Home Services AI Search Case Study

Results at a Glance

Top metrics from a 3-month long campaign with 400+ engagements:

87

cited pages influenced, strengthening the brand’s presence in the sources AI systems refer to

7245

keywords ranked in Google’s top 10

$1.63 million

estimated monthly branding value generated

148%

average increase in brand mentions across different LLMs in 2 months

Urgent-service Discovery Was Shifting from Local Search to AI Recommendations

In home services, discovery often happens in moments of immediate need. Customers are not casually browsing when a pipe bursts, an HVAC system stops working, a roof leaks, or an electrical issue becomes urgent. They are looking for a provider they can trust quickly, and increasingly, those decisions begin inside Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI-assisted search experiences.

That made the brand’s visibility across cited sources a critical part of the buying journey. AI systems were not only summarizing service pages; they were pulling signals from local listings, review platforms, community discussions, comparison pages, and high-authority websites to decide which companies appeared credible enough to recommend.

For a home services brand, the risk was not just ranking lower in traditional search. It was being absent from the sources AI systems used when customers asked questions like “best plumber near me,” “who offers emergency HVAC repair,” or “which roofing company is reliable?” In urgent-intent categories, even a small gap in AI visibility could mean losing high-value leads at the exact moment customers were ready to book.

The challenge was building a stronger citation footprint across the places AI already trusted, so the brand could show up more often, with better context, when homeowners needed fast, reliable help.

A Reliable Way to Measure AI Visibility Across Urgent Home-service Searches

The team needed to understand how the brand appeared when homeowners used AI to find help for urgent, high-intent service needs, from heating repair and furnace issues to AC repair, plumbing problems, drain cleaning, electrical repair, and sewer line concerns.

The measurement program focused on:

AI Share of Voice
The brand’s share of appearances compared with tracked local and regional home service competitors across AI-generated answers.

Citations
The URLs, local directories, review platforms, service pages, community discussions, and comparison sources AI platforms referenced when recommending providers for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, indoor air quality, and sewer repair queries.

Brand Mentions
How often the brand was named in AI-generated answers when users searched for urgent home services, maintenance help, emergency repairs, installation options, or trusted local providers.

This helped the brand understand whether it was being included at the moment homeowners were ready to book, and whether AI systems were connecting it with the right service categories, locations, and trust signals.

The goal was not just to improve visibility in AI answers, but to build a repeatable system for tracking where the brand appeared, which sources influenced those appearances, and how that visibility changed as new high-intent queries emerged.

What we did

STEP / 01

Audited Where AI Was Finding Local Service Recommendations

We assessed how AI platforms were interpreting urgent home-service searches and where the brand appeared within those answers. The goal was to understand not just whether the brand was mentioned, but which sources were shaping recommendations for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, drain cleaning, sewer line repair, and indoor air quality services.

Our reporting tracked citation and mention patterns across AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Mode, Perplexity, and Copilot. We identified which local directories, review platforms, service pages, community discussions, and comparison sources were most often influencing AI-generated recommendations.

This gave the team a clearer view of the brand’s AI citation footprint: where it was visible, where competitors were being recommended instead, and which service-specific searches were most likely to affect urgent booking decisions.

STEP / 02

Measured Visibility Across High-Intent Service Categories

We tracked month-over-month movement to understand whether new activity increased brand mentions, improved citation quality, and strengthened visibility across the company’s core service lines.

This included searches related to heating repair, furnace repair, air conditioning repair, AC installation, HVAC maintenance, indoor air quality services, plumbing, drain cleaning, electrical repair, and sewer line repair.

The reporting showed which services were gaining stronger visibility, which sources AI systems referenced most often, and where the brand still needed more supporting context. When certain service categories or citation sources produced measurable lift, we scaled those efforts. When activity did not improve visibility or source quality, it was refined or paused.

STEP / 03

Strengthened the Sources Homeowners Trust Before Booking

In home services, customers often make decisions quickly, especially when a repair is urgent. AI systems were pulling from the same sources homeowners already trusted: reviews, local listings, service-specific pages, directories, and public discussions about reliability, response time, pricing, and service quality.

Instead of relying only on standard website content, CiteWorks Studio focused on improving the brand’s presence in high-intent, service-specific sources that AI systems were already referencing.

We prioritized the channels most likely to influence urgent recommendations, especially searches around emergency HVAC repair, AC repair, furnace problems, plumbing issues, clogged drains, electrical repairs, and sewer line concerns. By strengthening the brand’s representation across these sources, the campaign improved how AI systems understood and recommended the company.

Over time, this created a stronger visibility foundation across both search and AI recommendations, helping the brand appear more often when homeowners needed fast, trusted service.

“The campaign didn’t just increase how often we appeared; it helped AI systems connect our brand with urgent service needs, trusted local expertise, and the confidence customers need before booking.”

— CMO, Home Services Company

Compounding Visibility Across Urgent-Intent Searches

The campaign delivered measurable gains across both traditional search and AI-generated recommendations, showing how closely local SEO visibility and AI discovery now work together in the home services category.

Over the 3-month campaign, the brand strengthened its presence across the sources AI systems referenced when homeowners searched for urgent help with HVAC, plumbing, electrical repair, drain cleaning, sewer line repair, and indoor air quality services.

The results showed a clear lift in decision-stage visibility:

• 400+ citation-bearing engagements delivered in less than 3 months
• 87 cited pages influenced, strengthening the sources AI systems referenced
• #7 average ranking position for all high-intent keywords in the Google SERPs 
• 7,245 keywords in Google’s top 10, expanding visibility across urgent service searches
• 148% increase in LLM brand mentions, improving inclusion in AI-generated recommendations

More importantly, the gains created a stronger foundation for future discovery. By improving the brand’s visibility across trusted citations, service-specific pages, and high-intent local sources, the campaign helped AI systems understand where the company fit, which services it offered, and why it should be recommended.