How to do keyword research for local SEO as a contractor

1. Keyword research for a contractor starts with questions
2. Where a keyword list can lead you wrong
3. What our recorded answers show about the questions behind a hire
4. How to turn customer questions into a website plan
5. Questions owners ask
6. How we got these numbers
7. Sources
8. See it on your own website

Keyword research for a contractor starts with questions

You have a list of keywords, perhaps from an agency or a keyword tool. It may hold hundreds of phrases. Which become pages, which do you ignore, and where does the rest go?

Here is the short answer. Research the questions your customers ask, not just the words. A keyword is a piece of a question. “Water heater repair Largo” might come from a homeowner with no hot water tonight. It might come from one comparing quotes for next month. Those two people need different answers, so they may need different pages.

Questions matter more now because of how AI assistants answer. ChatGPT rewrites the customer's question into one or more searches ¹. Claude runs a search tool and grounds its answer in pages from the live web ². Google's AI Mode may run many related searches across subtopics to build one answer ³. Google says people can now ask nuanced questions that once took several searches ³. It also says they ask longer, more specific questions, plus follow-ups ⁴. A page that answers the whole question, in the customer's words, gives those searches something to find.

So the work has four parts:

1. Collect real questions, and note where and when you found each one.
2. Sort them by who is asking and what they are deciding.
3. Group wordings that need the same answer, and keep apart the ones that don't.
4. Give every group a destination: a page, a section of a page, your Business Profile, or nowhere, with a reason.

The rest of this guide covers where keyword lists mislead, what our recorded answers show about the questions behind a hire, and a step-by-step method you can run in a spreadsheet.

Where a keyword list can lead you wrong

A keyword list mixes different people

Keyword tools return searches that contain your words. Many come from people who will never hire you: do-it-yourselfers, people shopping for a part, job seekers, or people who need different work. The job list behind our research shows this.

• For “duct cleaning”, the highest estimate was “laundry air duct cleaning”, at 201,000 searches a month. Of the volume for the five wordings the tool listed, 55% was about dryer vents, not a home's air ducts.
• The list for “AC repair” included “windows ac repair”, at 27,100. That most likely means window units, not central air.
• The list for “furnace repair” included “pool furnace repair”, at 12,100.

Each is a real search, but few are your customer. So before you count anything, label who is asking. A homeowner hiring a contractor is your customer. A do-it-yourselfer needs a different page, or none. An owner shopping for a marketing agency is another audience, even when the phrase names your trade.

Search volume is a rough, rounded estimate

Google's Keyword Planner reports the average number of monthly searches for a keyword and its close variants ⁵. By default, it averages them over twelve months ⁵. The figure covers the location you choose, so a nationwide number says little about your county. Close variants can also share one figure. In our list, three wordings of furnace repair each showed 40,500. Adding them up may count the same searches more than once.

Small numbers are shaky too. Google says keywords with very low search volumes can't be found or forecast in Keyword Planner ⁶. For 24 of the 147 jobs in our list, the tool returned no estimate at all for our wording when we measured on September 2, 2026. They included wind damage roof repair, GFCI outlet installation and roof insurance claim assistance. Florida homeowners need all three. A blank means the tool had no estimate, not that nobody needs the work.

Search volume is not a count of AI conversations

Keyword tools measure Google searches. They say nothing about how often someone asks ChatGPT or Claude a question. We found no public source from OpenAI, Anthropic or Google that says how often a given question is asked of their assistants. Use volume as a hint about wording and rough size, never as a forecast of AI demand.

One job can hide two decisions

“AC repair” covers a homeowner with a dead unit in August and one who wants a check before summer. One group would hide the difference that matters most: urgency. Price, equipment, permits and property type can split a job the same way. The next section shows how much urgency changed our recorded answers.

More pages is not the goal

Once you have groups, it is tempting to write a page for every phrase. Google warns against this. It asks whether a site is producing lots of content on many topics in the hope that some of it performs well ⁷. Its spam rules name pages aimed at specific regions or cities that funnel visitors to one page ⁸. Different words for the same work belong on one page that uses all of them. Google's starter guide notes that people who know a topic search with different words than people who are new to it ⁹.

Your best sources are not keyword tools

The questions that matter most are already in your calls, texts, quote forms and reviews. Google gives you two more lists for free. Search Console's Performance report can group your Google search traffic by the search query people typed ¹⁰. Your Business Profile's performance page shows the search terms people used to find your business ¹¹.

Both have limits. To protect privacy, Search Console hides queries that weren't searched by more than a few dozen people over two to three months ¹². For a small local website, that can be many of them. And neither list shows what people asked an AI assistant.

