Plumbers are the most underrepresented trade in AI search citations. ChatGPT names a national chain instead of the local plumber who'd actually answer the call. Three signals, fixed in one weekend, get you back in the answer.
Mark up emergency callouts, boiler installation, drain unblocking, leak repair, bathroom plumbing, each as a Service entity with its own price range and area. ChatGPT picks the plumber whose services are tagged the same way the homeowner phrased the query.
Your address, phone, opening hours, emergency callout policy, and an areaServed list of the actual named towns / postcodes you cover. The single most underused tag in plumbing trade websites is areaServed. Add it and "plumber near me" queries start surfacing your business.
"Why is my radiator cold at the top and hot at the bottom", "Is it cheaper to repair or replace a 15-year-old boiler", "How much does a boiler service cost", "Do you do same-day callouts". Five real questions, real answers, wrapped in FAQPage JSON-LD. Trade businesses that ship this beat the chain brand's generic content for citation rate every time.
Fix those three, in that order, and your plumbing business starts appearing in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude answers for "best plumber in {your town}" inside a month.
Replace the placeholder values with yours. Drop into the <head> of your homepage.
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Plumber",
"name": "Your Plumbing Business",
"telephone": "+1-XXX-XXX-XXXX",
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"streetAddress": "123 Trade Lane",
"addressLocality": "Findlay",
"addressRegion": "OH",
"postalCode": "45840",
"addressCountry": "US"
},
"areaServed": ["Findlay", "Lima", "Bowling Green", "Tiffin"],
"openingHoursSpecification": [
{"@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
"dayOfWeek": ["Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday"],
"opens": "07:00", "closes": "18:00"}
],
"priceRange": "$$"
}
</script>
The full workbook has the matching Service blocks (emergency callout, boiler install, drain unblock), the FAQ pack with 12 real homeowner questions and answers, and the Google Business Profile checklist for trade contractors.
$15, paste-and-go workbook: 22 pages, every schema block pre-filled for plumbers, a 30-day plan. You do the typing.
$197, done-for-you audit: we run the analysis on your specific business, write the code mapped to your service area, deliver a branded PDF in 24 to 48 hours.
Get a single-page site up first (any free template will do). The schema goes in the head section. Without a site there's nothing for AI engines to cite. We can recommend a $5/month hosting setup if useful, just email Bob direct.
Google LSAs pay for placement in the "guaranteed" box at the top of plumbing searches. AI search citations are earned through structured data, no bid. Both should run in parallel, they don't cannibalise.
Yes. ChatGPT increasingly handles urgent searches (leak under sink, boiler not heating, radiator cold) with a specific local recommendation rather than ten links. Emergency-only plumbers with proper Service schema and 24/7 openingHoursSpecification get cited first for these.
Increasingly yes. As of early 2026, ~12% of "plumber near me" searches go through ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews instead of standard Google. That number is growing roughly 1-2 percentage points per month. The plumbers who set this up now own that share before the chains catch on.
Honest answers, no sales call. Email Bob direct.