It’s 6:30 a.m., someone’s flight leaves at noon, and they suddenly remember they never confirmed a pet sitter. They grab their phone and type “pet sitter near me” or “dog walker available today.” That moment—high urgency, high trust required—is where visibility matters. Traditional SEO helps you show up in Google results. AEO helps you show up when the customer asks an AI tool (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, etc.) “Who can I trust with my dog this weekend?” If you run a pet services business, you want both working together, because the customer journey is changing fast.
Visibility today: search results vs. “the one recommendation”
Pet services sits in a unique spot: it’s local, repeatable, and deeply trust-based. Roughly 67% of US households have pets, pet spending is $100B+ annually, and dogs typically need 30–60 minutes of exercise daily—which creates consistent demand year-round, with big spikes during holiday travel and summer vacations.
But competition is crowded: app-based marketplaces, independent sitters, grooming salons, and new “side-hustle” walkers. SEO and AEO are how you stop relying on referrals alone and build predictable bookings.
Before we dive in, here’s the simple distinction:
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization): helps you appear when people search and compare options.
- AEO (Answer Engine Optimization): helps you get recommended when an AI tries to give a single best answer or shortlist.
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How SEO brings you local bookings (and what it includes)
SEO is everything that helps your business appear when someone searches on Google (or Apple Maps, Bing, etc.) for services like:
- “dog walking [city]”
- “pet sitter for weekend trip”
- “cat sitter near me”
- “mobile dog grooming [neighborhood]”
- “pet waste removal service [zip code]”
- “pet taxi to vet [city]”
For pet care professionals, SEO shows up in three main places:
1) The map results (where “near me” searches go)
When a customer searches locally, the map listings often get the first click and the first call. Your Google Business Profile (GBP) drives most of this.
2) Regular website results (service pages and helpful pages)
This is where your website can rank for specific services and locations—especially if you serve multiple towns or neighborhoods.
3) Trust signals (reviews, consistency, proof you’re legitimate)
Pet parents don’t just want “available.” They want “safe.” Google responds to that by rewarding businesses with strong reputation signals and consistent information across the web.
In other words: SEO is not only keywords. It’s credibility + clarity + location.
AEO: what it means to be the answer in pet services
AEO matters when the customer stops browsing and starts asking. Instead of scrolling, they type (or speak):
- “Who is a bonded and insured pet sitter in [city]?”
- “Which dog walker near me is good with reactive dogs?”
- “Best pet waste removal service that comes weekly?”
- “Who offers pet transportation to the airport at 5 a.m.?”
The AI’s job is to reduce choices. If it can confidently describe your business—your services, hours, service area, and trust signals—you have a better chance of being included.
Here’s the practical difference you’ll feel:
- SEO wins you a spot on a results page.
- AEO wins you the recommendation—sometimes without a click.
That last part is big. With AI answers, a customer may call you straight from the result because the assistant summarized your offering and pulled your phone number from trusted sources.
If you want to understand why different AI tools give wildly different local answers, this breakdown helps: ChatGPT vs AI Overviews vs Grok vs Perplexity: What's the Deal?.
What AI and Google use to “trust” a pet care professional
AI systems pull from multiple sources, and they tend to reward consistency. For pet services, the most influential sources usually include:
- Google Business Profile: categories, services, hours, service area, photos, Q&A, reviews
- Your website: service pages, FAQs, policies (cancellations, keys, meet-and-greets), proof of insurance/bonding
- Third-party platforms: Yelp, Facebook, Nextdoor, local directories, and sometimes marketplace profiles
- Mentions around the web: local news, rescue partnerships, “best of” lists, community pages
- Review content: not just star rating—details about what you did and how the pet responded
When details are missing, AI will often “fill in the blanks” with generic assumptions. That can hurt you. Example: if you offer pet first aid–certified care and handle medications, but your site never says it clearly, you’ll get skipped when someone asks “who can handle insulin injections for my cat?”
The overlap (and the key differences) between SEO and AEO
AEO isn’t replacing SEO. It’s leaning on it.
Where traditional local SEO still dominates
For “near me” searches and map browsing, Google still heavily weighs:
- proximity to the searcher
- relevance (do you clearly offer dog walking vs. only grooming?)
- prominence (reviews, activity, brand signals)
So if you want more $20–$50 walks or $50–$100/day sitting jobs, local SEO is still your foundation.
Where AEO changes how you should present your business
AI tools favor businesses that are easy to describe. That means you should make your positioning extremely explicit:
- What you do: dog walking, pet sitting, grooming, waste removal, transportation
- Where you do it: exact cities/neighborhoods/zip codes (and whether you charge travel fees)
- When you’re available: weekends, holidays, same-day, “midday walks” for work schedules
- Safety/trust: bonded and insured, background checked, pet first aid certified, references available
- Special cases: puppies, seniors, reactive dogs, multi-pet households, medication administration
If it feels repetitive to write this in multiple places (GBP, site pages, FAQs), that’s the point. Repetition across trusted sources builds confidence for both Google and AI.
Pet-services specifics that actually move rankings and recommendations
Generic marketing advice (“post on social media!”) doesn’t address how pet parents choose. These are the levers that tend to matter most in this industry.
Create pages around the services people actually search
Pet parents rarely search “pet care professional services.” They search the outcome: “someone to walk my dog while I’m at work” or “someone to watch my cat while I travel.”
