What Happens When Someone in Wilmington Asks AI for a Roofer?
We tested 6 queries across ChatGPT and Perplexity. Here's what we found.
Prepared for Chris Howard | March 2026
33
out of 100
Critical
AI Visibility Score
Online Optimisers
Your Situation
Where You Are vs Where You Want to Be
Current Situation
Partnered with dad in 2020, now running everything solo while dad faces potential medical issues
Paying $650/month to Thrive CRM for website + maintenance, but built the site himself because they kept delivering poor work
Thrive had them shut down their Wilmington Google Maps listing, causing major ranking and visibility loss
Google Ads running but conversion rates are poor relative to spend, eating into profit
Workers' comp policy cancelled during audit ($34K bill), causing loss of GAF/CertainTeed/Fortified certifications and directory listings
Desired Situation
Steady flow of 2-4 roofing jobs per week (8-16 signed jobs per month)
Predictable lead generation so you can plan ahead instead of patching things together week to week
Someone to take all tech, marketing, and web responsibilities off your plate so you can focus on running the business
Google Maps listing and website both ranking and performing well in Wilmington
AI Visibility Audit - ChatGPT - Live Data - March 2026
What ChatGPT Says When Someone Asks for a Roofer in Wilmington
ChatGPT
"best roofer in Wilmington NC"
1. Flores & Foley Roofing (voted Best of Wilmington, est. 1999)
2. Patriot Roofing (Owens Corning Platinum)
3. 50 North Roofing (20+ years)
4. Monarch Roofing
5. Excel Roofing Company
Howard Roofing - not mentioned.
Not Found
ChatGPT
"who should I hire for a roof replacement in Wilmington NC"
1. Flores & Foley Roofing
2. Harbor Roofing
3. Best Choice Roofing (100,000+ projects nationwide)
4. Province Roofing
5. No Limit Roofing (family-owned, 15+ years)
Howard Roofing - not mentioned.
Not Found
ChatGPT
"standing seam metal roof installer Wilmington NC"
1. 50 North Roofing (standing seam specialists, 20+ years)
2. Flores & Foley Roofing + Sheet Metal
3. Howard Roofing & Construction (veteran-led, family-owned, Wilmington area)
4. WeatherShield Roofing
5. Assist Roofing
Found - Position #3
Real ChatGPT queries run March 2026. Howard Roofing appeared in 1 of 3 searches - only for their metal roofing specialty.
AI Visibility Audit - Perplexity - Live Data - March 2026
What Perplexity Recommends - And Who Gets the Call Instead
Perplexity
"best roofing contractors Wilmington NC"
1. Flores & Foley Roofing - voted Best of Wilmington 2026, est. 1999 2. Patriot Roofing Company - Owens Corning Platinum Preferred 3. 50 North Roofing - 20+ years experience 4. Atlantic Roofing Company - family-owned 5. IBC Roofing - storm-resistant specialist
Howard Roofing - not mentioned.
Not Found
Perplexity
"recommended roofer for roof replacement Wilmington NC"
1. Best Choice Roofing - 100,000+ projects nationwide 2. Flores & Foley Roofing - established 1999 3. Province Roofing - Wilmington contractor 4. No Limit Roofing - family-owned, 15+ years 5. Excel Roofing Company - local Wilmington
Howard Roofing - not mentioned.
Not Found
Perplexity
"who installs standing seam metal roofs in Wilmington NC"
1. 50 North Roofing - standing seam specialists, 20+ years 2. Howard Roofing & Construction - veteran-led, family-owned 3. WeatherShield Roofing - hurricane-resistant metal roofs 4. Flores & Foley Roofing + Sheet Metal
Found
Real Perplexity queries run March 2026. Howard Roofing appeared in 1 of 3 searches.
AI Visibility Audit - Google AI Overviews - Live Data - March 2026
What Google AI Shows When Someone Searches for a Roofer
GOOGLE AI
"best roofer in Wilmington NC"
1. Flores & Foley Roofing - voted Best of Wilmington, 25+ years 2. 50 North Roofing - top-rated licensed contractor 3. Patriot Roofing - Owens Corning Platinum Preferred 4. Monarch Roofing - local Wilmington company
Howard Roofing - not mentioned.
