AI has never met your technicians, read your reviews in context, or heard a customer say "they were the only ones who picked up." But it's learning, and the businesses teaching it the most are the ones getting recommended.
Scorpion's SVP of Product and Optimization, William Haddad, joined ServiceTitan's Toolbox for the Trades podcast to break down what this shift means for home services businesses and what to do about it.
Google Used to Rank Websites. Now AI Picks Favorites.
“We are coming from a world where Google used to rank websites, and now AI is picking favorites and recommending brands."
“We are coming from a world where Google used to rank websites, and now AI is picking favorites and recommending brands,” William told the listeners. AI Overviews appear at the top of search results more than 50% of the time, and website traffic has declined for many businesses as a result. The customer research journey that used to involve clicking through multiple links now gets compressed into a single AI-generated answer.
That answer comes from your entire digital footprint, not just your website.
Three Things That Drive AI Visibility
William broke it down into three factors every business owner should keep in mind:
Does your content answer the question? When someone in your area searches for the services your business offers, is it obvious online that your business is the answer? Service pages, blog posts, and videos that address common customer questions all signal relevance to AI.
Authority and popularity signals: AI rewards businesses that credible sources talk about. Local news mentions, community sponsorships, press coverage, and social media all contribute to the authority signals that help AI recommend your business.
User signals: When someone visits your site, is the experience good? Easy to navigate? Multiple ways to reach you? Positive user behavior tells search engines your business is worth recommending.
The Human Element Is Your Differentiator
"The website is one input now, and it's an input that you can control, but there are many inputs that AI can leverage that are perhaps more just influenced or completely out of your control,” William said. “You could influence your reviews online by asking for them. You can influence your reviews by asking customers to reference something specific about their service."
AI has never hired a technician, experienced a flooded water heater, or watched a pest problem get solved. It learns about those experiences from the people who have. That means your reviews, your social content, your videos, and your community presence all feed the story AI tells about your business.
William's advice on video is simple: teach everything. Film what your team does every day. Explain common problems. Show the work. YouTube is one of the highest-correlated factors for AI brand online visibility, and your business does not need a production crew to get started. A phone and genuine expertise go a long way.
The same applies to reviews. The language customers use in reviews shapes how AI describes your business to future customers.
You Don't Have to Do Everything. You Just Have to Start.
The businesses showing up in AI search are the ones building a consistent presence across every channel. Some ways you can start making progress: post one video this week, check a listing that hasn't been updated in months, or ask your next customer to mention a specific detail in their review.
Small, consistent actions compound. Businesses that show up online the way they show up for customers are the ones AI keeps recommending. “If that experience is not created in some form online, it doesn't exist to AI,” William said.
Listen to the full conversation on the Toolbox for the Trades podcast
