We pay for Angi leads already. Does that help here?

It gets you into the listing that assistants quote, which is worth something. It does not get your own site quoted, and it means your visibility is rented — if the platform changes what it shows, you have no page of your own in the answer.

Our customers are older. Are they really using AI for this?

Some are and most are not yet. The honest framing is that this is early and cheap now, and the work — claimed listings, real pricing pages, clear service areas — is the same work that pays off in ordinary search regardless.

Can you make the changes for us?

The pages, yes: we write the ones the report's tasks ask for, and you read and approve each one. A new page goes straight into WordPress or Webflow once you approve it, and one click takes it back down; anything else — a section for a page you already have, or a page on another platform — is copied in by whoever runs the site. Listings, reviews and the site's own files stay with you, as tasks with steps.

They matter and we do not touch them. Soliciting reviews is your work, and a tool that offered to do it would be offering something you should not accept.

How many questions are about emergencies?

Several, and they behave differently — urgency questions get shorter answers with fewer names in them, which makes being one of those names worth more.

The first one is: a free account gets 10 credits — one report, 10 prompts on three engines — with no card.

When someone asks an assistant for a plumber, who does it name?

30 buyer questions across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini, run against a real Austin home-services company. The answers cite directories far more often than they cite anybody's website.

The answers

Where each engine got its answer

Six of the questions Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical lost, asked exactly as written, with the sites each engine cited.

“best plumber for Austin homeowners in Austin, TX”
ChatGPT (API)
- angi.com
Perplexity
- statesman.com
- expertise.com
- +3 more
Gemini
- replacecastironpipe.com
- consumeraffairs.com
- +3 more
“who is the best plumber for commercial business properties in Austin, TX”
ChatGPT (API)
- austinpu.com
- skplumbinginc.com
- +3 more
Perplexity
- fisher-services.com
- reliantplumbing.com
- +3 more
Gemini
- facebook.com
- albertoplumbing.com
- +3 more
“best plumber for homeowners in Austin, TX”
ChatGPT (API)
- bbb.org
- siftpros.com
- +2 more
Perplexity
- statesman.com
- reliantplumbing.com
- +3 more
Gemini
- reddit.com
- plumberranker.com
- +3 more
“which plumber is better for Austin homeowners”
ChatGPT (API)
- bbb.org
- bestprosintown.com
- +1 more
Perplexity
- statesman.com
- reddit.com
- +3 more
Gemini
- reddit.com
- angi.com
“compare plumber options in Austin, TX”
ChatGPT (API)
- expertise.com
- reddit.com
- +3 more
Perplexity
- siftpros.com
- statesman.com
- +3 more
Gemini
- siftpros.com
- facebook.com
- +3 more
“how much does plumbing repairs cost in Austin, TX”
ChatGPT (API)
- angi.com
Perplexity
- angi.com
- plumbingsniper.com
- +3 more
Gemini
- abchomeandcommercial.com
- 365taskers.com
- +3 more

Asked on 14 Sept 2026: ChatGPT (API) openai/gpt-5.4-mini · Perplexity perplexity/sonar-pro · Gemini google/gemini-3-flash. Engines answer differently over time; this is what they said that day.

The pattern

Directories win because they answer the comparative question

Almost every question a buyer asks is comparative — best, cheapest that is still good, which one for my situation. A contractor's website cannot answer it, because answering it means talking about competitors. A directory does nothing else. That is the whole mechanism, and it is why the answer is Angi rather than the company that has served the city for twenty years. Two things change it: own the listings being quoted, and publish the honest comparison the directory is faking.