Not Found
GOOGLE AI
"roofing company near Wilmington NC for roof replacement"
1. Best Choice Roofing - 100,000+ projects nationwide 2. Harbor Roofing - Wilmington area specialist 3. Province Roofing - local contractor 4. No Limit Roofing - family-owned, 15+ years
Howard Roofing - not mentioned.
Not Found
GOOGLE AI
"standing seam metal roof contractor Wilmington NC"
1. 50 North Roofing - standing seam experts, 20+ years 2. Howard Roofing & Construction - veteran-led, family-owned 3. WeatherShield Roofing - hurricane-resistant metal 4. Assist Roofing - metal roofing specialist
Howard Roofing - found at position 2.
Found - Position #2
Real Google AI Overview queries run March 2026. Howard Roofing appeared in 1 of 3 searches.
AI Visibility Score
Your AI Visibility at a Glance
33
AI Visibility Score
Critical
2/6
Queries Where You Appear
8+
Competitors Cited Instead
Metal Only
Your Niche Visibility
You told us ChatGPT sends you some jobs. The data confirms it - but only when someone asks about metal roofing. For the other 80% of roofing searches, AI recommends 8+ other companies instead of you. Your competitors are getting calls that should be yours.
Proof - Same System, Different Industry
Our Client Ranks #1 in ChatGPT
#1 Result
Dr. Roberto Macedo
Owner
Advanced Center for Cosmetic Dentistry
St. Petersburg, FL
#1
ChatGPT Ranking
193%
Traffic Increase
5 mo
Time to Results
What we built for them
Entity signals across 50+ platforms
Schema markup for all services
AI-trusted citation network
Location-optimized content
Google Maps domination
This is a dentist. The same framework applies to roofers. If a dentist in St. Petersburg can rank #1 in AI, a roofer in Wilmington can too.
Where You're Going Wrong
Authority & Backlink Profile
CRITICAL: 0 Dofollow Backlinks
Every single one of your 59 tracked backlinks is nofollow. Zero are passing authority to your site. This is the #1 thing holding your rankings back.
Domain Rating67
Referring Domains83
Total Backlinks107
Spam Score0
Howard Roofing has a Domain Rating of 67, which is a solid foundation. However, a critical issue stands out: all 59 of your tracked backlinks are nofollow, meaning none are passing authority to your site. Your top competitors have 2-3x your domain authority. Harbor Roofing sits at DR 147 with 172 referring domains, Province Roofing at DR 208 with 141, and Flores & Foley at DR 144 with 170. Building quality dofollow backlinks is the fastest path to closing this gap.
Domain Rating Comparison
67
Howard Roofing
147
Harbor Roofing
208
Province Roofing
144
Flores & Foley
Competitor Analysis
Who You're Up Against in Wilmington
Most Keywords
Harbor Roofing
3,108
Keywords
147
Domain Rank
9,271
Monthly Traffic
77
Page 1
Highest Authority
Province Roofing
353
Keywords
208
Domain Rank
1,399
Monthly Traffic
67
Page 1
Most Traffic
Flores & Foley
204
Keywords
144
Domain Rank
6,393
Monthly Traffic
50
Page 1
You
Howard Roofing
84
Keywords
67
Domain Rank
131
Monthly Traffic
8
Page 1
Every one of these competitors has 2-3x your domain authority and real dofollow backlinks. This is why they outrank you for every general roofing keyword.
Google Maps Ranking
Where You Rank on Google Maps
Your ranking (left) vs a top competitor (right) for each keyword. Green = visible. Grey/red = buried.
"roofing company wilmington nc"
Howard Roofing 20+ avg rank vs Atlantic Roofing 5.74
"roofing services"
Howard Roofing 18.25 avg rank vs Maven Roofing 9.48
Google Maps Ranking
More Keywords Across Wilmington
"roof replacement"
Howard Roofing 17.00 avg rank vs Maven Roofing 9.92
"shingle roofing"
Howard Roofing 17.49 avg rank vs Metal & Shingle Experts 6.62
Across every keyword, your competitors are visible on Google Maps and you are not. This is fixable with the right Google Maps optimization strategy.
Keyword Opportunities
High-Value Keywords You Should Be Ranking For
Keyword
Search Volume
Difficulty
Your Position
Value
roofing wilmington
1,600
Medium
#12
$8K-15K
roofing company wilmington nc
1,600
Medium
#21
$8K-15K
standing seam metal roof installer
3,600
Low
#32
$10K-25K
roof repair wilmington nc
260
Low
#46
$500-2K
deck builder wilmington nc
260
Low
#17
$5K-15K
You're already ranking for 84 keywords. Most are on pages 2-5, close enough to push to page 1 with consistent backlink building and on-page optimization. 'Roofing wilmington' at position 12 is the low-hanging fruit.
