Which AI platform cited the roofer first?

Perplexity and Gemini were first, within three weeks of the storm damage page going live. ChatGPT followed after its next monthly crawl. Claude picked up the name alongside incumbent competitors rather than in place of them.

How many weeks until the first AI citation appeared?

Three weeks from the week-one blueprint delivery. The structural work — schema, llms.txt, GBP reconciliation — shipped by the end of week four, and Perplexity and Gemini citations appeared inside that window.

Which schemas were deployed on the storm damage page?

RoofingContractor (via LocalBusiness), Service, HowTo for the insurance claim walkthrough, and FAQPage answering the literal insurance questions customers were asking.

Did Google rankings change as a result of this work?

Google rankings were already page one and remained stable. The work targeted AI retrieval surfaces specifically; Google was not the bottleneck.

What was the content spine of the storm damage page?

Literal storm and hail phrasing, named storm events the team had worked, coverage areas, licensing and insurance declarations, a HowTo claim walkthrough, and a FAQ block answering insurance claim questions in plain language.

How is this different from SEO?

Traditional SEO optimizes for Google's ranked blue links. We optimize for AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Grok, whose outputs are generated from retrieved sources, structured data, and authoritative citations. The surfaces overlap (schema, site quality, reputable mentions) but the playbook is different. llms.txt, question shaped content, entity clarity, and citation placement matter more than keyword density or backlink counts.

Do you guarantee I'll show up in AI answers?

No. Anyone who guarantees AI ranking is misleading you. The models are probabilistic and change frequently. What we guarantee is rigorous measurement, disciplined execution of the methodology, and transparent reporting on what moved and what didn't.

How long until I see results?

Structural changes (schema, llms.txt, site hygiene) are usually indexed within 2 to 4 weeks. Citation driven visibility (directory listings, authoritative mentions) typically compounds over 6 to 12 weeks. We measure weekly from day one so you see movement, not just the endpoint.

Do I need to change my website?

Usually yes, but changes are additive and surgical. We add schema markup, publish an llms.txt, tighten entity and location signals, and occasionally recommend content additions. We don't redesign your site or touch your brand.

What if my competitor already hired you?

We work with one business per niche per metro to avoid direct conflicts. If your category and city are already taken, we'll tell you upfront on the consultation call.

What geographies do you work in?

Any English language market where ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Grok are widely used. US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand. Multi location and international programs are handled under the Custom tier.

How do you actually measure AI visibility?

We run a curated set of 15+ real world recommendation queries across all five platforms on a weekly cadence, capture the answers, and track whether your business appears, in what position, and in what context. The Audit includes the baseline. The Ongoing tier includes week over week tracking plus a monthly strategy call.

Can I cancel the ongoing retainer?

Yes, after the 3 month minimum. The minimum exists because AI visibility compounds. One month of work rarely produces a representative signal. After month three, you can cancel any time with 30 days notice.

Back to case studies

Roofer · Raleigh, NC

“Best roofer in Raleigh for storm damage”

Page one on Google, invisible on every AI answer engine. Four competitors cited consistently, this business cited zero times.

What we found

The owner came to us after a hail season that produced strong Google traffic but few new leads. Our query battery confirmed his suspicion: four regional competitors were cited consistently across ChatGPT and Perplexity for storm and hail queries. Our client was absent from every platform for every variant we tested, despite ranking page one on Google. The gap between classical SEO and AI retrieval was the whole story.

What we did

01
Published a dedicated storm damage service page with HowTo and Service schema, written around the literal phrasing people use when describing hail, wind, and shingle uplift.
02
Deployed an llms.txt declaring coverage areas, licensing, insurance, and the specific storm events the team had worked.
03
Reconciled Google Business Profile categories, service list, and service area so AI crawlers pulled a consistent entity.
04
Secured two regional directory citations and one category specific mention on a North Carolina home services publication.
05
Added a FAQ block answering insurance claim questions in first person language, structured with FAQPage schema.

What changed

Within three weeks the business appeared in Perplexity and Gemini answers for the target query and two adjacent storm variants.
ChatGPT followed after the next monthly crawl, quoting the service page directly.
Claude picked up the business name alongside the incumbent competitors, not in place of them.
Inbound calls tagged 'heard about you from ChatGPT' began arriving in the second month.

0 → 3 of 5

Platforms citing

0 → 4 of 6

Target queries covered

Weeks to first citation

Directory placements

Week by week

Week 1
Baseline and blueprint
Ran 18 storm and hail related queries across all five platforms. Mapped the four consistent competitors and their shared citation sources. Delivered the written blueprint.
Weeks 2 to 4
Foundations live
Storm damage page published. llms.txt deployed. Google Business Profile categories and service list reconciled. HowTo, Service, and FAQPage schema validated.
Weeks 5 to 8
Citations and mentions
Two North Carolina regional directories secured. One category mention on a home services publication placed. Perplexity and Gemini citations first visible in tracking.
Weeks 9 to 12
Compounding visibility
ChatGPT picked up the service page. Query coverage widened from storm to general residential. Monthly strategy call set the next quarter's plan around insurance claim content.

“We were number one on Google and still losing leads we couldn't explain. Turned out the answer engines were quoting competitors we hadn't thought about in years.”
Owner, multi-crew roofing company, Southeast US.

Questions about this case study

Which AI platform cited the roofer first?
Perplexity and Gemini were first, within three weeks of the storm damage page going live. ChatGPT followed after its next monthly crawl. Claude picked up the name alongside incumbent competitors rather than in place of them.
How many weeks until the first AI citation appeared?
Three weeks from the week-one blueprint delivery. The structural work — schema, llms.txt, GBP reconciliation — shipped by the end of week four, and Perplexity and Gemini citations appeared inside that window.
Which schemas were deployed on the storm damage page?
RoofingContractor (via LocalBusiness), Service, HowTo for the insurance claim walkthrough, and FAQPage answering the literal insurance questions customers were asking.
Did Google rankings change as a result of this work?
Google rankings were already page one and remained stable. The work targeted AI retrieval surfaces specifically; Google was not the bottleneck.
What was the content spine of the storm damage page?
Literal storm and hail phrasing, named storm events the team had worked, coverage areas, licensing and insurance declarations, a HowTo claim walkthrough, and a FAQ block answering insurance claim questions in plain language.

Representative case study. Industry, location, and specifics are illustrative composites drawn from recurring patterns in our work. AI answer engines are probabilistic; actual results vary by category, competition, and baseline.