Why Google's AI Overviews skip some local contractors (and what to fix)

What AI Overviews are, briefly

An AI Overview is the generated summary Google shows at the top of some search results, with links to the pages it drew on. Google also runs AI Mode, a chat-style search that works on the same idea. AI Overviews reached Canada in Google's October 2024 expansion to more than 100 countries, and AI Mode started rolling out in Canada in August 2025. For a question like "why is my furnace blowing cold air" an Overview is common. For "furnace repair Markham" you may see an Overview, the map pack of local businesses, ads, or all three.

Google's own guidance for site owners is short and worth reading in full. The key points:

• There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and no special optimizations needed beyond normal SEO best practices.
• To be shown as a supporting link, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search with a snippet.
• Structured data should match what's visible on the page.

Being indexed makes a page eligible. It doesn't mean it will be used.

So when a contractor is skipped, the cause is almost always something ordinary. Here are the ones we see most on trade websites, roughly in order of how often they matter.

1. The page Google would quote doesn't exist

AI Overviews answer questions. If a homeowner asks "how much does a new furnace cost in Toronto" and your site has a single "Services" page with six bullet points, there's nothing to quote. Competitors with a page that explains costs, timelines and what affects the price give Google an answer to link.

Fix: write one page per core service, and answer the questions customers ask on the phone. What does it cost (a range is fine), how long does it take, what affects the price, when should you repair versus replace. Our service page template has the structure.

2. Google can't index or read it

Check these with the free Google Search Console:

• The page isn't indexed. Use the URL Inspection tool on your key service pages. "URL is not on Google" means it can't be used in an Overview.
• A noindex tag or robots.txt rule left over from a website rebuild. This is more common than you'd think.
• A nosnippet tag. Google says pages need to be eligible for a snippet. A nosnippet directive opts the page out.
• Text inside images. A banner that says "24/7 emergency furnace repair" is invisible as text. Put the words on the page.
• Duplicate city pages. Twenty near-identical pages that only swap the city name are the kind of thing Google's spam policies call doorway pages. They can drag the whole site down.

3. Your business facts are thin or inconsistent

For local questions, Google leans heavily on its own business data. Google's help pages say local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and that complete, accurate Business Profile information helps. An Overview for "best AC repair in Ajax" draws on the same pool.

Common gaps:

• Business Profile categories that don't match what you do (for example, only "Plumber" when half your work is HVAC)
• Missing hours, or hours that differ from your website
• No services listed on the profile
• A different phone number on your website, your profile and your directory listings

Fix: work through our 10-minute Google Business Profile checklist, then make your website say the same thing.

4. Nothing outside your site backs you up

Google talks about prominence: how well known a business is, based on information from across the web, including reviews, links and articles. A new or quiet business with eight reviews and no mentions anywhere else is a weaker candidate than an established one, even if its website is better.

Fix: ask every customer for a review, keep your listings on the main directories accurate, and look for real local mentions: your BIA, manufacturer dealer locators, supplier pages, local news. Our citations guide covers which ones matter in Canada.

5. The page doesn't sound trustworthy

Google's guidance on helpful content asks whether a page shows real experience and expertise, and whether it was made for people rather than for search engines. For a trade, that means:

• A real business name, address or service area, and phone number on every page
• Who does the work: names, years in the trade, licences. In Ontario, TSSA registration for fuels work and a plumbing Certificate of Qualification (plumbing is a compulsory trade) are things a homeowner can look up.
• Real photos of your trucks, team and jobs, not only stock images
• Honest claims. "Toronto's #1 HVAC company" with nothing to support it reads as marketing, not as an answer.

6. The query doesn't show an Overview at all

Not every search triggers one. Many local "near me" searches show the map pack and ads instead, and Google decides that per query. If no Overview appears, there's nothing to be skipped from. Your Business Profile does the work there.

That's why you should check the actual questions your customers type, not assume. Our guide to how homeowners ask AI for trades looks at how those questions are changing.

What about schema markup?

Structured data (schema.org markup such as HVACBusiness or Plumber) helps Google understand your business name, address, hours and services. It's worth having and it supports normal rich results. But Google is clear that structured data isn't required for its AI features, and adding it doesn't guarantee anything. Treat it as hygiene: correct, matching the visible page, and kept up to date.

How to check where you stand

1. Search the 10 questions customers ask you most, with your city in them, in a private browser window.
2. Note which ones show an AI Overview and which sources it links.
3. If a competitor is linked, open their page and compare it honestly with yours. Is it more specific? Does it answer the question in the first paragraph?
4. Repeat in a few weeks. Overviews change often, so one search is a snapshot.

For a fuller method across ChatGPT and Gemini too, see how to check whether AI recommends your company. Do this before you spend money on anything else. It tells you which of the six problems above is yours.