AEO for tradies: how to show up in ChatGPT and Google AI answers

Short answer: AEO for tradies is mostly good local SEO. Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode need no special tricks: a page must be indexed and able to show a snippet. For ChatGPT search, let OpenAI’s OAI-SearchBot crawl your site. Then write clear answers, keep business details consistent, earn genuine reviews, and accept that nobody can guarantee a citation.

Is AEO different from normal SEO?

For Google, not really: Google’s own guide says optimising for its AI search features is still SEO.

AEO, or answer engine optimisation, means getting your business into answers from AI tools. Google says its AI features are built on its core ranking and quality systems, and they link to the pages that back up each answer.

To be one of those links, a page must be indexed and able to appear in Search with a snippet. Google says there is no special schema to add, and Google Search ignores llms.txt and other AI text files. Its newer guide adds one check: your site must be included in the Search generative AI setting in Search Console, so ask your web person to confirm it.

What do AI search tools look for on a trade website?

Google and OpenAI ask for the basics: pages their crawlers can reach, clear text they can read, and accurate business details.

How do I make sure ChatGPT can find my business?

Allow OpenAI’s search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, in your robots.txt file and in any firewall or hosting settings.

OpenAI uses different crawlers for different jobs, and each one is controlled separately:

• OAI-SearchBot finds pages for ChatGPT’s search features. If you block it, OpenAI says your site is left out of ChatGPT’s search answers, apart from plain navigation links.
• GPTBot collects content that may be used to train OpenAI’s models. You can block it and still allow OAI-SearchBot.
• ChatGPT-User may visit a page when someone asks ChatGPT a question. OpenAI says it plays no part in deciding what appears in search.

OpenAI also recommends allowing requests from its published IP ranges, and says a robots.txt change can take about 24 hours to reach search. Google gives similar advice: allow crawling in robots.txt and in any CDN or hosting setup.

Ask whoever looks after your website to check that security settings are not blocking the crawlers you want.

What should my service and suburb pages say?

Each page should answer the customer’s question in the first few lines: what you do, where, roughly what it costs and how to book.

If someone asks “Who can fix a burst pipe in Parramatta tonight?”, your page should answer that straight away, in plain text:

• the job, and the suburbs you cover for it;
• prices “from”, or what changes the price;
• when you are available, including after hours if you offer it;
• licence details where your state requires them;
• your phone number and a booking link.

Keep these details in text, not inside images or a scanned price list. Google lists important content in text form as one of its basics.

Write from experience. Google’s guide favours content with a first-hand point of view over generic tips anyone could copy. A page on how you deal with tree roots in old clay sewer lines beats “5 tips for blocked drains”. Google also says it has no preferred word count, so write what the customer needs and stop.

Be careful with suburb pages. Google warns that churning out pages for every variation of a search, mainly to game rankings or AI answers, breaks its scaled content abuse spam policy. A suburb page earns its place when it says something true and useful about that area, such as the jobs you do there and how quickly you can arrive.

Real FAQs, and what markup still does

Build your FAQs from the questions customers ask on the phone, by text and in enquiries. Answer each in one to three plain sentences.

Google stopped showing FAQ rich results in Search on 7 May 2026, so FAQ markup no longer adds a dropdown to your listing. FAQPage is still a valid schema.org type, and Google says structured data should match the visible text on the page.

Schema.org has a Plumber type, which sits under LocalBusiness. There is no Handyman type, so a handyman business can use HomeAndConstructionBusiness, the type one level above Plumber. Properties such as name, telephone, areaServed and openingHours describe the business. As Google needs no special schema for its AI features, treat markup as tidy labelling, not a shortcut.

Do reviews and my Google Business Profile matter?

Yes: Google names Business Profiles as one way to get your services seen in its AI answers, not just in ordinary results.

Keep that profile up to date, as Google advises, and make your details match everywhere:

• the same business name, phone number, hours and service areas on your website, Google Business Profile and directory listings;
• every listing updated when something changes, such as a new number.

For the set-up steps, read our guide to Google Business Profile for plumbers.

Genuine reviews matter too. Google notes that its AI features can draw on what people say about products and services online, in blogs, videos and forums, and that manufactured “mentions” are not the shortcut they appear to be. Ask every customer after a finished job, reply to reviews, and never buy, filter or write them.

How can LYD Plumber help with AEO?

LYD Plumber does the groundwork on your website, profile and reviews. It cannot promise rankings or AI citations, and no honest provider can.

• Websites. On Elevate and Dominate: service and suburb pages, click-to-call and online booking on every page, and technical SEO and schema set up. See websites for plumbers and handymen.
• SEO and AEO. Elevate includes basic SEO and Google Business Profile management. Dominate adds advanced SEO and AEO, with a monthly report. An optional AI-powered daily SEO and AEO add-on for Elevate writes 20 new pages a month for $180 + GST a month. Every page is checked by our team and approved by you before it goes live. Read more about SEO and AEO for trade businesses.
• Reviews. From Launch up, a review request goes to each customer when a job is marked done. Elevate adds drafted replies for you to approve. See automatic Google review requests.

Elevate is $460 + GST a month on annual billing or $529 + GST month to month. Dominate is $710 + GST a month on annual billing or $749 + GST month to month. See LYD Plumber plans and pricing.

Google and ChatGPT choose their own sources, and Google itself says indexing and serving are not guaranteed.

To see what answer-first service and suburb pages would look like for your business, book a free demo or start a 30-day free trial.