AEO EngineOwn the Answer Homeowners Get Before the Site Visit
A rooftop system is a $15K to $31K decision homeowners research for weeks, and they increasingly ask an AI assistant who to trust. We make your company the one those answers name, on quarterly terms, measured every month, so new sits come from a channel you keep rather than a lead price somebody else raises.
Built for well capitalized regional and independent installers running several markets
Why Solar Marketing Has to Cover the AI Answer
Installers rarely ask whether the marketing is working. They ask what a booked sit now costs and why it costs more every quarter. Customer acquisition cost per watt jumped 40% in 2026 after the 25D sunset, the marketplaces raised lead prices with it, and every rented channel in the stack takes its cut before a crew ever leaves the yard. The one channel where that is not yet true is the answer a homeowner reads before any of it.
The research that precedes a site visit now starts inside an AI assistant
Homeowners arrive having already asked
BrightLocal recorded AI use for local business recommendations jumping from 6% to 45% of consumers in a single year, with 40% trusting what they get. Invoca put generative AI use above 40% among consumers making high stakes purchases, and at 61% for Gen Z. Both carry local business and purchase research scope rather than solar. On a decision this size, homeowners are already using these tools before anyone visits.
The marketplaces commoditize the install by design
EnergySage, Angi and SolarReviews sell the same lead to several installers at once, at $25 to $800 per lead. Installers describe 98% of them going nowhere, and the bid dynamics on a shared shortlist teach every homeowner to chase the lowest number on it. Every year that channel carries your growth, more of the job is decided on price before anyone meets the customer.
The cost stack rises whether or not you look at it
Customer acquisition cost per watt went from $0.60 to $0.84 in 2026, up 40%, after the 25D sunset. On a 10 kW system that is $6,000 to $8,400 to acquire a customer worth $15K to $31K, before a single crew rolls. Door to door is not cheaper once commission is counted, and it burns crews on houses that were never going to buy. The trend is the problem, because every input in that equation is set by somebody else.
An answer compounds, a lead resets
A marketplace lead is gone the month you stop paying for it, and its price rises with your CAC. An answer that names your company keeps returning your name after the invoice clears, and the authority behind it accumulates rather than resetting each quarter. That is the difference between renting your sit flow and owning it.
“A marketplace lead buys one sit and then asks for the next one at a higher price. An answer that names your company keeps working after the invoice clears.”
What Is Actually Costing You Sits
AI answers name marketplaces and national brands, not you
Ask an assistant for solar installers in your city and the answer tends to lead with marketplaces, directories and national brands. Your company appears late, or not at all, because nothing in the sources those engines trust says enough about the markets you actually serve.
Our solution: We measure how often your company appears in the answers homeowners get for solar questions in your markets, name the installers and platforms holding those answers, and build the content and third party consensus that changes the result.
Your site does not answer what homeowners ask
Homeowners want to know what a system costs per watt, how NEM export rates affect payback, whether battery adders are worth it and how TPO compares to owning. Most installer sites answer none of that until a rep is on the phone, so the research continues somewhere else.
Our solution: We build cost, payback, financing and comparison content in language both homeowners and AI engines can quote, so the research ends on your site and the homeowner reaches your rep already informed.
Your CAC per watt is set in an auction you do not control
When marketplaces and paid search drive most of your sits, the price is set by the platform and by whoever can absorb the highest cost per install. Every quarter that share stays high, more of the job is decided before anyone meets the customer.
Our solution: We build the owned channel that lowers blended acquisition cost over time, then report answer share against marketplace spend every month so the shift is visible in your own numbers rather than only felt in them.
Lead volume looks fine and sits do not follow
Marketplace leads arrive early, price shopping and shared with every installer in the area. Your reps work them anyway, and sit rate carries the cost. Nobody upstream of the phone call is accountable for the quality of what arrives.
Our solution: We tune for the questions homeowners ask in the weeks they decide, so the people reaching your team already understand the offer, roughly what it costs and why the adders matter, and sit at a rate your reps recognize.
Nobody in the category is measuring any of this
At least one agency is already selling AEO to installers at $4,500 a month on 12 month terms, which proves the demand exists and almost nobody is serving it. The answer space for who to trust is being settled now, with no installer holding a measured position in it.
Our solution: We put a measured number on your AI share of voice in your markets, track it monthly against named local competitors, and give you a defensible position in a category where almost nobody has claimed one.
How We Build Solar AI Visibility
One system across four areas. The point is not more traffic. It is more homeowners reaching a sit already convinced, from a channel you own, at a CAC per watt you control.
AI Answer Measurement
Establish where you stand before anything is built, then track it every month.
- •AI share of voice per service area, measured against named local installers
- •Hundreds of tracked homeowner questions per market rather than a single screenshot
- •Marketplace and national brand presence scored inside the same answers
- •Offer coverage across PPW rooftop, battery adders, TPO and commercial work
- •Monthly movement reporting a regional owner can act on
The Questions Homeowners Actually Ask
Content built around the decision a homeowner is making, not around keyword volume.
- •Cost per watt and system cost content that answers before a form appears
- •Payback and NEM export rate content for your state programs
- •Comparison content across owning, TPO and financing, including adders
- •Roof, shading and suitability content covering the questions that kill sits late
- •Question first formatting that AI engines can quote without rewriting
Company and Service Area Authority
Make every service area legible as its own entity to search engines and answer engines.
