A broken link can keep you off the list. A working page decides what gets said.
Thanks for taking the survey call. Here is the report I promised, written for HVAC businesses whose Google listing points at a website that no longer works: a parked domain, a blank page, a dead link or a domain that forwards somewhere else.
I asked Google’s AI and ChatGPT who to call for a furnace repair in Hamilton, Burlington, Dundas, Grimsby and Stoney Creek. This is what they said, and a plan you can do yourself. It is a five-minute read, and nothing in it needs a web designer.
Skip to the plan23 reviews, no website
Both Google’s AI and ChatGPT named this company.
24 reviews, a dead website link
Neither Google’s AI nor ChatGPT named this company.
One town on one day. A dead link can make a business look closed. Every business that took part gets this same page.
How homeowners find an HVAC company now
Three routes, in order: asking someone they know, searching Google, and, growing fast, asking an AI assistant such as ChatGPT or Google’s own AI. If word of mouth brings most of your work, keep it. This plan is about the other two.
Google now answers many searches with an AI summary above the map. ChatGPT answers a question like “who should I call for a furnace repair in my town” with a named shortlist of three to five companies.
No company with a dead or forwarding link was named in any town
Both assistants start from the Google Business Profile: name, rating, review count, hours. Not one company with a dead or forwarding link was named, whatever its reviews.
| Town | Google’s AI named it? | ChatGPT named it? | The companies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington | Google’s AI: No | ChatGPT: Not tested | A domain that forwards elsewhere, in a group with 11 to 21 reviews each. |
| Grimsby | Google’s AI: No | ChatGPT: No | Two businesses whose website links are dead. |
| Grimsby, no website | Google’s AI: Yes, third | ChatGPT: Yes, fourth | Rated 4.8 with 23 reviews. |
What the assistants could say about each
- “24/7 emergency service”
- “since 1989”
- “TSSA registered”
- “furnace repairs and replacements”
- and a link
- “fully licensed”
- “24-hour availability”
- or nothing
Show who was named, town by townHide the town-by-town results
Google’s AI Mode and ChatGPT, both signed out, from a Canadian connection, on 4 November 2026. Ratings and review counts are what the assistants showed that day. This is one day’s answers, and the wording of the question varied by town. Businesses that took the survey are described, not named.
Hamilton
“Who should I call for furnace repair in Hamilton, Ontario?”
- Spurr Heating & Air Conditioning · 4.9 / 1,300 reviews · website
- Dynamic Heating & Cooling · 5.0 / 838 reviews · website
- HAMCO Heating and Cooling · 4.8 / 797 reviews · website
- Shipton’s Heating & Cooling · 4.8 / 2,600 reviews · website
- Boonstra Heating and Air Conditioning · 4.7 / 5,100 reviews · website
- Spurr Heating & Air Conditioning · 4.9 / 1,268 reviews · website
- Dynamic Heating & Cooling · 5.0 / 835 reviews · website
- HAMCO Heating and Cooling · 4.8 / 794 reviews · website
- B & G Heating & Cooling · 4.8 / 77 reviews · website
- a Hamilton company with 58 reviews and a one-page website
No Hamilton business without a website was named by either assistant. What ChatGPT said about each company came from text on its site: “24/7 emergency service”, “TSSA registered, licensed and insured”, “furnace troubleshooting and repairs”.
Burlington
“My furnace stopped working in Burlington Ontario, who do you recommend I call?”
- Maintemp Heating & Air Conditioning · 4.9 / 534 reviews · website
- AirTemp HVAC · 5.0 / 342 reviews · website
- Infinite Home Comfort · 4.9 / 192 reviews · website
- 905 HVAC Inc. · 5.0 / 129 reviews · website
ChatGPT named Not tested for this town.
Not named: four Burlington businesses with 11 to 21 reviews each, two with no website and one whose domain forwards elsewhere.
Dundas
“I live in Dundas, Ontario and my furnace has stopped working. Which local HVAC company should I call?”
