Who AI assistants recommend for subpanel installation

1. What people actually asked
2. What your subpanel installation page has to explain
3. What the assistants looked for before recommending anyone
4. Your subpanel installation page checklist
5. Questions owners ask
6. How we got these numbers
7. See it on your own website

What people actually asked

We asked for subpanel installation in three different ways. Here is each one, word for word, with how many of the 302 answers it produced between September 4 and October 12, 2026:

• “I'm looking to get subpanel installation done in 33772 sometime this month. Who should I get quotes from?”104 answers, asked with five different timings: sometime this month, in two weeks, next month, before the end of the month and in the next few weeks
• “Subpanel installation near me — I'm in Largo, FL 33770. Who do you recommend?”104 answers
• “Who should I call for subpanel installation in Clearwater, FL 33755?”94 answers

Together, the 302 answers covered eight towns in Pinellas County: Dunedin, Largo, Palm Harbor, Seminole, St. Petersburg, Tarpon Springs, Clearwater and Pinellas Park. Each town came up in 37 to 38 answers. By assistant: ChatGPT 120, Claude 118 and Google AI Mode 64.

Customers also call it “electrical subpanel” or “sub panel install for garage/shed”, so use those words on the page as well.

The question underneath all of them

“How does a subpanel proposal fit the work I want to add?” The proposal should connect the new distribution point to the customer's actual electrical requirement.

What your subpanel installation page has to explain

A subpanel is only as good as the panel feeding it. Answers kept telling customers to ask whether the main panel and service can handle the added load. If they cannot, a subpanel job can turn into a service upgrade. A page that explains how the electrician checks the existing supply first shows the customer the quote will hold.

Customers add a subpanel for a reason: a garage, a workshop, a home addition, a generator or a hot tub. Assistants offered to help size the panel once they knew its purpose, and said the use affects wire sizing and permits. The page should connect the subpanel to what the customer wants to run, with a finished project that shows both.

Many electricians list panel upgrades, and assistants could not tell whether they also install subpanels. Some answers told customers to say the word subpanel when they call. Naming subpanels on the page, and listing what the installation includes, separates this job from a full panel replacement.

What the assistants looked for before recommending anyone

We read all 302 answers to see what the assistants looked for before naming a company for subpanel installation, what they told the customer to ask, and what they said they couldn’t find.

What the assistants told customers to ask

Most common first:

Can the main panel support a subpanel?

Assistants regularly told customers to ask for a load calculation and whether the main panel has capacity. They warned that a full main panel can mean a bigger service, which changes the job and its price. Customers wanted this answered before work began.

50% of the answers (152 of 302) brought this up.

Ask whether the electrician will check that your main panel has enough capacity for a subpanel.

What is the subpanel for?

Answers asked what the subpanel would serve, such as a garage, an addition, a generator or a hot tub. Assistants said the purpose affects the panel size, wire sizing and permits. Customers needed an electrician who would plan around their actual use.

47% of the answers (141 of 302) brought this up.

Who pulls the permit, and is the fee in the price?

Assistants often said a subpanel normally needs a permit and inspection, and told customers to ask who pulls it. Some warned that quotes may leave out the permit fee. One answer called a quote that never mentions a permit a red flag.

46% of the answers (138 of 302) brought this up.

Ask if the quote includes the permit fee, since some quotes exclude it.

Does the quote list feeder, breakers and grounding?

Many answers listed what a full subpanel quote should name: feeder wire size, breakers, grounding and bonding, labeling and any drywall repair. Assistants told customers to get two or three itemized quotes. Customers compared them line by line.

38% of the answers (114 of 302) brought this up.

Ask for a written quote that itemizes the permit, feeder wire, breaker sizing and grounding.

Does this electrician install subpanels, not only replace panels?

Assistants often found electricians who listed panel work but never named subpanels. They named those companies with a note to ask. Reviews rarely mentioned subpanels either, so customers could not tell who had done the work.

19% of the answers (56 of 302) brought this up.

None of the reviews I saw mentioned subpanels specifically, so ask whether they do them.

How soon can it be installed and inspected?

Customers often wanted the job done within weeks. Assistants told them to call soon and ask about lead times, noting that permits can add days to the schedule.

5% of the answers (16 of 302) brought this up.

Ask each one for its earliest start date and how long permitting usually takes.

What the assistants couldn’t find

In 37 of the 302 answers, the assistant said it couldn’t find or confirm something it needed about a company. By assistant: Claude in 37 of its 118, ChatGPT in 0 of its 120 and Google AI Mode in 0 of its 64. As we asked it, Claude usually says what it couldn’t confirm; ChatGPT and Google AI Mode seldom do, so these counts mostly show what Claude couldn’t find. Most often:

• A phone number or other way to reach the company: 19 answers
• Reviews it could check: 10 answers
• A license or insurance it could check: 6 answers
• Whether the company serves the customer’s town or ZIP code: 6 answers
• A price or how the job is priced: 6 answers

Assistants most often could not find or confirm a phone number, and rarely found reviews or prices for subpanel work. A page that names the service, gives a starting price and shows a working number answers what they kept sending customers to check.