Consider dedicated pages such as:
- Dog walking (include lengths: 20/30/60 minutes, solo vs. group)
- Pet sitting (overnights, drop-ins, in-home vs. your home if applicable)
- Cat sitting (quiet visits, litter box care, shy-cat approach)
- Pet grooming (mobile vs. salon, breed considerations, de-shedding)
- Pet waste removal (weekly cleanup, one-time spring cleanup, deodorizing add-ons)
- Pet transportation (vet runs, grooming drop-off, airport-area logistics if offered)
Each page should answer real buyer questions:
- what’s included in a visit (water refresh, feeding, playtime, photo updates)
- how you handle keys/access and meet-and-greets
- pricing factors (distance, holidays, multi-pet)
- your safety steps (leash policy, harness requirement, weather rules)
- service area and scheduling expectations
This helps SEO and gives AI clean, quotable detail.
Turn reviews into “proof of fit,” not just praise
In pet services, a vague “Great service!” review doesn’t reduce fear. Details do.
When you ask for reviews, prompt with specifics that match how people search:
- “Would you mention the service (dog walking / pet sitting) and your neighborhood?”
- “If your pet has any quirks (shy, reactive, senior), would you share how it went?”
- “If we helped during travel, holiday weekend, or a work schedule crunch, that detail helps other pet parents.”
A review like “Handled our senior dachshund’s meds and sent updates twice daily during our 5-day trip” can influence both map rankings and AI recommendations.
Make trust signals impossible to miss
Pet parents are handing you a family member. Your trust signals should be visible on your site and echoed in your profiles:
- Bonded and insured (say it plainly)
- Pet first aid/CPR certified
- Background checked (and by whom, if applicable)
- References available
- Clear policies (cancellation, emergencies, weather, pet behavior)
Also: use real photos. A clean, friendly photo set of you (or your team) with client pets, leashes, and branded gear goes further than stock images ever will.
Keep your information consistent across the web
This is where many independent providers lose ground to app-based competitors. If your phone number differs across listings, or your hours are outdated on one directory, Google and AI both get mixed signals.
Consistency checklist:
- same business name format everywhere
- one primary phone number
- accurate service area (don’t claim the whole metro if you won’t drive it)
- updated holiday hours (important in travel season)
A practical schedule you can follow (even when you’re booked)
You don’t need a marketing department. You need a repeatable routine.
60 minutes this week
- Add 5 fresh photos to your Google Business Profile (walks, sitting setups, grooming station, waste removal before/after—no private info visible).
- Request 3–5 reviews from your best recent clients. Send the link right after a successful visit, when they’re relieved and grateful.
- Add a short FAQ to your highest-value page (often pet sitting or recurring dog walks).
One half-day this month
- Build or upgrade one “money” page (example: “Dog Walking in [City]” or “Pet Sitting for Vacation Travel in [Area]”).
- Audit your top listings: Google, Facebook, Yelp, Nextdoor, plus one local directory that ranks when you search your brand name.
- Update service descriptions to include your differentiators (insured, first aid certified, background checked).
Once per quarter
- Add a page or section for seasonal demand: holiday travel coverage, summer midday heat policy, winter paw safety and salt exposure.
- Publish one helpful piece that matches real questions: “How to choose a dog walker for a reactive dog” or “What to pack for a pet sitter.”
- Review your top competitors (apps and independents) and identify what they clearly communicate that you don’t (hours, pricing transparency, service area, specialties).
How to tell if AI answers are already impacting your leads
AEO can quietly change your pipeline before you realize it. Watch for these signs:
- New clients say “I asked ChatGPT / Google and your name came up.”
- Calls increase while website traffic stays flat (or drops).
- Prospects ask “comparison questions” immediately: “Are you insured?” “Do you do solo walks?” “Can you handle meds?”
- You see more last-minute requests tied to travel (weekends, holidays), because AI tools often surface “available now” options.
If you want a deeper look at how Google’s AI features are changing local visibility, read: How Google AI Overviews Impact Local Businesses.
If you’re not getting found (or not getting recommended), fix these first
Most pet care professionals don’t have a “marketing problem.” They have a clarity problem.
Start here:
- Your core services aren’t spelled out clearly (dog walking vs. sitting vs. grooming vs. waste removal).
- Your service area is too vague (“serving the metro area”) or inconsistent across profiles.
- Your trust signals are buried or missing (bonded/insured, first aid certified, background checked).
- Your reviews lack specifics about the service, pet type, or scenario (travel, work schedule, meds).
- You look inactive online (old photos, no recent reviews, outdated hours).
One high-leverage move: pick your best recurring service (for many businesses it’s weekday dog walks or vacation sitting), then make it unmistakable on:
- your Google Business Profile services list,
- a dedicated website page, and
- 5–10 reviews that mention that exact service and your location.
That combination helps you rank and helps AI summarize you accurately.
Measuring and improving AEO without guessing
The hardest part of AEO is that you can’t always see why you were included—or ignored. If you want to track how your business shows up across AI platforms and get a clear set of actions to improve recommendations, Pantora is built for that.
SEO gets you discovered when people search. AEO gets you chosen when people ask. For pet services—where trust is everything and seasonal demand can swing fast—the winners will be the businesses that make their services, coverage area, and safety credentials obvious everywhere Google and AI look.