Local SEO Isn’t Dead, But It’s Different

Local SEO isn’t disappearing — but it is evolving faster than many contractors realize. In this episode, Caitlyn Noble and Meredith Medlin break down how artificial intelligence, voice search, and Google’s new AI-powered search experiences are transforming how homeowners find local contractors.

Instead of focusing solely on rankings, today’s search landscape prioritizes trust, authority, and relevance. AI-generated search summaries, voice assistants, and recommendation-driven search results are now influencing which contractors appear when homeowners are ready to hire.

Caitlyn and Meredith explain how contractors can adapt their marketing strategies by creating question-based content, optimizing their Google Business Profiles, collecting detailed reviews, and showcasing real project work. They also discuss why tracking revenue-driving metrics like calls and appointments matters more than obsessing over keyword rankings.

If you want to future-proof your digital marketing and stay visible in the AI search era, this episode provides a practical playbook for contractors looking to build authority, trust, and long-term local visibility.

Want to find out how we can create a custom digital marketing game plan for your contractor business? Schedule a call with us at fatcatstrategies.com.

Transcript

Intro: Welcome to Digital Marketing for Contractors, a podcast for home improvement contractors to help you crush your lead goals and take your business to the next level. Join us each episode as we give you powerful insights and practical tips on the best digital marketing strategies to help you grow your home improvement business. Let's get started.

Caitlyn: Welcome back to Digital Marketing for Contractors. I'm Caitlyn Noble.

Meredith: And I'm Meredith Medlin.

Caitlyn: Today, we're talking about something that's honestly changing marketing faster than most contractors realize.

Meredith: Absolutely. We are talking about artificial intelligence search.

Caitlyn: AI search, y'all.

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: Things like AI search summaries, voice assistance, and AI-driven local recommendations are changing how homeowners find contractors.

Meredith: And here is the big message of today's episode: Local SEO isn't just about ranking anymore.

Caitlyn: Nope.

Meredith: It's about being the answer inside AI-powered search experiences.

Caitlyn: Woo. So today, we are gonna cover a lot

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: we're gonna pack it into probably 20 minutes, up. But we're gonna talk about how AI search and SGE, which we'll talk more about as well, are are changing contractor visibility, why voice search is becoming conversion-driven search, how rankings are becoming a secondary metric, and how contractors can protect their local presence long term. Let's jump in.

Meredith: Let's do it.

Caitlyn: Okay, so we're gonna start with AI search, which, I mean, at this point, I mean, unless you're under a rock, I think we all know what AI is, artificial intelligence is.

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: and the search behind it. Search engines are moving away from just showing lists of websites. Instead, they're trying to answer questions directly. Does that... Like, so for those of you, I guess, who don't know ...

Meredith: Yeah, we know what AI is. Come on, now.

Caitlyn: Yeah.

Meredith: But we are talking about AI-generated search summaries. So not necessarily going

Caitlyn: That's

Meredith: ChatGPT or Perplexity or whatever your AI engine of choice is. Think about Google. Instead of seeing 10 blue URL links at the top, you might instead see a summarized answer

Caitlyn: Exactly.

Meredith: two to three recommended businesses that populate there, right at the top. So when you're thinking about these examples, go ahead and think about Google. And I guarantee, if you just heard what we said, you're like, "Yep, that has happened to me-"

Caitlyn: exactly.

Meredith: "... more often than not."

Caitlyn: And it might be businesses that have nothing to do with your service area. It's just

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: they have content on their website that answers the question that somebody may have just typed into Google.

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: So what does this mean for you guys, you contractors listening? Traditional SEO focused on ranking pages, building backlinks, optimizing keywords, but now search engines, like Google, care more about authority, trust signals, and context relevance.

Meredith: Right. And, you know, that's not to say that it's not helpful to continue to do some of those traditional SEO tactics.

Caitlyn: You've got to keep doing 'cause we just don't know when things are gonna change.

Meredith: Exactly. So it's kind of, you know, continuing to build your foundation and keeping that strong while integrating these, like she was saying, trust signals, authority, context relevance, to make sure that AI overviews are seeing you. So, you know, especially for a lot of you who are local

Caitlyn: Mm-hmm.

Meredith: you know, you have a very specific service area.

Caitlyn: You all are, right?

Meredith: so, you know, customer sentiment is huge, the, the context of reviews.

Caitlyn: Yes.

Meredith: And making sure that you're showcasing real project proof, so project photos, videos testimonials with the project,

Caitlyn: Please.

Meredith: client. So, all of those are especially important.

Caitlyn: So, you're like, "Okay, great. So how do I win at this?"

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: 'cause we just told you what it means. So, if you think of AI search optimization as content authority building, you want to answer questions like... And when I say, "You want to," you want your website

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: you want your Google Business Profile to, you ... to answer the following questions, such as, "How much does a roof replacement cost in," insert specific town, "Raleigh, North Carolina." That's where we are. "How long should a bathroom remodel take? When should I replace my windows?" Not just, "Roof replacement services Raleigh."

