When a homeowner asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Google who to call about a leaking hot water tank, the answer can name local businesses directly. AI search optimization, also called GEO (generative engine optimization) or AEO (answer engine optimization), is the work of making your business easy for those tools to find, read and confirm. At Digital Moose it is part of our SEO plan for trade businesses across Canada, with no separate price.
People often type or say a full question: “Which roofer in Kanata can fix a leak this weekend?” or “Is it worth fixing a 15-year-old air conditioner?” Google may answer with an AI Overview or in AI Mode, and ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity write answers of their own.
For a trade business, two kinds of questions matter most. The recommendation question asks who to hire in an area. The problem question asks what is wrong and what it might cost, and a business that explains it clearly is easier to remember when it is time to book.
Google says AI Overviews show only when its systems decide they add something to classic Search, so they often do not appear. Regular search results still matter, and the same groundwork supports both.
AI tools do not keep a private list of good contractors. They draw on what they can find about local businesses on the web: your website, your Google Business Profile, directory listings and reviews. When those sources agree, it is easier to connect your business with a service and an area.
Google is specific about its own AI features. The same SEO best practices apply as for Search overall. To be shown as a supporting link, a page must be indexed and eligible to show in Google Search with a snippet, and there are no additional technical requirements. Among the basics Google still lists are structured data that matches the visible text and an up-to-date Business Profile.
Other assistants choose their sources in their own ways and change often, so we focus on groundwork that holds up across all of them.
Schema markup for your business, services and FAQs that says the same thing as the visible text. As we did for one of our clients recently, we copied every FAQ answer into the schema word for word from the page, and rebuilt it whenever the page text changed, because Google expects structured data to match what visitors can see on the page.
Technical SEOOne business name, address, phone number and set of hours across your website and the main Canadian directories, with your service areas described the same way, so every source agrees about who you are and where you work.
Local SEOCorrect categories, services, hours, service areas and photos, kept current through the year. Google names an up-to-date Business Profile among its SEO basics for AI features.
Google Business Profile managementThe questions your customers really ask, answered in plain text on the page for each service, with the short answer first and the detail after it.
Content marketingEvery month we ask these tools a set of questions your customers might ask and record whether your business is named in the answers. The results sit in your monthly SEO reporting.
We build a fixed set of questions from your services and the areas you serve, mixing the kinds homeowners ask:
“Who is a good electrician in Kanata?”
“Heat pump or gas furnace for a house in Calgary?”
“How much does it cost to replace a hot water tank in Edmonton?”
“Why does my sump pump keep running?”
Each month we ask the same questions in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity and record two things separately: whether your business is named, and whether the answer links to your website. An assistant can name a business without linking to it.
We also watch Google Search Console. Google counts sites that appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode in the overall search traffic in Search Console, so those visits are already part of the organic search numbers in your report.
No one can promise that a business will appear in AI answers. These tools pick their own sources and change often.
Answers vary. The same question can get a different answer tomorrow or for another person. Our monthly check is a consistent sample, not a record of every answer every customer sees.
Our checks are close to what customers see, not identical. A signed-in app on someone's phone can answer differently.
There is no special AI file or tag to buy. Google says its AI features have no additional technical requirements.
It builds slowly, like the rest of SEO. A corrected listing or a new answer on a service page can take weeks or months to be picked up.
AI search optimization is part of the Digital Moose SEO plan, not an add-on with its own price. The work that helps you in regular Google results is the same work AI tools draw on: technical SEO, local SEO, your Google Business Profile and clear service content. Plans start at $1,497 CAD a month. See what's included on our pricing page.
AI Search
Yes, as part of our SEO work rather than as a separate package. Generative engine optimization and answer engine optimization are names for helping a business show up in answers from AI tools. For a local business that comes down to structured data that matches the page, the same business details across directories, a complete Google Business Profile and clear answers to customer questions on your service pages. Each month we also check ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity to see whether your business is mentioned.
No one can promise that. AI tools choose their own sources, and their answers change often. Google says no special markup or extra optimization is needed for its AI features: a page has to be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet, and normal SEO best practice applies. We do that groundwork and show you each month whether your business is being mentioned.
SEO helps your business show up in search results. GEO, short for generative engine optimization, is about how AI tools describe your business when they write an answer. For a local trade business the two overlap almost completely, because AI tools draw on the same website, Business Profile and listings. That is why we treat GEO as part of SEO, not a replacement for it.
Ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity a question your customers would ask, with your city in it, and see whether your business is named. On our SEO plan we ask the same questions every month and report whether your business is named and linked.
Yes. We are based in Ottawa and work with home service businesses across Canada. The monthly checks use your own city and service areas, so the results reflect the market you work in.
Those are tools we set up for your business: an AI chat widget that answers visitors on your website and an AI phone assistant that answers your calls, with AI automation for workflows behind the scenes. AI search optimization is about how outside tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google describe your business.
Book a free strategy call. We will look at your website, your Google Business Profile and your listings, and tell you plainly what we would work on first.
Book a free strategy call