Why AI Isn’t Recommending Your Trade Business

Angela
Within seconds, AI gives them a shortlist. Three businesses, your competitors are there, and you’re not.

Andy
And here’s the kicker, that competitor may not be better than you, they may not do better work than you, they may not even have a better reputation locally than you.

They were just easier for AI to verify.

Angela
That’s the shift trade business owners need to understand. AI is not just changing where customers search, it’s changing what counts as proof.

Andy
And the question is no longer can customers find you, it’s can AI verify you? Because if AI can’t clearly understand who you are, what you do, where you do it, and why you’re trusted, you could be missing out on customers before they even know your name.

Angela
So today we’re going to unpack what’s changing in the customer buying decision process, how this is perhaps affecting leads drying up right now, how to check and what to do about it.

Andy
You’re listening to The Tradie Show. This is the podcast for trade business and contracting bosses like you who wanna lead with confidence, make more profit, and create a better lifestyle.

Angela
We’re your hosts, Andy and Angela Smith, husband and wife team and co-founders of Lifestyle Tradie. Are you ready to have some fun?

Andy
Hell yeah. You’re flat out, the phone’s ringing, jobs are rolling in. So where’s all the profit going?

Angela
Without systems, it leaks everywhere. At Stress Free Tradie, we’re handing over 27 proven systems from Dr. Drip, plus the AI tools that handle the repetitive stuff. One day completely free and you’ll map out exactly where your profit’s going.

Andy
You should know, this is gonna be the last Stress Free Tradie event tour we will be hosting. Sydney on the 8th of September, Brisbane on the 15th, and Melbourne on the 16th of September.

Head to event.lifestyletradie.com.au to grab your tickets now

All right, it’s time to kick things off with some hell yeah wins from our amazing Lifestyle Tradie members

These are the legends who’s been smashing it in their businesses, proving that small changes can lead to massive results, and hopefully these give you some inspo on what you can do in your business. Ange, what do we have this week? 

Angela
Okay, got some great hell yeahs to share today, Andy. First up, a big shout-out to Dalton, who runs a plumbing company in Queensland, and he shares, “I executed price restructures for two of our clients after absorbing this for far too long. So far so good.”

Andy
Yeah, mate. That’s a big hell yeah, buddy. We had a chat last week, and things are really kicking on for you, so congratulations. So who’s up next, Ange? 

Angela
Next up is Ewan, who operates a garden and landscaping business in Queensland, and he shares, “I’ve doubled my turnover in 11 months. I’m so excited about the future.”

Andy
Yeah, an absolute legend. Listen, coming into Christmas, they had the birth of their second child, and we all know when the second child comes along, the husband normally gets dragged in even more, like I did. Um, and to double his business, double his turnover, double his net profit as well, was absolutely huge.

A big hell yeah there. Last but not least, what’s up next, Ange? 

Angela
Okay. Last is Matt, who operates a plumbing company. He’s also in sunny Queensland with his partner, Andrea, and he writes, “Net profit is up three times on the same period last year, and it was already a massive jump on the previous one. We are pumped.”

Andy
Yeah. Listen, all business owners, we’ve had our good times, we’ve had our bad times, and, and Matt, we all know you’ve had that challenges of good and bad. But this is the thing with rebuilding your business. You get the foundations, you get the structure right, you get your team right, and profit just keeps flying, flying high.

These are some massive wins, and that’s what we’re talking about here, helping tradies take back control of their business, make the right changes in their business, and see the wins roll on in. All right, so let’s get into it. I reckon that some tradies will hear AI and they’ll think to themselves, “Here we go again, another tech thing.

I don’t have time to learn all this AI stuff.” And you know what? It’s fair enough. You know, you’re dealing with jobs, staff, customers, quoting, cash flow, suppliers, the phone’s ringing all day. You’re we- wearing a million hats But this isn’t really about becoming an AI expert, it’s about understanding how your customers are starting to behave when it comes to their buying decisions, because it might seriously be having an effect on your lead flow right now.