- a Dundas company rated 3.7 with 12 reviews and a website
- Canadian Heating and Air Conditioning (Ancaster) · 4.6 / 306 reviews · website
- Boonstra Heating and Air Conditioning (Hamilton) · 4.7 / 5,100 reviews · website
- Spurr Heating & Air Conditioning (Hamilton) · 4.9 / 1,300 reviews · website
- Smith Heating & Cooling · 5.0 / 100 reviews · website
- Dundas Mechanical · website
- Express Heating and Cooling · 4.9 / 54 reviews · website
Not named by either: a Dundas company rated 5.0 with 46 reviews and no website, and another rated 5.0 with 10 reviews and no website. Google put the 3.7-rated company first; its site says Dundas, furnaces and 24-hour availability.
Grimsby
“Who is a good furnace repair company in Grimsby, Ontario?”
- Premium Home Services · 5.0 / 210 reviews · website
- Fouge-Air HVAC · 5.0 / 61 reviews · website
- a Grimsby company rated 4.8 with 23 reviews and no website
- Evans Heating & Cooling (Niagara Falls) · 4.8 / 1,000 reviews · website
- Aldershot Air Conditioning and Heating · 5.0 / 118 reviews · website
- Premium Home Services · 5.0 / 209 reviews · website
- Hubbard Air (Beamsville) · 4.9 / 751 reviews · website
- the same Grimsby company with 23 reviews and no website
The company without a website was named by both, third and fourth. All the assistants could say about it came from its Google listing: “fully licensed”, “24-hour availability”. The firms with sites got a sentence about what they do, how long they have traded, and a link. Not named: two Grimsby-area businesses whose website links are dead.
Stoney Creek
“Who is a good furnace repair company in Stoney Creek, Ontario?”
- Hamilton Home Comfort · 4.8 / 411 reviews · website
- A Plus Air Systems · 4.8 / 439 reviews · website
- a Stoney Creek company rated 5.0 with 40 reviews and a one-page website
- Hamilton Home Comfort · 4.8 / 411 reviews · website
- A Plus Air Systems · 4.8 / 439 reviews · website
- a Stoney Creek company rated 4.9 with 41 reviews and no website
- Capo Climate Control Solutions · 5.0 / 118 reviews · website
Want to know what they say about your business?
A free 15-minute call, by video or voice only, whichever suits you.
Six steps, easiest first
The first two steps take an hour. The one-page website takes a weekend or a few hundred dollars.
- 1
Today: fix the link on your Google listing.
Either point the domain at a working page or remove the website field from the profile until there is one. An empty field is better than a dead one.
- 2
Finish the profile while you are in it.
Category HVAC contractor, hours, the services list, the towns you serve, ten photos of real jobs, and a description in plain words: what you do and where.
- 3
Ask every customer for a review the same day.
By text, with the link, and reply to each one. In the bigger towns, review count still matters most for the first two or three names.
- 4
Make your listings agree.
Same business name, address and phone number on Google, HomeStars, Yellow Pages, the BBB and Facebook. The assistants cross-check, and two addresses or two phone numbers cost you.
- 5
Put a one-page website back on the domain you already own, and renew it.
A weekend on Squarespace or Wix, or a few hundred dollarsThat page is what an assistant reads and quotes. It needs:
- Your business name and town in the main heading
- The services you actually do
- The towns you cover
- Hours
- Your licence or TSSA registration
- Years in business
- Your Google reviews
- A tap-to-call number and a short request form
Use the words homeowners use when they ask: furnace repair, no heat, same day, your town.
- 6
Check yourself.
Five minutes, every few monthsSearch your business name and click your own website link. Then ask ChatGPT and Google’s AI who to call for a furnace repair in your town, and read what they say about you. If you are not named, go back to steps 1 and 5.
I run Red Maple Studio, a small web studio for Canadian trades.
If you would like me to work through this for your business, I offer a free 15-minute call, by video or voice only, whichever suits you: what Google and the assistants say about you today, and the two or three changes that would move it. No obligation, and if nothing applies, I will say so.
Either way, the report is yours. Use what helps.