Who does AI recommend for roofing? In 745 searches, it trusted the BBB most.
When a homeowner asks ChatGPT for a roofer, the AI has to decide who to trust. In roofing, that is a real question. Storm chasers and deposit scams are part of the trade's reputation.
We wanted to know where AI goes to make that call. So we ran the Florida Roofing AI Visibility Study: 745 searches across 10 Florida cities and five AI tools, covering roofers, roof repair, roof replacement, storm damage, and commercial roofing.
The answer: the Better Business Bureau, by a wide margin.
Where does AI get its information about roofers?
Mostly from directories, with the BBB at the top. AI cited the BBB in 272 searches. Angi came next at 170, then Yelp at 160, Google reviews at 87, and HomeAdvisor at 64.
The top three are all directories, and AI leaned on them more than on roofers' own websites. Reddit came up only 4 times.
In the Florida Roofing AI Visibility Study, AI cited the BBB 272 times, more than Angi (170) or Yelp (160). The BBB mattered more for roofing than for any other trade we have studied.
Why does the BBB matter more for roofing?
Roofing has more trust concerns than most trades, and the BBB is built around trust. It tracks complaints, accreditation, and how a business responds when something goes wrong.
Our read is that AI tools lean on it for the same reason homeowners do. In our other Florida studies, the top source was different: Angi led for HVAC and Yelp led for pest control.
How often does AI actually name a roofer?
Most of the time. AI named a specific local roofing company in 73.6% of searches, nearly three out of four.
ChatGPT and Gemini named a roofer every single time. Claude did 98.6% of the time. Perplexity named one only 55.7% of the time and often sent people to directory links instead.
Google AI Overviews, the AI summary at the top of some Google searches, showed up for only 14% of roofing searches. Storm damage searches brought it up most, at 20%, followed by roof replacement at 16.7%.
We asked the way homeowners ask: the best roofer in a city, I need a roofer near a city, and top rated roofers with reviews. Plain “roofer” searches got a named company 76% of the time, and storm damage searches were close behind at 75.2%.
Commercial roofing was lowest at 71.2%. Even there, AI named a company in most searches.
Do the AI tools agree on which roofer to recommend?
Almost never. AI named 1,981 different roofing companies in the study, and 97.2% of them showed up on only one of the five tools.
Not one roofer appeared on all five. The most any company managed was three tools, and only 8 did that.
ChatGPT's list had zero overlap with every other tool. The closest pair was Perplexity and Claude, and they still disagreed 84% of the time.
Gemini was the only tool that overlapped with Google AI Overviews at all, at 5%. Being on one tool's list tells you very little about the other four, so each one has to be checked on its own.
Do big roofing franchises win in AI?
No. Independent roofers got 95.7% of AI recommendations. Franchise brands like Mighty Dog Roofing and Storm Guard barely showed up.
So a national brand's ad budget does not decide who AI names. You are competing with other local roofers, on the same directories AI reads.
Does it matter what city you're in?
Some. Orlando had the highest rate of named roofers at 88%, Miami was next at 83.3%, and Sarasota was lowest at 65.8%.
The study links Orlando's lead to hurricane and storm damage searches, which tend to get more specific AI answers. Even in Sarasota, AI named a roofer in about two out of three searches.
What should a roofer do first?
Start with the BBB. If you are not listed, get listed. If you are, the report recommends getting accredited, keeping your rating up, and answering every complaint with a calm, clear response.
If you have an old complaint sitting there with no answer, answer it now. Explain what happened and what you did to fix it. Homeowners read those responses, and so can any AI tool that pulls from the BBB.
Next, check Angi and Yelp, the next two sources AI used most. Your business name, address, and phone number should read exactly the same on all three and on your website.
Then ask for a review after every finished job. The report suggests aiming for 5 to 10 new reviews a month, and reviews that name the job, like a storm damage repair or a full replacement, tell AI what you do.
Which AI tools name your roofing company?
Since each tool names different roofers, the only way to know is to check all five. Our free scan checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews for your business in about 60 seconds.
Find out which AI tools name your roofing company.
Run Your Free AI Visibility Check