Cited most

On how many of the 30 questions each site was cited. Claimable ones are directory profiles the business can claim and correct.

angi.com Claimable 28/30
reddit.com Community 21/30
bbb.org Claimable 14/30
bestpickreports.com Roundup 14/30
expertise.com Roundup 14/30
rotorooter.com 13/30
homeguide.com 9/30
reliantplumbing.com 9/30
trustanalytica.org 9/30
mrrooter.com 8/30
rootermanofaustin.com 4/30

The report’s list

What the report said to do

The tasks this run filed for Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical, each with how many of the lost questions it answers.

answers 12 questions
Own your listings on angi.com, bbb.org, yelp.com
On 12 of the questions you lose, the assistants cite a directory rather than any business's own site. Those listings are the answer buyers are being shown.
answers 5 questions
Answer “best plumber for homeowners in Austin, TX”
on abacusplumbing.com/about-us/
answers 5 questions
New comparison page answering “compare plumber options in Austin, TX”
answers 3 questions
Answer “best plumber for Austin homeowners in Austin, TX”
on abacusplumbing.com/

The profiles

Where the answers about plumbers, electricians & home services come from

On each profile you claim, write the name, address, phone and website exactly as the site has them.

Angi
Claim it
Cited on 28 of the 30 questions — by ChatGPT for “best plumber for Austin homeowners in Austin, TX”.
1. Claim the business profile at Angi for Pros.
2. Set the services, service area, hours and licence details.
Claim it on Angi
Better Business Bureau
Claim it
Cited on 14 of the 30 questions — by ChatGPT for “best plumber for homeowners in Austin, TX”.
1. Request or claim the BBB business profile.
2. Complete the profile: categories, years in business, contact details.
Claim it on Better Business Bureau
Yelp
Claim it
Cited by Perplexity for “who is the best plumber for commercial business properties in Austin, TX”.
1. Sign in at Yelp for Business and claim the page for this location.
2. Set categories, hours, service area and the specialties buyers search for; add photos.
Claim it on Yelp
Reddit
Community
Cited on 21 of the 30 questions — by Perplexity for “best plumber for Austin homeowners in Austin, TX”.
Threads are quoted as word of mouth. Nothing to claim: answer as yourself, and say who you are.

The pages

What buyers ask, and the page that answers it

Buyers ask: “how much does drain cleaning cost in Austin”
Answer it on: A prices page, a section per job
What it has to say: A range for each job, your call-out fee, and what changes the price
Markup: none needed
Buyers ask: “plumber available today in Austin”
Answer it on: Hours and emergency service, on every page
What it has to say: Whether you answer nights and weekends, and how fast you get there
Markup: Plumber, with openingHoursSpecification
Buyers ask: “best plumber in Round Rock”
Answer it on: A service-area page
What it has to say: Every town and ZIP code you serve, by name
Markup: areaServed
Buyers ask: “licensed plumber in Austin”
Answer it on: The about page
What it has to say: Licence numbers, insurance, years in business, who does the work
Markup: none needed
Buyers ask: “compare plumber options in Austin”
Answer it on: A how-to-choose page
What it has to say: What to ask any plumber, how you price, what you guarantee
Markup: none needed
Buyers ask: “tankless vs tank water heater”
Answer it on: A page for each job you want more of
What it has to say: The trade-offs, the cost range, and when you would recommend each
Markup: none needed

FAQ

Questions

We pay for Angi leads already. Does that help here?: It gets you into the listing that assistants quote, which is worth something. It does not get your own site quoted, and it means your visibility is rented — if the platform changes what it shows, you have no page of your own in the answer.
Our customers are older. Are they really using AI for this?: Some are and most are not yet. The honest framing is that this is early and cheap now, and the work — claimed listings, real pricing pages, clear service areas — is the same work that pays off in ordinary search regardless.
Can you make the changes for us?: The pages, yes: we write the ones the report's tasks ask for, and you read and approve each one. A new page goes straight into WordPress or Webflow once you approve it, and one click takes it back down; anything else — a section for a page you already have, or a page on another platform — is copied in by whoever runs the site. Listings, reviews and the site's own files stay with you, as tasks with steps.
What about reviews?: They matter and we do not touch them. Soliciting reviews is your work, and a tool that offered to do it would be offering something you should not accept.
How many questions are about emergencies?: Several, and they behave differently — urgency questions get shorter answers with fewer names in them, which makes being one of those names worth more.
Is the report free?: The first one is: a free account gets 10 credits — one report, 10 prompts on three engines — with no card.

Other industries

Run the same test on your own home-services company, or a client's

The run above asked 30 questions. A brand tracks up to 200 prompts, a credit a prompt on each report.