Meredith: Exactly. So think about what homeowners, what, what questions do they have that are gonna make them, help make their decision or help find you to begin with. So part of this solution of how we address these changes is shifting your content strategy.

Caitlyn: Mm-hmm.

Meredith: So, we talked about, you know, keep doing your traditional SEO tactics, but the new things that we're adding can also be applied to some of the traditional tactics, like area served pages or blog posts. Whenever you're creating content, make sure that that content answers homeowner fears and questions. Big ones right now revolve around financing.

Caitlyn: Yeah.

Meredith: Insurance claims, that's another one.

Caitlyn: Yep.

Meredith: Timing. What is the timeline? Are there any, you know industry delays for certain materials? And then, maintenance prevention. So AI search is absolutely prioritizing any content that's answering those questions, because we know for a fact, from our own

Caitlyn: Right.

Meredith: ... industry research, that that is what homeowners are interested in and that is what they are searching. So, try to tailor your content around those things, or make sure that you're at least integrating some of it into your existing content.

Caitlyn: I agree, and if you're listening to this and you're like, "Cool, I don't do anything with insurance claims. I don't do anything with financing," that's also fine, but you can say that too.

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: You know? Like, that may not prevent somebody from hitting your website, but if somebody searches for roofing companies that offer financing, and you at least, on your website and Google Business Profile, talk about how you don't offer financing, you have a higher chance of showing up.

Meredith: Right. You at least get your foot in the door and

Caitlyn: Correct.

Meredith: talk to them about a special offer.

Caitlyn: Oh, yeah.

Meredith: you know, something like that, that's not exactly what they were searching for.

Caitlyn: No, 100%. So we talked a little bit about...... AI search and what this means on your current marketing. Let's talk about voice search. Voice search is fundamentally different from type search obviously. Typed search equals research intent. Voice search is going to equal action intent.

Meredith: Right. So think about it like somebody's at their computer or they're on the phone and they type into search "roofing contractor Raleigh."

Caitlyn: We're kinda lazy, we don't wanna like type a lot of words.

Meredith: A holding question.

Caitlyn: Right. Roofing contractor Raleigh, that's perfect.

Meredith: Yeah, so at this point if I'm a a homeowner typing that in, I'm probably still just comparing options or trying to get my initial research of like, okay, what companies actually exist. But if somebody's asking who is the best roofing contractor near me that's open right

Caitlyn: Ooh.

Meredith: they are a lot closer to buying they probably wanna call and talk to you if they're wondering if you're open. They're more specific so that intent is changing more towards an action and that's something that voice search is gonna lean towards, so that's where we're talking about that intent is differing more and more as voice search is becoming more prevalent.

Caitlyn: That's great. I totally agree. So voice search keywords are longer because this means that those, just like Meredith was saying, those searches that are coming physically spoken are going to be conversational, they're going to be question-based, and they're definitely gonna be location-specific.

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: So contractors should optimize for FAQ pages, which are those frequently asked questions, so have those throughout your site. Natural language content I guess like the best way I can say it is like write like you're writing a letter, like you're writing a birthday card, like you're, I

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: like stupid, but like write like you're writing a speech or something, like you are gonna talk to your employees or, you

Meredith: your homeowners.

Caitlyn: yeah, your prospects.

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: Don't write like a robot.

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: And then of course there's location context pages are not going anywhere, that's super, super, super important.

Meredith: Yeah, and I think just to touch on what you said about natural language content, like talking not like a

Caitlyn: Right.

Meredith: ... I think with traditional SEO tactics, stuffing more keywords in there that may be more

Caitlyn: Yes.

Meredith: ... you're gonna lose your readers. AI search is prioritizing content that isn't as technical heavy because we're not worried about ranking for specific technical keywords as much, so just keep that in mind when you're writing your content 'cause, I mean, we said don't speak like a robot.

Caitlyn: Right.

Meredith: A lot of you are probably using AI to write your content, but there's totally ways to adjust that to make sure that you are writing in a more conversational tone even when you're using a robot,

Caitlyn: Yeah, I mean, like you could even I mean literally into AI, an AI tool. Just say, "Hey, make this more conversational."

Meredith: Exactly, exactly. So I end my tangent and we are onto voice search conversation opportunity,

Caitlyn: Conversion.

Meredith: Good Lord, speaking of conversation. This one's having a hard time this morning. Voice search conversion opportunities. Basically trying to make it easy for AI assistants to recommend you. Make sure your business information is consistent and we're talking about consistency

Caitlyn: Correct.

Meredith: ... your website, your Google Business Profile, all of your social platforms citation directories. If you don't know what that is I think we talk about it on a previous

Caitlyn: Definitely.

