AI Search Optimization for Contractors
Built for contractors and local service businesses. Get found in ChatGPT, Google AI and Perplexity.
Trades Found is an AI search optimization and authority system built by Social Status for contractors, trades, and local service businesses that want to be found and recommended in AI-powered search.
The New Reality
The Search Has Already Changed
When a homeowner in your service area asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, or any AI-powered search tool who they should call for your trade in your city, the answer has already been determined.
If you are not in that answer, you do not get the call.
This is not coming. It is already happening, and the window to fix it before competitors in your market do is open right now.
AI-driven search draws on many of the same signals that already matter across the web: crawlable and useful content, clear business and service information, accurate local business data, technical accessibility, relevant structured data, and credible third-party information. Trades Found strengthens those foundations so search systems can understand and surface your business.
The System
What Trades Found Is
Trades Found is a structured three-layer AI search authority system developed by Social Status Inc., built specifically for trades and local service businesses. It runs as done-for-you infrastructure while you are on the job site.
It is not repackaged SEO. It is not a software subscription. It is not generic digital marketing.
It is a system that makes your business legible to AI-generated search results — a discovery channel that barely existed for local service businesses three years ago and now shapes a meaningful share of how homeowners find contractors.
Every layer is designed to stand alone as a complete deliverable and feed naturally into the next.
The Diagnostic
The Trades Found Diagnostic — Where It Starts
Before anything gets built, Social Status scores your business across eight factors that affect whether AI search can identify and recommend you. You get a clear picture of where you are weak, and what to fix first.
The 8 AI Search Readiness Factors
01
Google Business Profile Health and Completeness
The strongest local signal for Google and Gemini. ChatGPT and Perplexity rely more on Bing, directories, and review sites, so the profile has to match those listings too.
02
Schema Markup Completeness
Organization, LocalBusiness, and Service schema that confirms what the page already says. Schema does not get you recommended. Missing or conflicting schema makes you harder to identify.
03
Content Depth and Entity Clarity
Whether your website clearly communicates who you are, what you do, and where you serve it in language AI can process.
04
FAQ Coverage and Answer Structure
Whether your site answers the actual questions customers ask, written in passages an AI system can extract and quote directly.
05
Citation Footprint and NAP Consistency
Whether your name, address, and phone match across your site, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, and the directories ChatGPT and Perplexity cite.
06
Core Web Vitals and Page Speed
Technical performance signals that affect ranking and whether your pages can be crawled. Speed does not decide which contractor an AI names.
07
Internal Linking Structure
How your pages connect and signal topical authority to search engines and AI systems.
08
Live AI Answer Check
What ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Mode return today for your trade and city, and which sources they cite.
You receive a written diagnostic report with your score across all eight factors, your current AI visibility tier, and a ranked priority action list — the specific fixes that will move fastest for your business.
Three Layers
The Three-Layer System
The diagnostic is the entry point. What comes after is where the compounding begins.
Layer 1 — The Trades Found Audit
Investment: $750 one-time
A full scoring of your business across the eight AI search readiness factors, with real competitor data, live ranking analysis, and a 60-minute walkthrough with Elena Patrice. You receive a written report with your AI visibility score, your current tier, and a prioritized action plan.
The $750 credits in full toward a Foundation setup, or toward month one of the Authority Engine, if you start within 30 days.
Layer 2 — The Trades Found Foundation
Investment: $2,000 one-time
Social Status builds the technical foundation, so AI systems can accurately identify and understand your business. This is the one-time setup work most trades businesses have never done.
- Full schema stack deployment: Organization, LocalBusiness, Service, ProfessionalService, Schema for Organization, the specific trade type, and Service. Only markup that matches what is visible on the page. No self-serving review markup.
- Canonical structure audit and implementation
- Internal linking map — initial build across all service and industry pages
- Google Business Profile optimization and entity clarity audit
Layer 3 — The Trades Found Authority Engine
Starting at $1,500/month
The ongoing system that builds AI search authority month over month — compounding visibility, citation signals, and content depth across your entire online presence. This is not a retainer for “doing SEO.” It is a structured authority-building engine with defined monthly deliverables.
