Homeowners are still searching the way they always have when something goes wrong: fast, locally and with high intent. What is changing is where those answers come from and how quickly buyers form opinions before they ever call your office. Google now displays AI Overviews on billions of queries. An analysis of more than 10 million keywords by Semrush (https://tinyurl.com/48m6w2n3) found that AI Overviews appeared in 6.49% of U.S. desktop searches in January 2025, 7.64% in February, and 13.14% in March.
AI tools increasingly synthesize answers from business listings, reviews, trade coverage, local news, company content, social media and other third-party mentions. They are not just ranking pages. They are assembling recommendations.
Companies that rely solely on traditional SEO are already losing visibility to competitors whose content is structured to appear in AI-generated answers. Your online presence needs to work across all of it — not just page one of Google.
That shift is why AI search deserves attention now, and why public relations should be part of the strategy, not an afterthought.
Search is changing
The opportunity for plumbing companies in the current marketplace is significant, as digital discovery plays a crucial role in influencing customer decisions.
CallRail’s home services marketing statistics for 2026 (https://tinyurl.com/54pyx5sf) show that 98% of consumers search online before hiring a home-services business — and AI-powered search is now reshaping where that search happens.
Homeowners aren’t just Googling anymore. Today, 35% of consumers use AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini at the product discovery stage — asking questions like “who’s the best plumber near me” or “how much does a drain line replacement cost” — compared to just 13.6% who turn to traditional search first.
According to BrightLocal’s 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey, (https://tinyurl.com/5y892hdz) consumers are increasingly using platforms like Facebook, video-based channels, and AI tools such as ChatGPT for recommendations.
In fact, the use of AI for local recommendations surged from 6% to 45% in just one year, making it the third most popular source after Google and Facebook. Additionally, consumers now consult an average of six review sites when researching businesses, placing greater emphasis on review quality and recency, and raising their expectations for ratings and feedback.
For plumbing companies, the implication is clear: Online visibility extends beyond a company website or a Google Business Profile. Prospective customers are gathering trust from a variety of sources and valuing current, credible content. In this evolving landscape, having a strong reputation and a strategic PR plan is essential for businesses to consistently appear across the platforms and tools customers and AI use to make informed decisions.
PR’s bigger role
Public relations is often misunderstood. Many hear the term and still think it means sending out a press release when the company has news. That can be part of it, but PR is much broader than that.
At its core, PR is about shaping how your business is seen, understood and trusted by the public. Today, that includes earned media (publicity you don’t pay for), thought leadership, customer stories, online reputation, expert commentary, local and national visibility, social proof, and the content that helps define your brand across the web.
That broader definition matters because AI search is not just scanning your website for keywords. It pulls together signals from multiple sources to decide which companies appear credible and worth recommending.
This is where digital PR becomes especially important. Digital PR is about building visibility and authority across online channels through media coverage, expert insights, local and national news mentions, trade publication articles, review strategy, partnerships, case studies, and other third-party signals that reinforce trust.
Traditional SEO still matters. You still need strong service pages, accurate local listings, and technically sound websites. But generative search rewards something beyond that: credibility.
AI systems tend to favor clear, consistent, authoritative information. That includes earned media coverage, expert quotes, well-structured content, customer proof, thought leadership, and strong brand mentions across trusted sites. Those are PR assets, and they are becoming more influential in how plumbing companies are discovered online.
That is also why PR now plays a bigger role in search visibility. It helps you move beyond simply being indexed to being recognized. In an AI-shaped search environment, the companies that show up most convincingly are often the ones with a stronger public footprint, not just a better-optimized homepage.
That idea builds on what we have already been seeing in communications: Generative engine optimization is not just a content problem (https://tinyurl.com/33wp4utz). It is a visibility and authority problem. PR is well-positioned to lead because it shapes the signals that AI tools draw on when forming answers. That is also why PR is becoming the new SEO in the world of generative AI search. (https://tinyurl.com/bddwkxsa).
What digital PR can do
Third-party validation: When your company is quoted on a local business journal’s website, featured in a regional news story after a weather event, interviewed in an online trade publication article about hydronics, or highlighted for a community initiative, you are building a digital footprint on sites AI systems tend to treat as more trustworthy than self-promotional copy alone.
Topical authority: Contractors often know more than they publish. If your team has real expertise in water quality, heat pump retrofits, radiant design, trenchless repair, code compliance, or plumbing maintenance best practices, that knowledge should not live only in the field. It should become the following:
- Bylined online articles.
- Wire-service press releases.
- Expert Q&As.
- Commentary pitches.
- Project success stories.
- Educational blog content.
When that content appears consistently and across multiple channels, your company becomes easier for AI tools to understand and reference.
Gen AI releases: Digital PR also turns owned content into AI training data through Gen AI wire press releases (https://tinyurl.com/yw925fr9) or AI Notices. These are not traditional press releases written for journalists. They are built to provide AI systems with clear, structured, and credible information about your business, services, and expertise. A Gen AI wire press release works best when it uses prompt-aligned headlines, scannable sections, data-backed claims, named entities (specific names of people, places, or brands), and FAQ-style language that mirrors how people actually search.
For plumbing companies, that can be practical.
A Gen AI wire release could be based on a major school or building retrofit, clearly spelling out the project type, system installed, location, energy goals, and measurable results.
You could publish a release around a new service launch, with sections on the service area, common use cases, and answers to questions like “When should a homeowner replace a water heater instead of repairing it?”
Expanding your reach: PR gives contractors more sources in which to be discovered. Remember that 74% of consumers consult multiple sources (https://tinyurl.com/yc87vver) and more than three-quarters consume video while researching local businesses.
A smart digital PR strategy does not stop at one media hit. It turns expertise into multiple assets: a trade article, a short video tip from the owner, a project case study, a local press mention, an award entry, customer testimonials, and an online pressroom archive on the company website.
Together, those assets create repetition and consistency, two things that matter when AI systems are piecing together who to trust.
Madelyn Young is director of content & PR strategy at GreenHouse Digital + PR, an award-winning marketing agency specializing in the construction, design, industrial, and MRO markets. With more than seven years at the agency, she specializes in media relations, inbound marketing, and content strategy. Madelyn was named one of the Publicity Club of Chicago’s 30 Under 30 honorees in 2025 and has led award-winning PR campaigns recognized by the Public Relations Society of America. For additional information, visit greenhousedigitalpr.com.
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