How to Hire an AI-Visibility Agency: 10 Questions and Red Flags for Contractors

Over the past year, a lot of companies have started selling "AI search optimization" to contractors. Prices range from a few dollars for an audit to thousands of dollars a month. Some of these services may be worth paying for. Some are old SEO packages with a new name. And no one can guarantee what ChatGPT says about you.

This guide helps you evaluate a pitch. We sell an AI-visibility scan and a service, so we have an interest here. We've tried to keep to public information and tell you what we'd ask if we were in your seat.

What's on the market

From public price pages and roundups we found in November 2026 (prices change, and many are list prices from the sellers themselves):

A 2026 roofing SEO price guide put ordinary roofing SEO at roughly $750 to $1,500 a month for one low-competition city and $3,500 to $7,500 in a big metro (The Search Sherpa); that's an agency's own pricing. Roundups of "21 roofing GEO agencies" exist, but they're often written by companies in the list (Webtonic).

Treat all these as starting points to compare, not benchmarks.

What a legitimate service can and can't do

Can: check what AI tools say about you; fix wrong or missing listings; improve your website's clarity; help you collect reviews honestly; monitor results; explain what's changing.

Can't: control what ChatGPT, Google's AI or Perplexity say. OpenAI states that top placement can't be guaranteed. Even the DIY course page we found says no one can guarantee that a specific AI will recommend you.

The 10 questions to ask

1. "What exactly will you do each month?" Ask for a written list of tasks, not slogans. A good answer names specific work: which listings, how many pages, which reviews process.
2. "How do you measure results?" Look for "named in X of N answers," run several times, with the questions and dates. Be wary of a single screenshot.
3. "Which AI tools do you check, and how often?" AI tools differ. Ask whether they check ChatGPT, Google's AI and Perplexity separately.
4. "Can you show me results for a contractor in my trade and city?" Case studies should include the trade, the market, what was done and what changed, with permission to contact the client. Anonymous "50% more leads" claims prove little.
5. "Do you guarantee a result?" The right answer is no. If they guarantee ChatGPT placement, a number of leads or a ranking, walk away. A guarantee about their work (for example, a free month if they don't deliver the agreed tasks) is reasonable.
6. "What do you need from me?" They'll need access to your Google profile and listings. Ask for manager or editor access, never your passwords.
7. "Who owns the accounts, content and data?" You should. Profiles, pages and reports should stay yours if you cancel.
8. "What's the contract?" Month to month is reasonable. Be wary of long minimums, large setup fees or auto-renewals you can't cancel.
9. "How do you get reviews?" The answer must be: ask all customers, never buy, write, gate or reward reviews. Google prohibits incentives, and the FTC's 2024 rule bans fake and bought reviews and review suppression.
10. "Will you spend my money on ads or paid leads?" Not without your written approval, and you should see the cost.

Red flags

• A guaranteed spot ("we'll get you #1 on ChatGPT").
• Secret methods they won't explain.
• Pressure ("this price ends today").
• "AI-ready" claims with no list of actions.
• Requests for your passwords.
• A cheap monthly price with large hidden fees, such as setup, "content credits" or ad budgets.
• Reviews as a product: buying, writing or "boosting" reviews.
• Results quoted without dates, questions or numbers.
• Claims that schema or a special file is the key. A test of 1,885 pages found no significant effect of structured data on ChatGPT citations (Ahrefs), and Google says no special markup is needed for its AI features.
• Statistics with no source, such as "22% of homeowners start with ChatGPT."

Green flags

• A written monthly task list and a monthly report.
• Honest limits: "we can't control what AI says."
• A clear, month-to-month contract.
• References you can call.
• They start by checking what AI actually says about you, several times, and show you.
• They tell you what you can do yourself.

What you can do yourself first

Much of the work doesn't need an agency:

1. Run the five-minute test and note who's named and what's cited.
2. Make sure your site isn't blocking ChatGPT. See OAI-SearchBot.
3. Claim the free profiles on the sites in your trade. See the directories ChatGPT reads.
4. Set up a steady, honest review routine. See how many reviews and how recent.
5. Fix your service pages. See service pages and FAQs that answer "who should I call?".

If you do those and still want help, you'll be a much better buyer.

How to compare two offers

Put them side by side:

FAQ

Is a $27 audit worth it? It can be, if it shows the actual answers, the cited sources and the date. Check what you get and whether it's repeated runs or a single answer.

Should I pay thousands a month? Only if you can see a specific scope of work, a way to measure it and a way to cancel. Compare it with what you'd spend on other lead sources.

Can I just use software? Trackers show where you stand. They don't do the work.

Start with a free baseline. Run a free scan at localpickai.com. You'll see whether ChatGPT names you, who it names instead, which websites it read, and what to fix first. Free, no signup, about a minute. You can take the results to any provider.