What our recorded answers show about the questions behind a hire

Between September 2 and October 14, 2026, we asked ChatGPT, Claude and Google AI Mode to recommend a local contractor 47,209 times. Of those, 41,561 named one of 147 specific jobs in HVAC, plumbing, electrical or roofing, in towns around Tampa Bay, Florida. Each was asked in a fresh conversation with web search on.

We wrote the questions ourselves, in a homeowner's words. So these answers don't measure what customers ask. They show how the assistants answered those questions. They are observations, not experiments, so they show what happened, not what causes a recommendation.

The assistants told customers what to ask before hiring

In 18,784 of the 41,561 job answers (45%), the assistant told the customer to ask or check something before hiring. Claude did this in 61% of its job answers, ChatGPT in 51% and Google AI Mode in 12%. We read 20 random sentences of this kind by hand, and 20 of 20 told the customer to ask or check something.

These are the questions a homeowner brings to the phone call. Sorted by subject, the most common were:

• A price or fee, such as a service-call or diagnostic fee: 4,698 answers
• A license or insurance: 4,498 answers
• What the price or the job includes: 3,870 answers
• Who pulls the permit, or whether it is in the quote: 3,661 answers
• When the company can come or start: 2,333 answers
• A warranty: 1,303 answers

One answer can raise several subjects, so these counts overlap. We sorted them with word rules and checked 20 random sentences for each subject. Permits scored 20 of 20, what's included 20 of 20, a license or insurance 19 of 20, a price 18 of 20 and availability 16 of 20. The availability count is the least exact.

Ask for a realistic arrival time, and whether a technician is on call right now or you'd be booked for first thing tomorrow.

Ask whether the quote includes the permit, the thermostat, the condensate line, and any ductwork repairs.

Each of these is a question your page can answer before the phone rings: how you price the job, your license number, what the quote covers, who handles the permit and how soon you can come.

An urgent question is a different question

Some of our questions named an urgent time, such as “tonight”. Others named a planned time, such as “next month”, or no time at all. For the 43 jobs we treated as urgent, such as AC repair, drain cleaning or roof leak repair, the urgent wording changed the answer.

• The businesses named. We compared answers from the same assistant about the same job and town, given within 7 days. An urgent wording and an everyday one shared 25% of their businesses for ChatGPT and 25% for Claude. Two everyday wordings shared 40% for ChatGPT and 37% for Claude.
• What to ask. Answers to the urgent wording told the customer to ask about timing or availability in 20% of cases. For the same jobs asked with no time, it was 11%.
• Permits. Only 0.3% of the urgent answers told the customer to ask about a permit. For big jobs such as AC replacement, panel upgrades or repiping, 25% of answers did.

Answers change a lot from run to run anyway, and we matched business names loosely, so treat these shares as rough. Google AI Mode's answers in our records don't mark business names, so it isn't in that comparison. Still, the direction was clear. An urgent wording drew a noticeably different set of businesses than a calm one.

For your research, that gives one firm rule. Never merge an urgent wording into a calm one just because both name the same job. Keep “AC repair tonight” as its own question, even if its answer ends up as a section of your AC repair page.

What the assistants couldn't confirm

The same answers show which questions an assistant couldn't answer from what it found. Of the 41,561 job answers, 6,407 (15%) said the assistant couldn't find or confirm something about a company. Nearly all came from Claude: 6,144 of its 14,467 job answers. ChatGPT said so in 241 of 17,275, and Google AI Mode in 22 of 9,819.

That doesn't mean the others found everything. It means Claude tells the customer what it couldn't check, and the others mostly don't. The most common gap was a phone number or other way to reach the company, in 3,851 answers. Others included whether the company served the customer's town (755) and a price (501). Your pages should answer each of these in plain text.

What happened when we planned our own website

We used this method on the questions for our own website. The list held 772 searches and questions, many of them near-duplicates. They pointed to 40 destinations. We set 94 aside, each with a written reason, such as being about using AI apps rather than hiring help. The rows were never 772 pages, and we never added their volumes into one claim about demand.

How to turn customer questions into a website plan

You can start this in a spreadsheet in an afternoon, then add to it as new questions come in. Each row is one question in the customer's own words.

1. Set up the sheet

Give each row these columns:

• The question, exactly as the customer said or typed it.
• Where it came from: a call, a form, a review, Search Console, your Business Profile or a keyword tool.
• The date you found it.
• Who is asking: a homeowner hiring, a do-it-yourselfer, a job seeker or someone else.
• The job, the town and any time or urgency in the question.
• Where it will be answered, or why it won't be.