- •Service area page architecture across the markets you run
- •Google Business Profile work for each office and crew base
- •Structured data for organization, place, offers and pricing signals
- •Review strategy that holds up under the scrutiny a $15K to $31K buyer applies
- •License, certification and installer profiles that make your crews readable as named experts
Third Party Consensus
Engines weigh what other sources say about you far more heavily than what you say about yourself.
- •Local press, trade press and regional coverage that names your company
- •Directory and listing accuracy across the sources engines read
- •Expert positioning for your installers and energy advisors
- •Citation building on the consumer and energy sources engines already trust
- •Monitoring for how third party mentions move your answer share
What an Engagement Includes
AI Visibility Audit
A measured baseline of how often your company appears in the answers homeowners get, which installers and platforms hold those answers, and where the gap is widest.
Acquisition Cost Analysis
Current CAC per watt by channel, your exposure to rising marketplace lead prices, and the modeled effect of moving a share of that spend into owned channels.
Homeowner Question Map
The research path a homeowner takes in your markets, from first cost question through payback and financing to sit, mapped to the pages and answers that intercept it.
Offer Page System
Page architecture and content for every offer, service area and market, built so each one can rank and be cited on its own.
Cost Transparency Content
The per watt and payback content most installer sites avoid, written so it answers the homeowner question and gives engines something concrete to quote.
Structured Data Deployment
Schema for organization, service areas, certifications, offers and frequently asked questions so machines read your company correctly.
Authority and Citation Building
Press, directory and expert citation work on the sources AI engines weigh when assembling a recommendation.
Monthly Scorecard
AI share of voice per service area, question coverage, authority velocity and qualified inquiry growth, reported the same way every month.
What This System Has Done in Other Categories
We already rank top 10 for best solar SEO companies, the phrase solar companies search when they look for help, and our system is measured in public in the categories where we publish numbers. The measured results below come from legal and are labeled as legal. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
ASK4SAM (Silberstein & Miklos, P.C.)
Personal Injury LawA firm with two offices in Queens and the Bronx entered our New York benchmark in 7th place. 180 days later it ranked 2nd of 72 tracked firms, holding 12.7% AI share of voice against a national competitor at 4.3% over a 30 day window.
My Rights Law
Criminal Defense LawOrganic traffic up 217% in six months and monthly client bookings from 6 to 54, alongside 51% AI share of voice across the questions that decide the hire.
Who We Build This For
Regional Installers Running Several Markets
Companies with crews in three or more service areas, where one additional sit per market a month changes the year and per market reporting actually gets read.
Well Capitalized Independent Installers
Owner led companies with the balance sheet to invest through the 2026 contraction, who want a channel built before the recovery that analysts model from 2027.
Installers Cutting Marketplace Dependence
Owners watching CAC per watt climb 40% who want a channel that keeps working once the marketplace account is paused, and who measure marketing the way they measure COGS.
Installers With a Real Close Process
Teams with a sit rate and a close rate they track, who need more qualified homeowners reaching the top of that process rather than more shared shortlist traffic.
Companies Selling Considered Offers
Installers whose book mixes straight PPW rooftop with battery adders and TPO, where the homeowner decision takes weeks and the answer they read decides who gets the visit.
Solar Marketing as Usual vs AEO Engine
Questions Installers Ask Us
Is there real evidence homeowners use AI to choose an installer?
BrightLocal recorded AI use for local business recommendations jumping from 6% to 45% of consumers in a single year, with 40% trusting what they get. Invoca put generative AI use above 40% among consumers making high stakes purchases, and at 61% for Gen Z. Both are local business and purchase research figures rather than solar ones. Homeowners already trust these tools on decisions this size, and the answers they read are assembled from sources you can influence.
What are your contract terms?
Quarterly. You engage us a quarter at a time, and renewal is decided by the scorecard rather than a contract clock. Install volume is forecast down 18 to 21% this year with recovery modeled from 2027, and more than 100 installers have gone bankrupt since 2023. Asking a company to sign a 12 month lock in through a contraction is the wrong way to start a relationship. Quarterly terms mean the engagement keeps earning its place until the market turns.
How do your terms compare to the agencies selling AEO to installers?
At least one agency is already selling AEO to installers at $4,500 a month on 12 month terms, which proves the demand exists. We differ on the commitment and on the measurement. Quarterly rather than annual, and a monthly scorecard of AI share of voice per service area scored against named local installers, so the number you renew on is your own.
How does an AI assistant decide which installers to name?
Engines assemble recommendations from sources they trust more than they trust you. Directories, local and trade press, reviews, consumer and energy sources, license and certification records, and structured content that answers a question cleanly. Your own website matters, but third party consensus carries more weight, which is why authority work is usually the largest line in a solar budget.
Do you have a solar case study?
The same system took a firm with two offices to 2nd of 72 tracked firms in its market, holding 12.7% AI share of voice against a national competitor at 4.3%, and a criminal defense client from 6 to 54 monthly bookings. Legal results, labeled as legal. We also rank top 10 for best solar SEO companies, which you can check in a minute. No solar case study is published yet, so the audit measures your market first. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
How long before this shows up in booked sits per month?
Answer share and question coverage usually move within 60 to 90 days. Booked sits typically follow across 4 to 6 months, because a homeowner weighing a rooftop system takes weeks to decide and your site visit and proposal sit behind that. It compounds from there, which is the point of owning the channel rather than renting the lead.
Find Out What AI Tells Homeowners About Your Company
We pull the live answers for your markets and show you where your company sits, which installers and platforms hold those answers, and what it is costing you in sits.
Quarterly terms. The audit shows you the market before anything is signed
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