Guide
It's not the same playbook as ranking in Google — some of it overlaps, some of it doesn't. Here's what's actually going on underneath the answer, and what you can check yourself today.
A real shift, still early
A growing share of people are skipping the search results page entirely and just asking an assistant directly — "who's the best [trade] near me." It's still a minority of overall search behavior today, but the share is growing every quarter. And unlike a results page with ten blue links to scroll through, the assistant usually just names one or two businesses. You're either in that answer, or you're invisible to that search entirely — there's no page two to be found on.
What's actually happening underneath
Assistants cross-reference review platforms, not just a star rating — the actual text of what people say, and how recently they said it.
Specific, concrete facts — services offered, area served, how long you've operated, licensing — get cited. Vague marketing copy doesn't give an assistant anything to point to.
Directories, local write-ups, even forum threads on places like Reddit can get pulled in and cited as a source, whether or not you had any control over them.
If your name, address, or phone number doesn't match across platforms, that inconsistency itself can read as a signal something's off.
A real example
One client went from not appearing at all to the #1 answer across three separate real customer questions, in about three weeks.
"My pick for best overall. 5.0 rating in the current local results and based directly in Orange... uses its own installers, and lists a lifetime warranty."
ChatGPT, answering "Who's the best frameless shower installer in Orange, CA?" — Sonshine Glass & Mirror, #1What you can do about it today, free
What people actually say matters more than the star average — that's what gets pulled into an answer.
It's one of the most heavily cited sources. See the full checklist.
"Family-owned since 1998, licensed and insured, serving Orange County" gives an assistant something to cite. "Quality service you can trust" doesn't.
Open ChatGPT and ask the exact question a real customer would ask. Whatever comes back is genuinely what's happening right now — no guessing required.
Worth being upfront about: this is still a fast-moving, early space, and how much it matters depends on how much your own customers are actually using AI assistants to search. It's not a replacement for ranking well in Google — it's an additional place to show up, and increasingly, one people trust more than a page of ads.
We'll ask the exact questions your customers would ask and show you exactly what comes back — before you spend a dollar.