2. Collect from your own business first

For two weeks, write down every question customers ask by phone, text and quote form, and ask whoever answers your phone to do the same. Read your reviews for the words customers use. These rows are the most reliable, because they come from people who actually contacted you.

3. Add Google's free lists

In Search Console, open the Performance report and look at the queries that brought people to your site ¹⁰. In your Business Profile, check the search terms people used to find you ¹¹. Copy the ones about jobs and towns into the sheet, with the date. Remember that rare searches are hidden ¹², so a short list doesn't mean nobody is searching.

4. Use a keyword tool to check wording

A keyword tool shows how people phrase a job and which wordings are common. Note the date and the location setting for every figure you copy ⁵. Don't add volumes together. Don't drop a job you do just because its estimate is blank ⁶.

5. Label who is asking, and set aside what isn't yours

Mark each row's audience. Set aside rows from people who won't hire you, and rows for work you don't do or aren't licensed for. Keep them in the sheet with a short reason, so you don't debate them again next year.

6. Group by the answer, then split by the decision

Put wordings that need the same answer in one group. “AC not cooling”, “AC repair” and “air conditioner repair” are one job. Then split a group when the customer's decision differs:

• Urgent or planned. An emergency call and a booked check-up need different answers.
• Repair or replacement. The price, the permit and the timeline usually differ.
• Equipment or property type. A flat roof is not a shingle roof, and a heat pump is not a gas furnace.
• Price research. “How much does it cost” is a question to answer, often on the job page itself.

7. Give every group one destination

A group that is its own decision, with enough to say, gets a job page. A group about where you work goes on a town or service-area page, with real local detail, not a swapped town name ⁸. A smaller question becomes a section on the right page. Hours and service area also belong on your Business Profile. A group with no good home stays in the sheet, not forced onto a page.

8. Answer the questions customers are told to ask

On each job page, answer the questions the assistants told customers to ask:

• How you price the job, and whether there is a service-call or diagnostic fee.
• Your license number and the insurance you carry.
• What the quote includes, and what it doesn't.
• Who pulls the permit, and whether it is in the price.
• How soon you can come for urgent work, and how far out you book planned work.
• What the warranty covers, for parts and for labor.

Use plain words and real figures or ranges you can stand behind. Google advises unique, non-commodity content that people will find helpful ⁴. Your own prices, permits and timelines are exactly that.

9. Keep the sheet, and check it again

Every few months, add new questions and review the old ones. Ask the most important ones in ChatGPT, Claude and Google AI Mode on several days, and note who is named and which pages are linked. Judge across many runs, not one, and watch your calls and form requests. No one can promise a recommendation, but every real question will have a clear answer.

Questions owners ask

How do I do keyword research for local SEO?

Start with the questions customers already ask on calls, texts, forms and reviews. Add the queries in Google Search Console and the search terms in your Business Profile. Use a keyword tool only to check wording. Then label who is asking, group wordings that need the same answer, keep urgent and planned questions apart, and give each group one page or section.

What free tools show what customers search to find my business?

Google Search Console's Performance report shows the search queries that brought people to your website. Your Google Business Profile's performance page shows the search terms people used to find your profile. Both are free. Search Console hides rare queries to protect privacy, and neither one shows what people asked ChatGPT, Claude or another AI assistant.

Should I make a separate page for every keyword?

No. Different words for the same job belong on one page that uses all of them. Give a job its own page when it is a different decision for the customer, such as an emergency repair versus a planned replacement. Google warns against producing lots of similar pages, including near-copies aimed at different towns, in the hope that some rank.

Is keyword search volume the same as how often people ask ChatGPT?

No. Keyword tools estimate Google searches, averaged over months and often for the whole country. They don't measure questions asked of AI assistants, and we found no public figures from OpenAI, Anthropic or Google on how often a given question is asked. Treat volume as a rough hint about wording, not a forecast of AI demand.

What questions should a contractor's service page answer?

Answer the ones customers ask before hiring. Say how you price the job and whether there is a service-call fee. Give your license number and insurance. Explain what the quote includes, who pulls the permit, how soon you can come and what the warranty covers. Also say which towns you serve and give a phone number as text.

How often should I update my keyword research?

Add new questions as they come in, and review the whole list every few months. Note the date on every row, because search wording, keyword estimates and AI answers all change over time. When you update a page, record the date, then check calls, form requests and AI answers over the following weeks.

See it on your own website

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Source: Merchant Context: the current website offer · checked 2026-10-14.

Keep reading

• AI search optimization for home service businesses.
• How to do keyword research for local SEO as a contractor