Angela
Yeah. Look, the thing is, even if you’re not using AI, maybe your customer is. That homeowner, for instance, might be opening Claude, ChatGPT, Google Gemini, whatever AI they’re using, and they ask a normal question like, “Who’s a reliable plumber near me?” Or, “Who does bathroom renovations in my area?” Or maybe they’re r- asking, “Find me a builder with good reviews who works on heritage homes.”

Andy
And instead of just getting a list of websites, they’re actually getting an answer. They’re getting a shortlist and a recommendation. So that’s the part trade business owners need to really take seriously at the moment. 

Angela
Yeah, agreed. Because if AI is helping form the shortlist, then you need to know whether your customer is even in the conversation, right?

Andy
Yeah, 100%, and this is why you need to hear this, so that you can start doing something about it right now. The thing is, most trade business owners have some sort of online presence, a website, maybe a Google business profile, a few reviews, and maybe some photos on Facebook or Instagram. 

Angela
Yeah, but when AI tries to piece it all together, the information often isn’t clear enough.

The business might look good, but the proof just isn’t obvious. 

Andy
That’s exactly the problem and, and this is why it drives me mad because so many tradies are doing brilliant work out there every week, but online they’re looking pretty average. And you could be doing great work, have happy customers, and be known locally, but if AI can’t verify that online, they probably won’t recommend you.

Angela
So let’s talk about verification. When we say verify, we’re talking about simple things. Can AI clearly work out who you are, what you do, where you work, what jobs you specialize in, whether customers trust you, and whether your details are consistent across the web?

Andy
It’s looking for signals. It’s looking at things like reviews, service pages, suburbs, your license details, photos, directory listings, definitely your Google business profile, your website, and social profiles.

All those little bits of evidence either build confidence or create confusion.

Angela
So if there’s confusion, AI may skip you and now recommend someone else’s business, and that’s why this matters. AI is not just changing where customers search, it’s actually changing what counts as proof. So Andy, what are the main things that stop AI from verifying a trade business?

Andy
Yeah, there’s a few, but I wanna focus on three of the big ones. The first one is vague service pages. That’s a big one and, and this is everywhere in the trade industry. If you land on a website and it says, “Quality workmanship, reliable service, competitive pricing,” it could be any plumber, builder, sparky, roofer, or landscaper in Australia, right?

So it doesn’t clearly say what you specialize in, what type of jobs you- want, who you want to help, and where you work 

Angela
So AI has to guess 

Andy
Exactly, and AI doesn’t wanna guess when it’s recommending a business to a homeowner. 

Angela
Okay, so what’s the second big one? 

Andy
Well, the weak location proof. A lot of trade business say they service Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Northern Territory, uh, and it’s all pretty broad, right?

But if, if someone asks AI for a builder in Cronulla and your site only says Sydney-wide, you won’t look as a- as relevant as a competitor who clearly shows work based in suburbs like Cronulla, Carramar, and the Sutherland Shire, right?

Angela
So your business might be excellent, but online it’s not clear. 

Andy
Exactly. The third big one is generic reviews. Now, every good review helps, right? But, “Great job, highly recommend,” doesn’t give AI much to work with. A stronger review mentions the job, the suburb, the experience, and the outcome.

Angela
Okay, so let’s make that practical. They need to be writing something like, “They helped me with our bathroom renovation in Maitland, communicated clearly, kept the site tidy, and finished to a high standard.”

So that’s way better, right? Because that gives proof. 

Andy
Yeah, we need to show genuine local proof, real jobs, real suburbs, real reviews, real examples. Because it’s not just about being found, it’s about being found for the right thing. 

Angela
Yeah. Great. So vague service pages, weak location proof, and generic reviews are the big three.

So in your opinion, what else stops AI from verifying a trade business? 

Andy
You’ve gotta make sure you’ve got the right business details. Your business name, phone number, website, address, service areas, opening hours need to match across all of the internet. Check your project proof. If you’re doing great work, but not capturing photos or videos, before and afters, or short job summaries, online it can look like you haven’t really done a lot.

And you need to check all your details that forms trust, like your license, you’re insured, you’re qualified, you’re certified, you’re accredited, or you’ve even won awards or been featured locally. Make it obvious. Don’t make people dig for it or make AI dig for it. 

