Your Customers Ask ChatGPT Before They Call You. Here’s What It Tells Them

Marcus Goh, Director, PULSE Digital

Before a Singapore homeowner calls a renovation contractor, a tenant reports a pest infestation, or a parent books a tuition trial lesson, many of them now ask ChatGPT or Google’s AI Overview first. If that answer names a competitor and not you, you lose the enquiry before your phone rings, no matter how well you rank on page one of Google.

Why do Singapore customers ask AI before calling a business?

They ask because it saves them a phone call and a WhatsApp message. Someone with a leaking aircon unit, a termite trail along the skirting, or a P6 child struggling with maths types the problem into ChatGPT or Perplexity and gets a summarised answer with two or three business names attached, often before they open Google Maps at all.

This shift matters more for service businesses than for retail. A renovation job, a pest control contract, or a law firm engagement involves trust and cost, so buyers research more before they call. An AI answer that recommends a competitor’s aircon servicing package or a rival tuition centre’s exam results shapes the shortlist before you even know the enquiry existed.

What does ChatGPT actually say about your business right now?

Most owners have never checked, and what they find is usually outdated or incomplete. AI answer engines pull from your Google Business Profile, your website text, and public reviews, so if your operating hours are wrong or your website never mentions that you service Bishan and Toa Payoh, the model has nothing to quote you on.

Run the test yourself. Ask ChatGPT “best aircon servicing company near Bishan” or “pest control company for termites in an HDB flat” and read what comes back. If your business is missing, or the model describes you inaccurately, that is the gap costing you enquiries.

How is ranking on ChatGPT different from ranking on Google?

Google ranks whole pages using backlinks and on page signals, then shows you a list of ten blue links. AI answer engines instead extract a short passage that directly answers the question and often present it without a link at all, which means winning here is about being quotable, not just being visible.

A renovation firm with excellent backlinks but a website written entirely in marketing language may still lose the AI answer to a smaller competitor whose FAQ page states plainly what a kitchen renovation costs and how long it takes.

How do you get your business into the AI answer?

1. Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overview what they currently say about your business and your top three services, and write down every gap or error.

1. Rewrite your core service pages so the first two sentences under each heading answer the question directly, in plain language, with no throat clearing.

1. Add an FAQ section to each service page using the actual questions your front desk or reception hears every week.

1. Update your Google Business Profile weekly with correct hours, service areas, and photos, since AI models often pull directly from live listings.

1. Fix inconsistent details across Facebook, WhatsApp Business, and any directory listing, because these models cross check for consistency before quoting you with confidence.

1. Recheck the AI answer monthly and adjust your content where the model still gets you wrong or leaves you out.

Does this matter for regulated trades like law firms, pest control, and tuition centres?

Yes, because regulation is exactly the kind of detail customers ask AI to clarify. A parent searching for a tuition centre often wants to know if it is registered with MOE, and a tenant dealing with pests wants a contractor licensed under NEA’s Vector Control operator scheme, so your website should state these facts plainly rather than bury them in a PDF.

The same applies to workshops needing bizSAFE certification under the Ministry of Manpower’s Workplace Safety and Health framework, or renovation contractors who can explain HDB’s permit and Provisional Permit rules for hacking works. If your competitor’s website states these facts clearly and yours does not, the AI answer has an easier source to quote, and it will not be you.

Does AI answer engine optimisation replace SEO?

No, it sits alongside it. You still need a Google Business Profile, reviews, and a technically sound website, but you also need content written as direct answers rather than long marketing copy, since that is the format AI models extract and quote from.

Can a pest control company or law firm really appear inside a ChatGPT answer?

Yes, if your website and listings clearly state your services, coverage area, and licensing in plain sentences. AI models favour sources that answer a question directly over ones that require reading three paragraphs to find the point.

How long does it take to change what AI says about my business?

There is no fixed timeline you can rely on, since it depends on how often the model recrawls the web and updates its training. Rewriting your content and fixing your listings is the first step, and rechecking monthly tells you whether it has shifted.

If you want a practical starting point, our free ChatGPT Ranking Roadmap walks through exactly how to audit and fix what AI answer engines currently say about your business. Get it at https://pulsedigital.sg/roadmap.