AI search for trades, UK guide
How tradespeople get recommended by ChatGPT and Google’s AI
By Andrew Heppinstall, founder of Unavoidable Marketing, Leeds. Last updated 13 October 2026.
AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews recommend trade businesses that other websites talk about, that have plenty of genuine reviews, and whose own website answers the customer’s question clearly. For a UK trade the practical steps are: a complete Google Business Profile, a steady flow of real reviews, a page for each service and area you cover, consistent business details everywhere, and mentions on trusted sites such as trade bodies, local press and review platforms.
Why this matters now
More customers now ask an AI assistant who to call instead of scrolling through Google. These answers usually name only a handful of businesses, so being one of them matters more than ranking ninth on a results page. We see it in our own business: enquiries now arrive from people who say ChatGPT recommended us.
What AI answers look at
| Signal | What the research shows | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Mentions on other sites | In an Ahrefs study of 75,000 brands (December 2025), mentions across the web and on YouTube were the strongest predictors of being named by AI. Backlink strength mattered much less. | Get listed and mentioned by trade bodies, suppliers, local press and community sites |
| Your Google Business Profile | BrightLocal’s study of 200,000 local prompts (September 2026) found Business Profiles were 28.6% of citations, mainly in Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode. | Complete every section and keep it active. See our profile guide |
| Your own website | Business websites made up 42% of local citations in the same study. | One clear page per service and area, with a direct answer at the top |
| Reviews | A Seer Interactive and Trustpilot study of over 800,000 AI answers (May 2026) found review sites were 24% of citations for buying questions. | Ask every customer for a genuine review, every time |
| Freshness | Ahrefs found AI assistants cite content about 26% fresher than normal search results. | Update key pages with real new information, and show the date |
What we learned testing our own business
On 12 October 2026 we asked ChatGPT, with web search on, 12 questions UK trades ask when choosing a marketing agency. It named Unavoidable Marketing in 2 of the 12, first for Google Local Services Ads and second for Google Ads for electricians. The electricians result came three days after we published a page answering that exact question.
Three lessons from those tests apply to any trade business:
- Match the question exactly. The pages that got cited had titles and opening lines that answered the question being asked, such as Google Ads for electricians UK.
- State the facts AI repeats. Answers kept quoting contract length, who owns the account and how results are reported. For a trade business the equivalents are your accreditations, guarantees, areas covered, response times and prices or price ranges.
- Answers change every time. SparkToro found less than a 1 in 100 chance of ChatGPT giving the same list twice (January 2026). Judge your visibility over many questions and many weeks, not one screenshot.
A checklist for your trade business
- Google Business Profile complete: primary category, services, service area, photos, weekly posts
- Genuine reviews arriving every week on Google, and on one other trusted platform
- A website page for each main job and town, starting with a two-line answer
- Your name, address and phone number identical on your website, Google, Facebook, trade bodies and directories
- Accreditations shown clearly: Gas Safe, NICEIC, NAPIT, TrustMark, NFRC, FMB or whichever apply
- Listed on your trade body’s find-a-member search, and mentioned by suppliers or local press where you can
- Your website open to search engines, including Bing, which ChatGPT relies on for many searches
What to avoid
- Buying or swapping reviews. Fake reviews have been illegal in the UK since April 2025.
- Dozens of near-identical town pages with the place name swapped. Google treats them as spam, and so does its AI.
- Paying for an AI ranking position report. With answers this variable, a single position means very little.
Frequently asked questions
Can I pay to be recommended by ChatGPT?
No. There is no way to buy a place in ChatGPT’s organic answers. You earn it with the signals above.
How long does it take to show up in AI answers?
A page that clearly answers a question can be cited within days, as ours was. Being recommended consistently usually takes a few months of reviews, mentions and updates.
Do I need special files or code for AI?
Google says no special files are needed for its AI features, and studies have found no measurable benefit from llms.txt files. Clear content, accurate business details and a crawlable website matter far more.
Want to know how AI sees your business?
Book a free 30-minute call and we will check what ChatGPT and Google say when customers ask for your trade in your area.
Sources: Ahrefs, AI brand visibility correlations (December 2025); BrightLocal, local AI visibility study (September 2026); Seer Interactive and Trustpilot, reviews in AI search (May 2026); Ahrefs, freshness of AI citations; SparkToro, AI recommendation consistency (January 2026); Google Search Central, AI features guidance (December 2025).