Angela
Yeah. Look, that’s a great list of what’s stopping AI from verifying a trade business.

So I imagine every tradie listening is probably asking, is this fixable? 

Andy
Yeah, definitely. This gap is fixable. And this is not one of those things where you need to panic or rebuild everything you’ve got overnight, but you need to start one step at a time, because trade businesses that act right now will have a massive head start.

They’ll become easier to understand, easier to verify, and easier to recommend. 

Angela
So what happens to the ones that wait? 

Andy
Well , they might be back there wondering why the phone’s gone a bit quiet, leads have dried up, and they’re starting to wonder, “Well, where are these next jobs actually coming from?” 

Angela
Yeah. Ouch. Okay, so let’s make this super practical. How does a trade business owner actually check whether AI can see and verify their business? 

Andy
The good news is you don’t have to have any of this fancy software. You can simply do a AI visibility check yourself, and I’d suggest doing this with a few different tools.

You might wanna use ChatGPT, try Google, try Gemini. Don’t just rely on one answer from one platform. 

Angela
So what are we actually asking? 

Andy
So you just look at really starting with a question a, a customer would ask. And let’s say that you’re a builder in Geelong. You might type in, “Who are the best builders in Geelong?”

I mean, obviously Geelong’s in Melbourne, but for a home renovation, or if you’re a plumber in, in Brisbane or North Rocks, “Who is a reliable plumber in North Rocks for blocked drains?” The key is to make it specific. Don’t just ask, “Who is the best tradies near me?” Make sure you ask it in a way that a homeowner would ask if they had a real problem.

Angela
So we’re talking service and location. 

Andy
Definitely service and location, and keep it simple. Think about your avatar, think about your customer, and ask exactly that. Then look at what actually comes back when you do this. Does it show your business coming up? Do your competitors show up? What does AI say about them?

Well, what do they say about you? What sources does it seem to be using? And if you don’t show up, don’t just get annoyed and close the laptop. That’s useful information that you can look at fixing. 

Angela
Yeah, because now you know there’s a gap, right? 

Andy
Then ask the second question, “What can you verify about my business?”

Type in your business name and ask, “What can you verify about Smith & Co Plumbing based on publicly available information?” And look at the answers carefully. Can it find your services? Can it find your locations? Can it find your reviews? Can it find your license details? Can it describe what type of work you do, or is it a little vague?

Angela
And I imagine you’d also wanna know what it can’t find. Fair? 

Andy
That’s the next prompt. Ask what information is missing or unclear about this business. That one is gold because AI will often tell you where the holes are. It might say, “Your service areas aren’t clear” or, “I can’t verify your license number” or, “Your reviews don’t mention specific services” or, “It can find your Google listing, but your website doesn’t explain what you specialize in.”

Angela
So this becomes your fix list. 

Andy
Exactly. And then I’d do one more. Ask AI to compare you against a competitor. Something like, “Compare Smith & Co Plumbing versus ABCD Plumbing for blocked drains in Brisbane. Which business appears more trustworthy online and why?” And this information is gonna be super useful because if AI says your competitor looks stronger because they have clearer services pages, better suburb proof, more detailed reviews, or stronger photos, that’s not bad news.

That’s a roadmap that you can fix.

Angela
It’s showing you exactly what you need to improve. Like, it literally gave you a list. 

Andy
Yes, and that’s the point of the whole thing, isn’t it? You don’t need to guess. You can use AI to show you what AI is seeing.

Angela
I love this. 

Andy
Yeah, and when you do that, you start to understand why certain businesses are showing up and why other businesses are not.

Angela
Okay, so the self-check is basically four steps. 

Andy
That’s it. 

Angela
One, ask what a customer would ask. Two, check whether your business appears. Three, ask what AI can verify about your business, and four, compare your business with a competitor and look for gaps. 

Andy
That is correct, and I’d suggest writing the answers down. Don’t just read it and move on. 

Angela
No. This is creating a simple list, like what’s missing, what’s wrong, what’s unclear, what is the competitor doing better, and therefore, what can we fix this month? Because this is gonna give you something really practical to work from. 

