A homeowner doesn’t “search” the way they used to. They ask. “Best garage door repair near me.” “Who can fix a leaking skylight?” “Is there a reliable cleaning service that does move-outs?”
AI answers with a few names and a couple of sentences. And there’s a massive difference between getting mentioned in that answer and getting chosen from it.
Go try this right now: ask ChatGPT or Google for a pro in your exact service and city. Read the wording. Who sounds like the obvious call? That is what your next lead is doing, except they’re doing it before they ever visit your website.
This is exactly what Pantora helps with. Pantora builds an AI-optimized website for your business (alongside your existing site), tracks how you show up across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, and Perplexity, and gives you weekly recommendations you can act on, or have Pantora implement for you.
Being mentioned vs being chosen by AI
Being mentioned means AI knows you exist. It might list your business in a longer set of options, or drop your name without a strong reason.
Being chosen means AI frames you as a top recommendation. It gives a clear “why,” describes you accurately, and makes you sound like the safest, easiest decision.
Here’s the key: AI isn’t trying to be fair. It’s trying to be helpful. When someone asks for help, AI picks the businesses it can understand and justify quickly.
If AI can’t explain what you do, where you do it, and why you’re a good fit, it plays it safe. It either skips you or mentions you without confidence. That does not turn into calls.
Is AI Recommending Your Business?
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The two moments that decide whether you get the call
When a homeowner asks AI for a recommendation, two filters kick in:
- Inclusion: “Which businesses are real, local, and relevant to this exact request?”
- Selection: “Which of these can I confidently recommend with a reason?”
Most businesses focus on inclusion. They want to show up anywhere. That is yesterday’s goal.
Selection is what creates jobs now. Selection sounds like:
- “Licensed and insured.”
- “Specializes in the exact problem.”
- “Serves the right neighborhoods.”
- “Known for fast response or clean work.”
- “Strong reviews that mention the same strengths.”
If AI can’t back up a recommendation, it softens the language. You get a weak mention, while a competitor gets the confident “homeowners recommend…” framing.
Why AI mentions you but still sends the job somewhere else
AI pulls from what it can find online. Not just your website, but business listings, reviews, local articles, directories, and consistent details across the web.
The problem is that most online info about home service businesses is incomplete or inconsistent. That creates “maybe” language.
Common reasons you get mentioned but not chosen:
- Your services are too generic online. “We do everything” does not help AI match you to “spring replacement” or “panel upgrade.”
- Your service area is unclear. If AI isn’t sure you serve that zip code, it avoids recommending you.
- Your proof is scattered. Reviews say you’re great, but they don’t mention the specific work the homeowner asked about.
- Your business info conflicts. Different phone numbers, hours, categories, or names across listings makes AI cautious.
- Your reputation is real but not readable. AI needs clean, consistent signals it can repeat.
This is also why traditional SEO alone is not enough. Rankings still matter, but AI answers often summarize and decide before someone clicks anything.
For how Google describes its direction here, read Google’s overview of AI in Search and how it surfaces information: https://blog.google/products/search/generative-ai-search/
The “chosen” businesses usually do three things well
You’ll notice a pattern when you look at the businesses AI recommends with confidence.
1) They are specific
They don’t just say “garage door repair.” They show:
- Spring replacement
- Opener troubleshooting
- Off-track door fixes
- Same-day service options (if true)
- Brands they service (if true)
Specificity gives AI something to match to the question.
2) They are consistent everywhere
Name, address, phone, hours, and categories match across major listings and directories. AI treats consistency like trust.
3) They are easy to describe
AI loves clean summaries. If your online presence makes it hard to write a two-sentence description of your business, you’re making AI’s job harder. And AI rewards the businesses that make its job easy.
How to move from “mentioned” to “chosen”: a simple checklist
You don’t need to become a tech expert. You need to make your business easy for AI to understand and safe to recommend.
Follow these steps to improve your AI visibility and get recommended more often:
-
Ask AI the exact questions your customers ask.
Use your city and service. Save screenshots of the answers. You’re looking for two things: are you listed, and how are you described? -
Tighten your “what you do” language.
Pick your top services and write them in plain English, the way a homeowner says them. “Garage door won’t open” beats “operator diagnostics.” -
Make your service area explicit.
List the towns and neighborhoods you actually serve. AI is cautious about distance. Don’t make it guess. -
Create a Q&A section that matches real calls.
Think: pricing ranges (without promises), common problems, what happens during a visit, emergency policies, warranties, and what you do not do. This is the kind of content AI can cite. -
Check your business facts across the web.
Same phone number. Same hours. Same business name. Same categories. Consistency is a recommendation signal.
Pantora is built around this exact checklist. Pantora creates a dedicated AI-optimized website structured for AI assistants to parse and cite, then gives you weekly recommendations to tighten your services, service area, and proof. You can implement changes yourself, or Pantora can handle them for you.
The metric you should track is not “mentions,” it’s “recommendation strength”
A mention feels good, but it can be a vanity metric if AI is not sending people to call you.
What to look for instead:
- Does AI describe you with confidence, or with vague wording?
- Does it give a reason you are a fit for the job?
- Does it include your correct phone number and service area?
- Does it position you as a top option, or as one of many?
This is where tracking matters. If you only check once a month, you miss the shifts. AI answers change as new reviews come in, listings update, and competitors improve their information.
Pantora gives you comprehensive tracking across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and more, plus sentiment monitoring so you can see whether AI is painting you as reliable, expensive, slow, responsive, or anything else that affects whether you get chosen.
If the wording about your business is off, you can’t fix what you can’t see.
What to Do Next
Do one thing today: run three real prompts and grade yourself.
Use these:
- “Who’s the best garage door repair company in [your city] for spring replacement?”
- “Who can fix a garage door that won’t open in [your city]?”
- “Recommend a reliable garage door technician near [your neighborhood].”
Then ask:
- Am I included?
- If I’m included, am I framed as a top pick?
- Is the description accurate, specific, and confident?
If you want the fast version of this, where someone is actually tracking the answers and telling you what to fix, start with a free AEO analysis. Pantora will show you where you’re being mentioned, where you’re being chosen, and what changes will move you toward the calls.