Meredith: NAP citations. So making sure that you have consistent information across all of those is gonna make it so much more easy for AI assistants to recommend you when you're searching.

Caitlyn: Absolutely.

Meredith: Or when your homeowners are searching, rather.

Caitlyn: Yeah, when we onboard a client, I mean, that's one of the first things we do is we make sure your business information is uniform all

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: internet because of this exact reason.

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: Okay, we're gonna shift to SGE and local pack evolution. Lots of fun buzzwords right there. So SGE style search experiences. This is those this is I can't ... either. These

Meredith: morning.

Caitlyn: These are those Google Search generative experiences, like so that's SGE. Which that means it's an AI powered search feature that provides AI generated summaries, insights, and answers directly in search results to help users understand complex topics faster.

Meredith: Exactly, so these search resorts, resorts, good day, search results are becoming recommendation ecosystems, so instead of just finding ... businesses, search engines are helping users make decisions, not just provide them with options. But say, "Hey, this is who we recommend," and they're doing that based off of everything on your business profile, your entire digital presence. So, you know, we've talked a lot about that, but what is actually influencing those recommendations? These AI systems are really looking at quite a few different things. They're looking at review

Caitlyn: Mm.

Meredith: ... service specialization, location proximity, the authority of your website customer engagement signals. So, all of these things really, like, I mean, you can tell these aren't the traditional SEO tactics. So you know, be intentional when you are looking at how you're asking people to give

Caitlyn: Correct.

Meredith: ... what you're doing with your website. All of this is influencing how AI is recommending your company.

Caitlyn: yeah, no, especially in that local pack.

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: we talked at the top of this, you know, call, whatever we wanna call this podcast

Meredith: This podcast episode.

Caitlyn: ... about those ten blue links that you used to

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: ... and now it is this Google Search generative experience. Like, that is what's at the top of it. And so, dominating that, to Meredith's point, is truly making sure you've got those reviews, those services, those locations, your website's accurate, with links and authoritative

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: and that you've got customer engagement. So, I know I just repeated you that with all that, but that's super

Meredith: No, it's all important.

Caitlyn: to the local map

Meredith: Exactly.

Caitlyn: which we get those questions about all the time.

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: And when you're looking at this new local map pack reality, being number one isn't always enough. Wow, shocker. ... you want multiple present points, reviews mentioning services, strong conversion signals, because AI models prioritize businesses that appear most trustworthy overall. And I think I'll just pause on that to say, like, yes, we're talking all about SEO right now, but as you're building out this long content, this conversational content that we're talking about, these longer keywords, et cetera, I would challenge, you know, the person who's doing your ads to make sure you're, at the same time paying to have a presence there while we're building this content to hopefully dominate on the AI side of things.

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: to, to the point of this whole conversation is, what are multiple present points that you can offer? If you're not gonna show up in AI, if you're

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: ... gonna show up on the map pack, at least

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: for those conversational-type keywords.

Meredith: Right. While you're working on getting or getting your visibility up with AI, make sure that you're covering all your bases.

Caitlyn: Definitely.

Meredith: All right. Let's turn around and talk about rankings. We've talked about that a little bit more, but why are they becoming a secondary metric?

Caitlyn: So important.

Meredith: This is a big mindset shift for contractors. I mean, to be honest, also for

Caitlyn: Definitely.

Meredith: because this was our bread and butter for so many years. So, really start thinking about take this out of your vocabulary, "Why or how do I rank? What is my ranking number?"

Caitlyn: Mm.

Meredith: Not as pertinent anymore. You should be asking, "How do I become the most trusted local recommendation?" That's really what you should be focused on, and your marketing company, vendor, whoever's doing that for you should as well. So, we told you don't worry so much about rankings. Well, what do you need to worry about? Instead, focus on tracking calls from your

Caitlyn: Yep.

Meredith: ... like your business profile direction requests, so

Caitlyn: To

Meredith: trying to get to your, yeah, get to your brick and mortar.

Caitlyn: What if you don't have a brick and mortar? I guess ...

Meredith: If you don't have a brick and mortar, I mean, we have some clients that don't necessarily have

Caitlyn: Yeah.

Meredith: ... listed. So, you know, if you aren't looking for direction requests, beef up some other places. You know what I mean? Focus more on getting calls from

Caitlyn: Yes.

Meredith: or messaging conversions appointment bookings. Like, have that option right away. So track those metrics instead of just your keyword positions or your ranking.

Caitlyn: Yeah, that's super important and definitely a mind shift, like Meredith was saying. Because traffic doesn't pay the bills, the appointments and the jobs do.