Andy
Exactly. Trade business owners don’t need another vague marketing thing to do. They need to know, what do I do this coming Monday? 

Angela
Okay, so let’s talk about that. If you run this check and realize AI is not finding you, or it’s not confident about your business, what do you actually fix first? 

Andy
Yeah, that’s a great question, but I’d focus on three things. The number one would clean up the obvious facts.

Your business name, your phone number, website, license number, service areas, and opening hours need to be consistent everywhere throughout the internet. Your website, Google Business profile, Facebook, Instagram, Bing, Apple Maps, directories, anywhere your business appears. If those details are messy, clean them up.

That is not exciting work, I know, but get the foundations right, and it definitely matters to get this correct. 

Angela
Yes, I hear you. This, to me, is the foundations, because it’s gonna be the starting point for AI to verify you as a business. 

Andy
That’s it, and then the next thing is fix your top three service pages.

Not every service you’ve ever done, just the top three money-making services you actually want more work of. For each one, make sure the page clearly answers these questions: What do you do? Who is it for? Where do you do it? What problems does it solve? What proof do you have? What questions do customers usually ask?

If your page doesn’t answer those, rewrite it. 

Angela
Okay. So we need to avoid this generic words like quality workmanship or reliable service stuff. Be specific, because clarity’s gonna win. So what was your number three? 

Andy
Yeah, number three, fix your reviews and project proof. This is a big one, because trade businesses are sitting on proof every single day, every single week, every single month, but most don’t collect it properly.

You don’t want fake reviews. You don’t want scripted reviews either. But after every job, you could say When you leave a review, it really helps other local homeowners if you mention the type of job we helped with, the suburb, and what experience that you had. And that’s honest, it’s useful, and it gives future customers better information.

So almost give your customers a script of what you want it to roughly say in it. 

Angela
Love that, and it’s gonna give AI better proof, which is the point. 

Andy
Exactly, and then start capturing project proof. So this is you capturing the proof for AI. It doesn’t need to be fancy, but you need to take before and after photos.

You need to make sure you have the suburb, the service, a quick note on the problem you solved. Something like, blocked drain in Camp Hill. Customer had repeated overflow after heavy rain. We inspected the line, found roots intrusion, cleared the blockage, and recommended a long-term repair. You know, that’s enough just to start, and over time, those little proof points really stack up.

Angela
So this stuff’s really important because AI right now cannot read your photos. It’s actually gotta have some context, some words, some summary about what it’s even looking at so that it can match dots between verifying you and the services you do in the suburbs you work so that it can actually recommend you to your customers.

So what other quick fixes do you have? 

Andy
I think the big one is reviewing your Google business profile. Make sure your categories are right, your services are filled out, your service areas are really clear, your photos are current, and your hours are correct. The other one is replying to some of the reviews with useful detail, not just this copy and paste crap, and fix any old directory listings that are wrong.

Those things are simple, but they all help AI and customers get a cleaner picture of who you are and your business. 

Angela
All right, so that list is absolute gold. 

Andy
It is gold. 

Angela
I know it’s a lot of detail, but it’s super important. So my next question is, how often should we be checking this? 

Andy
Yeah, I’d say probably monthly. I mean, don’t make it bigger than it needs to be at the moment, but once a month run the same AI visibility check and ask, “Who are the best builders in my local area for renovations? What can you verify about my business? What information is missing or unclear? Compare my business with this competitor.”

Angela
Okay, so I imagine we’re looking for patterns, like are you showing up? Is AI describing your business properly? Are the same competitors appearing? Are the same gaps coming up? It actually all becomes part of a marketing rhythm. 

Andy
Yeah, exactly. That’s right. Then you could have a simple checklist like each month pick one proof building task, add one project example to your website, update one service page, add fresh photos to your Google business profile.

Ask recent happy customers for a review. You should be doing that every day, every week anyway. Reply to the reviews with useful detail. Fix one directory listing that’s wrong, but do it consistently. If you do that, you’re gonna really get some momentum. 

Angela
So let’s break that down to maybe something they could do weekly.

Andy
Well, capture proof from the work you’re already doing. Um, taking photos, note the suburb, note the service, save customer comments, write down the problem you solved. Because being good at your trade is no longer enough if the internet cannot prove it. 