The Strategy
Leverage Your Previous Jobs With Project Pages
Each roofing job becomes a new page on your website, optimized for Google Maps and local search. Here is a live example from one of our clients:
Live example: Elite Movers project pages with interactive map
Each completed job becomes a new optimized page targeting hyper-specific keywords like 'roof replacement Wrightsville Beach NC' or 'standing seam metal roof Leland NC'. This specificity is what gets you ranked across Google, Google Maps, and AI platforms - because AI pulls from pages that directly answer specific local queries. We build these for you after every project.
Proof - Another Roofer, Same System
Lankford Roofing, Dallas TX
Tanatsa Kamhunga
Owner, Lankford Roofing
182%
Web Traffic Increase
81%
Bookings Increase
10
Months
Lankford Roofing came to us with the same problem: great work, invisible online. In 10 months we took their Google Maps average rank from 18.58 to 7.38 - moving from buried to visible across Dallas.
Google Maps Ranking - Before & After
Two roofers. Two different markets. Same system. Same results. Chris, this is what's possible for Howard Roofing in Wilmington.
Proof - Time to All Time Highs
Elite Movers & Packing Services, Ventura CA
Rudy
Owner, Elite Movers & Packing Services
130%+
Revenue Growth
4
Months
3x
Website Traffic
"You guys are killing it. The leads keep coming in, I can't believe the difference."
Rudy, Owner, Elite Movers & Packing Services
Chris, Elite Movers had the same problem: great service but invisible online. The same system that doubled their revenue works for roofers.
Real lead inbox - website form submissions only. Phone calls not shown. Red highlights = days with multiple leads.
Your Roadmap
From Invisible to Dominating Wilmington
1
Month 1 - Foundation
Website rebuild (ditch Thrive $650/mo)
Schema markup for all services
Google Maps re-optimization
Begin dofollow backlink building
AI entity signal setup
2
Month 2-3 - Growth
Aggressive backlink building (15+/mo)
Project pages for completed jobs
Service area content for Wilmington and beyond
AI-optimized FAQ content
Review collection system launch
3
Month 4+ - Dominance
Competitor monitoring
Ongoing backlink building
AI ranking optimization
Reactivation campaigns for past customers
Keyword expansion to new areas
Your $650/month to Thrive gets replaced by a team that actually builds the site, builds the backlinks, and builds your AI presence. You own everything we build - the website, the content, the rankings. You focus on roofing.
Everything Included
What You Get
Core Deliverables
Complete website rebuild (free, you own it)
Google Maps optimization
Monthly dofollow backlink building (15+)
On-page SEO for all service pages
Schema markup (LocalBusiness, FAQ, Service)
Keyword tracking and monthly reporting
CRM setup and management
Website maintenance
AI + Bonus
AI visibility optimization (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini)
Project page creation for each new job
Reactivation campaign for past customers
Review collection and management system
AI chatbot for 24/7 lead capture
Priority support - direct communication with me or my brother
Investment
Pick the Level That Fits
Dominate Local
$2,270
/month
Everything in Aggressive
Google Ads management
AI integrations (chatbot, booking)
Competitor monitoring
Reactivation campaigns
Quarterly strategy calls
Dedicated account manager
Recommended
Aggressive
$1,870
/month
Everything in High Competition
Website rebuild (included free)
Expanded backlink building (15+/mo)
Content creation (service pages)
CRM setup and management
Review collection system
Priority support
High Competition
$1,495
/month
Google Maps optimization
Keyword tracking and reporting
On-page SEO optimization
Basic backlink building
Monthly performance report
Website maintenance
You're currently paying Thrive $650/month for a CRM you maintain yourself. Our recommended plan replaces Thrive AND builds real growth for $1,870/month. Month-to-month. No long-term contracts.
Let's Get Howard Roofing to Page 1
You're at position 12 for your main keyword. ChatGPT already finds you for metal roofing. 84 keywords are waiting to be pushed to page 1. Let's make it happen.
Let's Get Started
Prepared by Online Optimisers - AI + SEO Visibility Specialists