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: So those calls, those directions to your office those messages, those appointment bookings are all things that are related to SEO as

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: not just that number one spot. So, to future-proof your local presence, because here we are, in the which is also happening at this

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: you've got to... We're gonna go through a couple strategies. Number one, you've got to build authority content libraries. Create content around project education, maintenance advice, financing education, insurance guidance. Become the local education resource. So, I know that was, like, a lot of different things that we just said, but if you're building authority content around what your like, the type of project that you're

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: how to maintain that project.

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: So, how to maintain that siding, how to maintain your roof. Whether you offer financing or not, mention that as well. And then whether you offer insurance on it or, you know, maybe there's a manufacturer rebate or something like that, like, mention as much as you can around that content.

Meredith: And I mean, essentially, you're trying to build content that conveys to your prospects that you are the

Caitlyn: Yes.

Meredith: no matter what we're talking about. If you're an exterior remodeler-Your content should all be in support of like, okay, they went ahead and answered my questions I had about financing, or I was wondering, how do you maintain and keep up

Caitlyn: Mm-hmm.

Meredith: vinyl siding? Because I used to have James Hart. You know?

Caitlyn: Mm-hmm.

Meredith: Whatever that is, you're basically trying to ensure your readers, your potential clients, that you truly are the expert, you've answered all their questions before they even had to ask them. So, that local, or that, yeah, that local

Caitlyn: Yeah.

Meredith: ... resource, being the expert in your area.

Caitlyn: Strategy number two is pretty interesting, Meredith.

Meredith: Yeah. No, for sure. This is important building first-party data assets. So, I don't know how many of you were online in the marketing or heard anything about the cookie-less future a couple of years ago. It was this big, scary headline all over our industry news. That is basically what we're seeing more and more of. And basically, you as a business owner should be building your own data based off of visitors that you

Caitlyn: Correct.

Meredith: coming to your website that you're not tracking through a third party data source of any sort, but you're getting their or their contact information via, you know, maybe it's a sign-up for an email newsletter. Maybe it's, "Hey, text us a question, we're here to answer," or even your past customer list. So basically, any information that you're getting firsthand that your customers or prospects are giving to you with consent, that is your first-party data. This is essentially permanent marketing equity. So once you have this information, it stays yours. It's the most tried and true data. You're not, you know, paying for it somewhere else. So, keep that in the front of your mind. So, on your website, even if you're not gunning for a lead with every single call to action, you're at least trying to get their information so you have that data to nurture and follow up with later.

Caitlyn: I think that's a great point. So strategy number three and four, I'm gonna do at the same time, you've gotta show real work and you've gotta capture reviews with detail. We have said this ad nauseum at this point and we're gonna keep saying it. You've got to post job site photos, crew photos, progress videos. Authenticity matters more than stock marketing. I actually saw somebody post on LinkedIn the other day about, you know, contractors that not quote unquote "steal," but are, I guess it is stealing, like reusing other contractors' photos, and it's

Meredith: Oh, wow.

Caitlyn: Yeah, it's not your content. Like, you've got to just get out there. And even as hard or as pain in the, like, pain ass as it might be, take photos. Take photos. Don't use somebody else's photos.

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: And then as you're getting those real project photos, get real reviews. Make sure you've got your customers mentioning the city, mentioning exactly the service type mentioning what the experience was like. What I may do is link into the, not show notes, but on our website. I left a review, a video review when we had our, part of our windows replaced. And, you know, you've just gotta, like, talk about the project, talk about what you did, talk about where you are.

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: And it was a video on top of that. So super, super important. I mean, all of these, all of that is gonna help that AI model understand your relevance.

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: ... to future-proof your local presence, four strategies. Build authority content libraries, build first-party data assets, show real work, and capture reviews with detail.

Meredith: Absolutely. ... nope.

Caitlyn: Yes. If you wanna win in the AI search era, you've gotta do these four things, in addition to everything else that we've just said. This is your contractor playbook. You're gonna build question-answer content, you're gonna optimize your Google Business profile for engagement, you're gonna continue to collect those detailed reviews, and you've got to track revenue metrics, not just rankings.

Meredith: Absolutely. And remember, local marketing is no longer just about visibility marketing, it's trust marketing.

Caitlyn: Yep. Local SEO isn't dying. It's not. It's actually evolving into something smarter and more customer-focused.

Meredith: Absolutely. These contractors who are gonna win are the, gonna be the ones who focus on authority, customer experience

Caitlyn: Yeah.

Meredith: and customer intent.

Caitlyn: If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your marketing or sales team especially, you know, the people who are out trying to get that content for you. And if you need help evaluating your digital marketing performance, especially on the AI SGE side of

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: ... please reach out to us. We have a lot of tips and tricks, and we can quickly audit where you're at for free. We'd be happy to do that for you. So, thanks for listening, and we will see you next time on Digital Marketing for Contractors.

Outro: Digital marketing for contractors is created by Fat Cat Strategies. For more information, visit fatcatstrategies.com.