What most of this industry won't tell you
AI search is being sold as an emergency. Here are the actual numbers, with the source, so you can check them.
AI Overviews appear on 17.7% of home-service searches — but on only 12.2–12.4% when someone adds a city or “near me” (WebFX, 237,990 queries, July 2025). When a Houston homeowner types “electrician near me,” the map pack is still what they see, and it is still where the work comes from.
So we fix the map pack first. AI visibility is real and it is growing, and we do that work too — but it is the second payoff, not the pitch. Anyone telling you the AI has already replaced Google for local jobs is selling you something.
The research on AI search is real, and it's blunt about how little anyone controls it:
Given the black-box and fast-moving nature of generative engines, content creators have little to no control over when and how their content is displayed. Aggarwal et al., “GEO: Generative Engine Optimization”, KDD 2024
We read that paper properly, including the part vendors skip. The methods that produced
its headline numbers work by instructing the model to make things up.
That is not our characterization — it is verbatim from the code the authors released
with the paper (src/geo_functions.py):
Add more quotes in the source, even though fake and artificial. Quotation Addition — GEO reference implementation, line 158
Revise the following source to include citations from credible sources. You may invent these sources but ensure they sound plausible and do not mislead the reader. Cite Sources — same file, line 166
So what that study proves is that answer engines reward text shaped like evidence, whether or not it is evidence. That is a weakness in the machines, not a marketing plan. We do the honest version — real quotes, real numbers, real links to real sources — and we will tell you plainly that the honest version has never been measured. The whole story is here.
Why the same work pays twice
Your Google Business Profile is the one source that Google Maps and the AI assistants both read. It's the highest-leverage thing most contractors can fix, and fixing it once shows up in both places — which is why we don't sell “AI optimization” as a separate product with a separate invoice.
What we do
Google Business Profile management
Categories, service lists, hours, photos, posts, and review responses — kept complete and kept current. This is the single highest-leverage thing a Houston contractor can fix, and most profiles we look at are half-filled. $497/mo.
AI visibility
Getting your business named and cited when someone asks an AI assistant for a contractor in your trade. We work from the actual controlled research — including the uncomfortable part of it, which we'll show you.
Houston and the surrounding metro
We work with trades across the Houston area. Local is the whole point — a national agency running your listing has never driven past your shop.
Prices are on the website
Almost nobody in this market publishes what they charge. We do, on the pricing page, including what's a monthly service and what's a one-time project. If a quote depends on the size of your operation, we'll say that out loud instead of hiding the whole menu.
Questions we get
How long before I see anything?
Profile fixes can show up in weeks. Real movement in the map pack usually takes a couple of months, and longer in a market as competitive as Houston. Anyone quoting you a date is guessing.
Can you guarantee I'll be in the top three?
No, and nobody can. Google decides that, changes it without notice, and explains almost nothing. We do the work that's known to matter and we report honestly on what moved.
Is this just SEO with a new name?
Most of it is local search work — your Google Business Profile, your listings, your reviews. What's new is that the same profile now feeds AI assistants as well as Maps, so the work pays in two places instead of one. We don't charge twice for it.
Do I have to sign a contract?
No. Monthly services are month to month with no early-termination fee. One-time projects are quoted separately.
Get a free AI visibility check
Tell us who you are. We'll check whether Google and ChatGPT name your company, then Gus calls you with what we found.
Talk to us
Call (713) 487-6870 or email gus@apogsystems.com. You'll get Gus, not a call center.