Angela
Okay, so that was a lot, but super practical. So if you had to tell me just literally one thing, ’cause I’m overloaded, one thing to go do now that this episode is coming to an end, what’s that?

Andy
Yeah, I think you just wanna run the check on your business today. See if your business appears, see what AI can verify, see what it gets wrong, see which competitor shows up instead, then pick one gap and fix it. Because AI is not just changing where customers search, it is changing what counts as proof.

Angela
Because the question is no longer can customers find you, it’s can AI verify you. 

Andy
And if it can’t, that’s the gap you need to be fixing first. It’s Tradie Dilemma time, brought to you by Buy for Tradies, the buying group helping tradies like you save serious coin on materials, fuel, vehicles, tools, and other services.

If you’re not using it, you’re probably paying too much. This is our Q&A segment where you let us know what you’re having trouble with in your business, and we’ll give you our best advice to sort it all out. 

Angela
Okay. So today we have a question from Sarah, who owns a roofing business in Melbourne, and she writes, “Hey, Andy and Ange. How do I approach a staff member who has been working with us for some time but has started to have a steady rhythm of taking sick days?” 

Andy
Yeah. Hey, Sarah. Yeah, a roofing business in Melbourne would be a good business, right? ‘Cause wet all the time. No. Um, that’s a joke. But, um, actually it wouldn’t be ’cause you can’t do the job ’cause it’s wet all the time.

No, shit. As you mentioned, it’s a staff member that’s been with you over a long period of time. The first question I’ll be asking, has this always been the case? Have they done it since day one, or it’s just slowly getting worse as the years roll on? And then once you’ve got a bit of an understanding, I’d be sitting down with them and asking if they’re okay, um, how can you help them, how you can support them, and find out if there is a reason why there’s so many sick days.

It’s very complex these days. It’s different to what I’d say the good old days, but this is the way you’ve got to attack it. I’d sit down with them, have a real good chat, mention about the sick days, talk about how it’s changed over the last five or six years and, and, um, and find out where they are mentally as well.

Angela
Yeah, look, all great points. I also wanna add, I think this is important to ensure that you have set the rules at the beginning. This is where your employee handbook becomes so important. So in the past when we had Dr. Drip, we actually had rules whereby if someone took a sick day on either a Monday or a Friday, they had to actually, um, show up with a, a sick certificate from a doctor, and if they took more than two days or more- Yeah

in advance or consecutive days, they also had to provide, um, a doctor’s certificate. So it’s important just to ensure that people were taking sick days for the right reason. Thanks so much for writing in your question, Sarah. I hope you gained a lot from our response. And remember, if you want Andy and I to answer your most challenging question, then send it our way to podcast@lifestyletradie.com.au.

Andy
Alright, that’s us for today. If there’s one thing I want you to take from this episode, it is this. The way your customers are searching for tradies is changing, and waiting until it affects your lead flow is way too late. 

Angela
Yes. You don’t need to become an AI expert, but you do need to make sure your business is clear, consistent, and easy to trust online.

Andy
So run the check, ask AI what it can verify about your business, see who it recommends in your area, look at what’s missing, what’s wrong, and what your competitors are doing that’s making it easier to understand. 

Angela
Then pick one gap and fix it. Don’t overcomplicate it 

Andy
And if this episode has made you realize your business isn’t as clear as it should be, or you’re attracting the wrong type of work, chasing too many low margin jobs, or feeling like your marketing is a bit hit and miss, then how about you come and see Ange and I live at our next stress-free tradie event?

We’re going to be at a capital city near you really soon. We’d love to meet you in the flesh. 

Angela
So we’re going to give you some really practical lessons on how to make more profit and build a systemized and streamlined business. You don’t wanna miss this. Book your ticket today at lifestyletradie.com.au/events, and bring your partner along.

I think they need to hear it too. 

Andy
Okay, that’s it from us today. Hope to see you in the flesh in the coming months. 

Angela
See you then. 

Andy
Subscribe to The Tradie Show wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Rate and write us a review, or for more information about Lifestyle Tradie, head to lifestyletradie.com.au