I pulled these from search results and didn't confirm the phone numbers or licenses myself.

Where the assistants sent people

Each answer linked to the pages the assistant relied on. Of the 238 ChatGPT and Claude answers about subpanel installation, this is how many linked at least once to each kind of site:

• A contractor’s own website: 98% (234 answers)
• A directory or review site such as Yelp, Angi or the BBB: 60% (142 answers)
• An official license lookup: 17% (40 answers)
• A manufacturer or home-improvement guide: 5% (13 answers)
• A Google search or Maps page: 4% (9 answers)

A contractor’s own website was the page linked most often, so your site is usually what the customer is sent to read.

Google AI Mode works differently. In 67% of its 64 answers, the links opened Google’s own listing for a business rather than a website. There, your Google Business Profile is the page the customer sees, so it needs the same facts as your site.

The checks behind every recommendation, applied to subpanel installation

Can the customer reach a person?

Phone numbers were what assistants most often could not find or confirm for this job. Several took numbers from directories and warned they might be wrong.

19 of the 302 answers about subpanel installation, 19 of them from Claude, said the assistant couldn’t confirm this. In our July–August study across eight trades, it cost a business its place in 147 of the 290 conversations where it came up.

What do recent customers say?

Assistants often could not find reviews that mention subpanels and treated their lists as leads, not rankings. Reviews of general electrical work said little about this job.

10 of the 302 answers about subpanel installation, 10 of them from Claude, said the assistant couldn’t confirm this. In our July–August study across eight trades, it cost a business its place in 139 of the 569 conversations where it came up.

Do you serve the customer’s town or ZIP code?

Assistants often found electricians based in a nearby town and could not confirm they served the customer's ZIP code. They told customers to ask when they call.

6 of the 302 answers about subpanel installation, 6 of them from Claude, said the assistant couldn’t confirm this. In our July–August study across eight trades, it cost a business its place in 350 of the 554 conversations where it came up.

Source: How we research what AI assistants recommend.

Your subpanel installation page checklist

Work through this list on your subpanel installation page. Each item answers something the assistants looked for above.

1. Use “subpanel installation”, “electrical subpanel” or “sub panel install for garage/shed” in the page title, the main heading and the first paragraph.
2. Explain how you check the main panel and service before sizing the subpanel, and what happens if it falls short.
3. Describe the uses you install subpanels for and show one project that explains its purpose and scope.
4. State that you pull the permit and arrange the inspection, and say whether the fee is included.
5. List each part of the subpanel job your quote covers, including feeder size, grounding and labeling.
6. Name subpanel installation on the page, separate from panel replacement, and describe a recent job.
7. Say how soon you can start a subpanel job and how long permits usually add in your area.
8. Put a current phone number and a way to request a subpanel quote on the service page.
9. Link to recent reviews and point to ones from customers who had a subpanel installed.
10. List the towns and ZIP codes where you install subpanels, and whose permits you pull.

Going further: let assistants see real openings

For planned work like subpanel installation, a useful opening says whether it is for an assessment or the job itself, and whether the customer’s address is covered.

Merchant Context builds custom integrations with scheduling software so customers and AI assistants can read your current availability. Where your system records the job type, service area, duration and crew capacity, the integration can show those details with each opening, so an assistant can match it to the request instead of guessing.

We scope each connection to the software and data you actually have. A displayed opening is not a confirmed booking: the customer still confirms through your normal booking process, and the information is only useful while it is fresh.

Source: Merchant Context: custom integrations in the AEO service · checked 2026-10-14.

Questions owners ask

Do I need a subpanel or a panel upgrade?

Assistants said it depends on whether the main panel and service can carry the added load, which a load calculation shows. If they cannot, a subpanel alone may not be enough. A page should explain how the electrician decides, rather than promise one answer.

Does a subpanel need a permit?

Assistants regularly said a subpanel normally needs a permit and inspection, and told customers to ask who pulls it and whether the fee is in the quote. A page should say plainly that the electrician handles the permit and inspection.

What should a subpanel quote include?

Answers most often listed the load calculation, feeder wire size, breakers, grounding and bonding, labeling, the permit and the final inspection. Some also mentioned drywall repair. A page that lists these items helps customers compare quotes.

Which AI assistants did you test?

ChatGPT, Claude and Google AI Mode. Between September 4 and October 12, 2026, they answered 302 questions about subpanel installation: ChatGPT 120, Claude 118, Google AI Mode 64.

Will these changes guarantee a recommendation?

No. Nobody can promise that. These changes supply what the assistants were looking for in our research. Whether they move recommendations for your business is something to measure after they go live.

See it on your own website

Send us your website address and we’ll make a free preview of your homepage, rewritten so customers and assistants can find your subpanel installation answers. You pay only if you accept it: $2,000 a month, month to month, with no build fee.

Get your free homepage preview

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

Keep reading

• AI search optimization and websites for electrical contractors.
• Which services need their own page on a contractor website?