Do tradies need to worry about ChatGPT and Google's AI answers?

Worry, no; pay attention, yes. For the "how much" and "how long" questions customers ask before they ring, Google often shows an AI Overview, and it cites individual businesses' own websites alongside social media, video and directory sites. The work that helps most is ordinary: a Business Profile that matches your site, a page for each job you want more of, your licence shown, and the AI crawlers allowed in.

By Jarek Piotrowski · Last updated 24 October 2026

What AI Overviews cite for trade questions

In our Australian AI Overview Index (scan of 23 Oct 2026: 8 trades and home services questions, 3 runs each, searched from Australia), Google showed an AI Overview in 23 of 24 runs, listing 8.4 sources on average. Across those 23 AI Overviews:

Social media, video and forums: 20.
An individual business's own website: 20.
Directories and aggregators: 12.
Government sites: 2.

One question cited no individual business at all: "how to fix a blocked drain". Do-it-yourself questions get do-it-yourself sources.

The Index measures Google's AI Overviews only, on a fixed list of general questions (all published in the Index); it doesn't measure ChatGPT, and it doesn't measure any one business.

Your Business Profile matters most

Google's own guidance for AI features tells site owners to keep their Business Profile information up to date (Google). For local results, Google says ranking is based on relevance, distance and prominence, that "More reviews and positive ratings can help your business's local ranking", and that "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google" (Google Business Profile Help).

Do customers ask AI?

In a US survey of 1,002 adults, 45% had used AI tools for local business recommendations, up from 6% in 2025, and 97% of AI users sometimes double-check what AI suggests against real reviews (BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026). That is a US survey; I know of no Australian figure yet.

The steps

Fix your Google Business Profile. Same business name, phone number and service areas as your website, current hours, and the services you want more of.
One page per job you want more of. What the job involves, how long it takes, the areas you cover and, if you are happy to publish them, typical price ranges.
Show your licence. Your licence number on the site, linked to your state's public licence check.
Let the crawlers in. Run the free AI crawler checker. A security plugin can block AI crawlers without you knowing.
Ask the questions your customers ask. Search them on Google and in ChatGPT with your suburb, and note who is linked and named instead of you.

Licence checks are public in each state, for example NSW Fair Trading's licence check.

Questions people ask

Do I need a website if I have a Google Business Profile?

The profile is where local searches start. A website gives AI answers a page to cite: in our Index, an individual business's own site was a source in 20 of 23 AI Overviews on trade questions (scan of 23 Oct 2026).

Should I make a page for every suburb?

Only for the areas you actually serve, the same areas as your Business Profile, in line with Google's Business Profile guidelines. A page per job usually does more than a page per suburb.

Can I pay to rank higher on Google Maps?

No. Google says "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google" (Google).

If you would rather have it done, SEO and AI-answer visibility covers this work every month (from $2,500 a month), measured in Google's AI Overviews and ChatGPT. For a site built for phone searches, see tradie websites and SEO.