Guides for home-service owners
Plain answers to the marketing questions owners of home-service and contracting companies ask us most: how to show up on Google and Google Maps, how Local Services Ads work, and what AI search changes. Each guide uses Google's own documentation and our research on 5,991 home-service business records across 50 US metros.
- 1
A homeowner has a job to do
roof repair near me - 2
They look in three places
Google resultsThe mapAn AI answer - 3
They check before they call
Reviews, photos of real work and a page that answers their question.
- 4
They request an estimate
Your form or phone number, working on their phone.
Not an actual ranking, listing or result.
Handbooks
Start here if you want the whole picture. Each handbook covers one channel from setup to day-to-day work, in the order we'd tackle it.
- The home-service SEO handbook.How Google search, Maps and AI answers find a service business, what to fix first, what it costs and how long it takes.
- Google Business Profile handbook.How to create, verify and run a profile for a service-area business under Google's current rules, from categories to reviews to suspensions.
- What is local SEO?How Google picks map results, what a service-area business controls, and what to fix first.
Guides
Shorter guides answer one question in depth.
- Google Local Services Ads.How Local Services Ads work, what Google charges for, how leads are charged and credited, how ads are ranked, and when they're worth it for your trade.
- How much does SEO cost?What published price surveys really measure, what U.S. agencies post, what each price level buys, and how to compare two quotes.
- How to respond to Google reviewsHow to reply, what to say to good and bad reviews, and what never to say.
- Can you remove a Google review?What Google removes, how to report a review, and what to do when it stays up.
Guides on Google Maps and reviews are also grouped on one page: Google Maps and reviews.
AI search
How ChatGPT and Google's AI features find, check and name home-service businesses, from the platforms' own documentation and our research.
- What is AEO, GEO and AI SEO?What the new terms mean, what Google says about them, and how to spot hype.
- How to show up in ChatGPT answersHow ChatGPT search finds and cites sources, and what an owner can do about it.
- How to show up in Google AI OverviewsWhat Google says decides the pages in AI Overviews, and what to fix first.
- Why ChatGPT names contractors Google Maps doesn't showWhat our study found when we compared the two lists, and what it means for you.
AI search guides, definitions and research are grouped on one page: AI search.
Marketing a home-service business
Planning, budgets and seasons: how to decide where the money and time go.
- Home-service marketing budget.What contractors actually spend, where the percent-of-revenue rules come from, and how to set a budget from the jobs you need.
- Slow-season marketing.When each trade's quiet months fall, why they move year to year, and what to do before they start.
- HVAC marketing ideas.Nine ideas ranked by our HVAC research and Google's own rules, with the season, reviews and license facts first.
- Marketing strategies for construction companies.Residential vs commercial buyers, what to fix first, and a 12-month plan.
- Construction company advertising.Ads, Local Services Ads, signs, mail and referrals, with the license-number rules some states set for ads.
These guides, with definitions and research, are grouped on one page: Marketing a home-service business.
Leads and ads
Mindflow doesn't sell leads. These guides compare the ways contractors buy or build them.
- Contractor lead generationShared, exclusive and pay-per-call leads, ads and your own channels, compared by cost and by who keeps the customer.
- Angi leads for contractorsHow Angi leads are priced, shared and credited, and when they fit.
- Roofing leadsBuying leads vs building your own, for roofers.
- HVAC leadsBuying leads vs building your own, for HVAC companies.
All of them, with the Local Services Ads guide, are on one page: Leads and ads.
Websites
A website is a separate project from our marketing program.
- How much does a website cost for a service business?What builders, freelancers and firms charge, what you'll pay every year after launch, and who should own the domain.
Website guides and services are grouped on one page: Websites.
Glossary
Short, sourced definitions of the terms these guides use, from the local pack to AI Overviews, query fan-out and review gating. See the full glossary.
Research
Our guides cite our own studies. The studies themselves, with their method and data files, are here:
- Does ChatGPT name the contractors at the top of Google Maps?Counts for 8 trades in 50 metros.
- What ChatGPT checks before it recommends a contractorThe sources cited in 11,982 answers.
- Home-service review patternsReview totals, pace and recency for the businesses in each check.
- Contractor website studyWhat 5,072 contractor websites have, and where they're thin.
- When home-service demand peaksFour years of search estimates for 8 trades in 50 metros.
How are these guides written?
Each guide is drafted with AI assistance, then checked against Google's documentation, our research and our records, and approved by Youssef Hodaigui before it's published. Every guide shows the date it was last reviewed and lists its sources. How we work is on our editorial standards page.
Get your free AI Visibility Review
See how your business shows up in your market on Google, on the map and in AI answers. Fill in a short form. We'll email you a written report with a link to book a 20-minute walkthrough. You'll have it within 2 business days. It shows where you appear on the map for three core searches in your area, the gaps in your Google Business Profile, how your reviews compare with your top three competitors, what Google's AI and ChatGPT say for two searches, and the three fixes we'd make first.
No obligation. If we're not the right fit, we'll tell you on the walkthrough.