A homeowner asks ChatGPT for a plumber in your town. ChatGPT names your business. So far, so good. Then the homeowner asks a follow-up: "How much does Smith Plumbing charge for a water heater replacement?" ChatGPT says, "Pricing isn't listed on their website. You'd have to call to get a quote."
That answer sends the homeowner back to Google. They scroll until they find a competitor whose website lists service pricing, availability, and specialties. The competitor gets the call. You were named first and lost the job anyway.
This is the specificity gap. AI search engines can find your business. They cannot describe it in the detail that leads to a booking.
What the Data Shows
The Courtyard AI Visibility Index, published in July 2026, measured how well AI assistants understand local businesses across 50 US and Canadian markets. The findings are not flattering. On a 0-to-1 scale, here is how well AI understood each type of question:
- What the business offers: 0.80
- Whether the business is a fit for the customer's need: 0.68
- What sets the business apart: 0.58
- Whether the business is available: 0.56
- What it costs: 0.09
AI can describe what a trades business does. It cannot describe what makes that business different, whether the business is taking new customers, or what the work costs. The pricing score of 0.09 means AI almost never knows what a local business charges. It hedges instead, telling the customer to call or check the website.
The Courtyard report found that 60% of AI answers hedged. "Pricing isn't listed." "You'd have to check." "Contact the business for details." Those hedged answers push customers back to traditional search, where competitors with more specific content win the click.
Why AI Can Find Your Business but Not Describe It
AI search engines discover businesses through reputation signals: Google Business Profile, directory listings, reviews, mentions in local press. Discovery is sourced from others. The Courtyard data shows that when AI recommends a business, it draws from Google (14%), Reddit (4.6%), directories (10%), and local critics (3.5%).
Depth is a different story. When a customer asks a specific question about a named business, the business's own website becomes the dominant source. The Courtyard report found that the business website accounts for 39% of citations in depth answers. In 72% of those answers, the business website is cited. In 42% of them, it is the only source the AI uses, with no directory to fall back on.
If the business website does not contain the specific information the AI needs, the AI has nowhere else to look. It gives a hedged answer, the customer gets a non-answer, and the job goes to a competitor whose website actually answered the question.
SOCi's 2026 Local Visibility Index, which analyzed 350,000 business locations across 2,751 brands, found that business profile information was only 68% accurate on ChatGPT compared to 100% accuracy on Gemini, which is grounded in Google Maps. ChatGPT is working with incomplete data. If the website fills the gaps, the AI can give a confident answer. If the website has the same thin content as the listing, the AI has nothing to add.
The Three Questions AI Can't Answer About Your Trades Business
1. What Do You Charge?
The Courtyard data puts pricing understanding at 0.09 out of 1. AI almost never knows what a local trades business charges because most trades businesses do not publish pricing on their websites.
A plumber whose website says "competitive rates" gives AI nothing. A plumber whose website says "water heater replacement starts at $1,800 including labor and disposal" gives AI a number it can cite. The first plumber gets a hedged answer. The second gets a specific recommendation.
This does not mean publishing a full price list. It means publishing starting prices for common jobs. Water heater replacement. Drain cleaning. Toilet installation. Emergency service call fee. These are the questions homeowners ask AI, and the answers should be on the service page.
2. Are You Available?
The Courtyard data puts availability understanding at 0.56. AI understands whether a business is open more than half the time, but it cannot reliably tell a customer whether the business is taking new clients, what the service area is, or whether same-day emergency service is available.
A website that says "serving Bergen County, NJ and surrounding areas" tells the AI the general region. A website that says "servicing Bergen, Passaic, and Hudson Counties. Same-day emergency calls accepted before 2pm. New customers welcome" gives the AI three specific answers it can cite.
3. What Makes You Different?
The Courtyard data puts "what sets you apart" at 0.58. AI can describe what a business does. It struggles to describe why a customer should pick that business over the one next to it.
