Deal Mechanical has been doing HVAC in Sacramento since 2002. Eight trucks. Eleven techs. Twenty-three years building a reputation one job at a time. By every measure that mattered before 2024 — Google rankings, online reviews, word-of-mouth — they were a top-three operator in their metro.

Then the phone started getting quieter. Slowly. Six fewer calls a week than the year before, then ten, then fifteen. Revenue dropped 14% in 2024. The first half of 2025 was tracking another 11% down.

The owner, Jason, had hired three different “SEO companies” over those eighteen months. Each one took $1,500-$2,000/month, sent quarterly PDF reports showing rankings improving on keywords nobody actually searched anymore, and the phone kept getting quieter.

When Deal Mechanical came to us in October 2025, the audit told the real story: their Visibility Score™ was 14%. They were being named in roughly 1 out of every 7 AI-powered answers in Sacramento HVAC searches. The other 6 out of 7 went to two newer competitors with slicker positioning across ChatGPT, the Google AI Overview, and Perplexity.

What We Did

Days 1-30 — Listen + Position. Pulled every query in their category across Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini. Identified 47 high-commercial-intent searches where their competitors were named and they weren’t. Rewrote their Google Business Profile from the ground up — proper service categories, real photos of real trucks, structured Q&A, populated services list with prices and warranty terms.

Days 30-60 — Show Up Everywhere. Built primary-source content on their site that addressed information gaps in the AI consensus — specifically, “What does emergency HVAC service really cost in Sacramento” and “How to tell if your HVAC tech is overselling you.” Both topics were absent from the AI consensus. Both got picked up by the AI surfaces within 4 weeks of publication. Established consistent presence on the seven local-relevant directories that Sacramento home-service AI answers cite from.

Days 60-90 — Prove It. Visibility Score climbed from 14% to 38% by Day 60, to 51% by Day 90. Phone log showed 37 net-new customers in the 90-day window — measured against the trailing 90 days at the start of the engagement. Revenue impact in Q3 alone: $284,000.

What Happened Next

By Day 120, the Visibility Score held at 49-52% (the AI surfaces always have some week-to-week churn). The phone was ringing more than at any point in the previous 18 months. Jason hired two additional techs in Q4 to handle the volume. The October Hawaii trip with his wife happened.

Deal Mechanical is now on a 12-month engagement at our Silver tier. They renewed for Year 2 three weeks before the initial 12 months were up.

“I had hired and fired three SEO companies over 18 months. This is the first one that gave me a number that actually mattered, hit it on time, and didn't try to lock me into a three-year contract.”