- One pillar content piece per active service line (quarterly cadence)
- Two service-and-city pages a month, written as direct answers to the jobs homeowners ask about
- FAQ sections written for AI extraction — entity-named, standalone answers on every new content piece
- Internal linking map updated monthly as new content is published
- Citation monitoring and expansion
- Monthly report: rankings, Google Business Profile health, and whether AI answers name you for the queries we are tracking.
- Competitive intelligence scan of your top three local competitors
Built For
Who Trades Found Is Built For
Trades Found is built for established contractors and local service businesses that want to be the name AI search returns, not one of the ones it skips.
- HVAC, plumbing, roofing, electrical, home remodeling, landscaping, tree service, and auto repair — the eight industries Social Status works in
- Owner-operated businesses with $500K–$5M in annual revenue
- Five or more years in business with a real reputation in the market
- Ready to invest in infrastructure rather than campaigns
Next Steps
What Happens After the Audit
The audit gives you complete clarity on where you stand and what to fix. At the end of your 60-minute walkthrough, you have three options.
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- Take the action plan and implement it yourself. Everything in the report is specific and prioritized, and you can hand it to your current web vendor or work through it with your team.
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- Move into the Trades Found Foundation, where Social Status implements the technical infrastructure. The $750 audit fee credits toward the first month.
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- Move directly into the Authority Engine. For businesses ready to build compounding authority from day one, Foundation and Authority Engine can be scoped together.
There is no pressure and no pitch. The audit is a working session — you leave with clarity and a plan regardless of what you decide next.
Ready to Find Out Where You Stand?
Book your Trades Found Audit. Sixty minutes, real data, and a ranked action plan built for your business.
The $750 credits in full toward a Foundation setup, or toward month one of the Authority Engine, if you start within 30 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is this different from regular SEO?
Traditional SEO is built to rank in Google’s results. Trades Found also tracks whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Mode name you, and fixes the profiles, listings, and pages those systems cite. Google’s own AI results still use ordinary search signals. ChatGPT and Perplexity lean more on Bing, directories, and reviews. The work overlaps. The report shows the gap.
Is AI search actually driving calls for trades businesses yet?
Yes, and it is accelerating faster than most local business owners realize. Google AI Overviews now appear across a large share of informational searches. ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Mode are already answering local service questions, and they name very few businesses. The businesses these systems recommend are not the ones running the most ads — they are the ones with clear entity signals, consistent business data across the web, and real content authority. That infrastructure takes time to build, which is why starting earlier compounds.
What trades do you work with?
HVAC, plumbing, roofing, electrical, home remodeling, landscaping, tree service, and auto repair. Trades Found is built for local service businesses operating with crews, equipment, and real job sites — not e-commerce, SaaS, or businesses without a defined service area. The requirement is a physical service area, not a specific trade, so adjacent local service businesses are usually a fit as well.
What does the AI visibility audit actually include?
You receive a written diagnostic report scoring your business across eight AI search readiness factors, with your overall score, your current visibility tier, a breakdown by factor, and a ranked list of priority actions. The 60-minute walkthrough with Elena Patrice covers the findings, answers your questions, and maps the highest-leverage next steps. The report is written to be actionable whether Social Status implements it or someone else does.
How long does it take to see results from the Authority Engine?
AI search visibility builds differently than traditional rankings, and timing varies by market, existing authority, and how much foundational work is required. Progress gets measured through search visibility, AI-feature visibility where it can be observed, qualified traffic, and leads rather than a promised ranking date. Content authority and citation signals typically compound over three to six months.
Can you work with my existing web vendor or agency?
Yes. The Trades Found Audit deliverable is written to be actionable regardless of who implements it. If an existing vendor handles your website, Social Status can work alongside them, providing the strategy and AI-specific infrastructure while they handle execution. The Authority Engine can also layer onto existing marketing activity rather than replacing it.
Trades Found™ is a proprietary program developed and delivered by Social Status, Inc. — a digital growth systems agency serving trades and local service businesses since 2018.