None of this happens on your website. ChatGPT does not read everybody's website and pick the prettiest one. It repeats what it has already seen other people say about you. Google was about getting ranked. This is about getting named.
1. Get on the “best of” lists
Search for the list your customers would find. Best fence companies in your city. Best window cleaning services of Austin, Texas. Whatever your trade is, in your town.
Find out who published it, and reach out to them. Figure out what it takes to get on that list. Almost nobody does this, which is exactly why it works.
2. Get mentioned in communities online
Reddit is the obvious one. If two people are talking about which contractor they want to go with, they are in your area, and somebody suggests your company and talks about their actual experience, that is huge for ranking on ChatGPT.
You do not need a link back to your site. You need your business name sitting next to your city, in a place where real people are talking.
3. Post YouTube videos
YouTube is the strongest single signal referenced by ChatGPT. Post videos that educate your customers on what you do, what areas you work in, and how the job actually goes.
Use it as an educational source, not a highlight reel. This is something almost nobody in the trades is doing, so if you do it, it makes a real difference.
4. Build out your Google Business Profile and your reviews
ChatGPT’s local answers are built largely on Google, Yelp, and Foursquare data. That is not data from your website. Your site can be perfect and still have nothing to do with what the AI says about you.
So build a real profile on each of those platforms, ask for reviews on every one of them, and reply to every single review you get. That last part matters more than people think.
5. Put your name, address, and phone number everywhere
Facebook, Instagram, your Google profile, Yelp, Thumbtack, Angi. Anywhere on the internet that your business is listed, it should have the same business name, the same phone number, and the same address.
When those do not match, the AI loses confidence in which business you actually are, and it names a competitor instead. This one is free and it takes an afternoon.
The homework
Go ask ChatGPT the exact question your customer would ask. Best fence company in your city. See whether you are in the answer, and see who is.
That is your ranking now. It takes thirty seconds and most contractors have never done it.
Where this fits with your website
Your website still has a job. It has to load fast, it has to be readable by a crawler, and it has to turn a visit into a job. An instant estimator does that last part, because the homeowner gets a real number without waiting on a call back.
But none of that gets you into the answer in the first place. Being talked about does. That is the part you cannot build your way into.