"Family-owned plumbing company" is not a differentiator. Every plumber's website says that. "Licensed master plumber with 15 years specializing in tankless water heater installation and Navien warranty repairs. Only plumber in Bergen County certified for Navien NPE-2 series installations" is a differentiator. It gives the AI specific, verifiable claims it can pass to the customer.
How to Close the Specificity Gap
Publish Service Prices for Common Jobs
List starting prices for the five most common jobs. The website does not need a full price sheet. It needs enough numbers that AI can give a real answer instead of "call for a quote." A page that says "drain cleaning starts at $150, water heater replacement starts at $1,800, emergency service call $120 plus parts" gives the AI three data points it can cite confidently.
List the Service Area by County and Town
"Serving the tri-state area" is vague. List the counties. List the towns. State whether emergency service is available 24/7 or during business hours. State whether the business takes new customers. Every one of those facts is a question a homeowner might ask an AI assistant. Every one of them should have a clear answer on the website.
Write Specific Service Descriptions
"Plumbing services" is not a service description. "Drain cleaning, sewer line repair, tankless water heater installation, backflow prevention testing, and bathroom remodels in Bergen County" is. The more specific the service description, the more likely AI is to match the business to the customer's question.
Schema markup helps here. LocalBusiness schema with the correct trade type (Plumber, HVACBusiness, Electrician) and an areaServed property listing the counties tells AI engines exactly what the business does and where.
Keep Content Fresh
AI engines weight content freshness. The content freshness signal matters because AI engines update their citations based on recent content. A service page last updated in 2022 gives the AI stale data. A page updated last month signals the business is active.
Add an FAQ Page That Answers Specific Questions
An FAQ page with questions like "How much does water heater replacement cost in Bergen County?" and "Do you offer same-day emergency plumbing service?" gives AI exactly what it needs. The questions should be written the way a customer would ask them. The answers should be short, specific, and factual. No hedging. No "call for details."
FirstCall's AI visibility audit checks whether your website content answers the specific questions AI engines need to cite your business. The audit takes about two minutes and identifies exactly which content gaps are costing you AI recommendations.
The Specificity Gap Is Closeable
The Courtyard data shows that no metro in the United States or Canada scores above 52 out of 100 for overall AI business understanding. Every market has the same problem. Every trades business is competing against businesses with the same thin content. The business that adds specific pricing, specific availability, and specific differentiators to its website gives AI the content it needs to give confident answers instead of hedged ones.
AI can find your business through reviews and directory listings. It can only describe your business through your website. The specificity gap closes when the website answers the questions the customer actually asks.
FAQ
Why does ChatGPT say "call for pricing" when it recommends my business?
ChatGPT says "call for pricing" because the business website does not publish pricing information. The Courtyard AI Visibility Index found that AI understands pricing at 0.09 out of 1. Publishing starting prices for common jobs gives the AI specific numbers it can cite instead of hedging.
How specific should website content be for AI search?
Website content should include specific service names, starting prices for common jobs, the counties and towns in the service area, hours of availability, and what makes the business different from competitors. Generic content like "plumbing services" or "competitive rates" gives AI nothing to cite.
Do AI search engines read the business website or just Google Business Profile?
AI search engines read both. For discovery, they rely on Google Business Profile, directory listings, and reviews. For specific answers about a named business, the business website becomes the primary source. The Courtyard report found the business website accounts for 39% of citations in depth answers and is the only source in 42% of them.
What is the specificity gap in AI search?
The specificity gap is the difference between what AI can discover about a business (what it offers, where it is) and what it can describe in detail (pricing, availability, what makes the business different). Courtyard's 2026 AI Visibility Index found AI understanding drops from 0.80 for "what you offer" to 0.09 for "what it costs."
How do I fix the specificity gap for my trades business?
Publish starting prices for common jobs. List the service area by county and town. Write specific service descriptions instead of generic categories. Add an FAQ page that answers the questions homeowners actually ask. Add LocalBusiness schema with the correct trade type and service area.
Run your free AI visibility audit to see which specific questions AI can and can't answer about your trades business.