the biggest untapped opportunity for trade businesses right now — because almost nobody in your industry is doing it intentionally yet.
What even is AEO/GEO/AIO?
You know SEO — Search Engine Optimisation. Getting your website to show up on Google. AEO is the same idea but for AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and whatever comes next.
AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation. Instead of optimising for a search engine that returns a list of links, you’re optimising for an answer engine that gives its user a direct recommendation. When someone asks ChatGPT “who builds granny flats in Christchurch” or asks Gemini “what’s the best fencing contractor near New Plymouth” — those AI tools go looking for answers. They crawl the internet for specific, detailed, trustworthy content that helps them answer the question as helpfully as possible.
If your website has that content — you become the answer.
And here’s the really good news. The things that make AI love your website are exactly the same things that make Google love your website. Good AEO and good SEO go hand in hand. You’re not doing two separate jobs — you’re doing one job that works for both audiences simultaneously.
My top tip: The niche question is everything
When someone asks AI a vague question — “how much do new tyres cost” — the AI has to pull from thousands of sources. Tyre shops across the whole country, international websites, comparison tools, review sites. Your little local tyre shop has basically no chance of being the answer to that question.
But when someone asks — “how much does it cost to replace two tyres on a Honda Civic in Dunedin” — suddenly the pool of possible answers gets very small very fast. And if you have a page on your website that specifically addresses that question, in that location, for that type of vehicle — you are in genuine contention to be the answer AI gives.
Niche the question down so far that you become the most relevant result.
This works for every single trade:
A fencer — “how much does it cost to fence a section in Rolleston” beats “fencing prices” by a mile.
A builder — “how much does a kitchen renovation cost in Greymouth” beats “renovation costs” every time.
A mechanic — “how much does a full service cost for a diesel ute in Taurange” beats “car service prices” completely.
A plumber — “how much does it cost to replace a hot water cylinder in Nelson” is so specific that if you have that answer on your website and you’re a Nelson plumber — you’re it.
The more specific the question your page answers, the less competition you have and the more likely AI is to send someone directly to you.
Pricing — The Detail AI Is Desperate For
AI tools want to give their users genuinely helpful answers. When someone asks what something costs, a vague “get in touch for a quote” is useless to an answer engine. It can’t tell its user anything helpful with that. But a “starting from $96k for a detached granny flat in Canterbury” — that’s something AI can actually work with.
We put a starting from price on our granny flat page and it made a noticeable difference to how AI referenced us. The answer engine could now tell its user “Pete’s Construction builds granny flats in Canterbury starting from $96,000” — which is a complete, useful answer that sends a warm, pre-qualified lead our way.
And here’s the bonus — that starting from price also weeds out the tyre kickers. Someone who can’t afford a $96k granny flat isn’t going to call. The leads that do come through already know the ballpark and are serious. Less time wasted on both sides.
You don’t need to publish a full price list. A starting from figure or a rough range is enough. Something is infinitely better than nothing when it comes to giving AI information to work with.
FAQs — The Secret Weapon Most Websites Don’t Have
Add a FAQ section to the bottom of every service page on your website. Not generic questions — specific, niche questions that your ideal customer is actually asking before they book.
Because here’s how answer engines work — when someone asks AI a question, it goes looking for a page that answers that exact question. If your FAQ section contains the question word for word — or close to it — your page becomes a very strong candidate for the answer.
So instead of a FAQ that says:
Q: How much does fencing cost? A: Contact us for a quote.
You write:
Q: How much does it cost to install a paling fence per metre in Christchurch? A: Standard paling fencing in Canterbury starts from around $X per metre installed, depending on ground conditions, height and timber grade. We service Christchurch, Rolleston, Rangiora and surrounding areas.
See the difference? The second one is so specific that AI can actually use it. It answers a real question with real information. And a potential customer reading it feels like they’re getting a genuine answer rather than being brushed off to a contact form.
Think about what people ask before they book you. What does your partner get texted constantly? What do people always want to know before they commit to a quote? Those are your FAQs. Write them out, answer them honestly and specifically, and add them to every service page.
Service Areas — Tell AI Exactly Where You Work
AI needs to know where you operate to recommend you to the right people. Don’t make it guess.
On Pete’s website I added a simple banner that listed every area we service — Christchurch, Rolleston, Akaroa, Banks Peninsula, Darfield, Tai Tapu, Little River, Rangiora and more. It sounds almost too simple. But it tells Google and answer engines exactly where we work and who we can help.
Do the same on every service page. List your suburbs, your towns, your regions. Be thorough. If you service it, name it. Because “builder Canterbury” is going to reach far fewer people than a page that specifically mentions fourteen towns across the region.
How to Set Your Website Up for AEO
Bringing it all together — here’s what an answer engine optimised page looks like for a trade business:
- Internal links to related pages — if someone is reading your granny flat page, link to your new builds page, your consents information, your service area pages.
- A specific headline that includes the service and location. Not “our services” — “Granny Flat Builder Invercargill and Southland.”
- A starting from price — even just a rough range. Give AI something real to tell its user.
- Your service areas listed clearly — every suburb and town you actually work in.
- Niche specific content — not generic descriptions of your service but specific details about what’s involved, what affects the price, how long it takes, what the process looks like.
- A FAQ section at the bottom of every page with real, specific questions answered honestly and in detail.
- Location mentions throughout — woven naturally into the copy, not stuffed in awkwardly.
Build every landing page with those elements and you’re optimising for Google, for answer engines and for your actual human reader all at the same time.
AI leads are a thing!
AEO isn’t some complicated technical thing that requires a specialist or a big budget. It’s just being specific. Answering real questions with real information. Telling AI exactly what you do, where you do it and what it costs.
The trade businesses that figure this out now — while their competitors are still paying BuildersCrack for dodgy leads — are going to have a serious advantage in the next few years.
We got our first ChatGPT referral within a month of properly optimising our pages for answer engines. Since then it’s become a normal part of how our business gets found.
Your website is already there. Now make it work harder.