HVAC marketing that works runs four channels: a Google Business Profile that ranks in the map pack, service and city pages that rank organically, paid search or Local Services Ads to cover the busy seasons, and reviews. All of it is tracked back to booked jobs. Most HVAC companies get the fastest return by fixing their Google Business Profile first.
HVAC client results
These are Stryker Digital HVAC clients, by name, with the numbers their own Google Business Profile insights and map-ranking grids report. A "grid" checks your rank from dozens of points across a service area; "top 3" means you're in the map pack at that point.
NexAir Home Services
Owner: Jeremy Payne
Grew from $1M to $4M in yearly revenue. Across 5 Google Business Profiles, about 140 a month. Top 3 on Google Maps in every market tracked.
Read the case study Cardinal Heating & Air
Owner: Aashish Chenna
A $10M+ a year HVAC company. 146 in June alone. 95% of the ranking grid is in Google's top 3 for “hvac kirkland.”
Summit Heat & Air
Owner: Logan Haskett
The fastest-growing HVAC company in Tulsa. 268 calls from Google Business Profile, Apr–Aug 2026. 57% of the grid is top 3 for “HVAC contractor tulsa.”
Read the case study Anderson Plumbing Heat & Air
Owner: Geoff Goodwill
2,944 calls, clicks, direction requests and bookings, Apr–Aug 2026. 100% of the Bethany grid is top 3 for “plumbers Bethany.”
Read the case study ECI Comfort
Owner: Chase Musser
About 119 a month, with 131 in July 2026.
Shaull Heating & Air Conditioning
Owner: Tyler Shaull
About 110 a month. #2 local ranking for “ac repair” (Sep 17, 2026); 80% of the grid is top 3.
Gary Air
Owner: Rob Brooks
384 calls from Google Business Profile Apr–Aug 2026, up from 341. 84% of Sarasota is top 3 for “hvac repair sarasota.”
Results shown reflect individual client outcomes and are not guaranteed. Performance varies by market, competition and other factors. Source: Stryker Digital client reporting, 2026.
The four channels, ranked by speed
| Channel | What it does | Typical time to impact | How you pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Local Services Ads | "Google Guaranteed/Verified" listing above the ads | Days, once you're verified | Per lead, not per click (Google) |
| Google Ads (search) | Ads on "ac repair near me" type searches | Days | Per click |
| Google Business Profile | Ranking in the map pack | Weeks to months, depending on competition | Time and management |
| HVAC SEO: local pages + content | Organic rankings and AI-search citations | Months; it compounds | Time and management |
Your market, competition and starting point set the timeline. For one example, Bodhi's family generator business went from invisible on Maps in February 2026 to about #1 for "Generac oil change" by July (case study).
HVAC marketing by season
HVAC demand follows the weather. Calls spike in the first heat wave and the first cold snap, then go quiet in spring and fall. Plan your marketing around that, not around a flat monthly budget.
| Season | What homeowners search | What to run |
|---|---|---|
| Spring (shoulder) | AC tune-up, AC maintenance, "is my AC ready for summer" | Publish cooling service pages, push maintenance-plan signups, ask every tune-up customer for a review |
| Summer (peak) | AC repair near me, AC not cooling, emergency AC repair | Local Services Ads and Google Ads on repair searches; this is when map-pack rankings pay off most |
| Fall (shoulder) | Furnace tune-up, heat pump service | Heating pages and posts, furnace tune-up offers, build reviews before winter |
| Winter (peak) | Furnace repair, no heat, heat pump not heating | Ads on no-heat searches; keep publishing pages so you're ranked before summer |
The slow months are when SEO gets built. Summit Heat & Air owner Logan Haskett described it this way in a winter interview: "I don't really care about getting leads from SEO right now. It's the winter. It's slow time … But come the summertime and we're ranked how we're ranked right now, … we're going to have a massive summer" (4:18).
In the same conversation, Bodhi suggested an off-season offer. Logan's company could earn a utility rebate of about $60 per thermostat, so Bodhi suggested a small Facebook campaign in Tulsa built around free thermostat installs: "even if you break even on the ad or lose money on the ad, you're going to make money by July at least" (13:28–14:33). One replacement job would pay back the campaign.
Google Business Profile setup for HVAC
The Google Business Profile is where most "near me" calls come from, so we start there. A profile that isn't fully built can stay invisible no matter how many reviews you collect. NexAir owner Jeremy Payne learned that before he hired us: "My Google Business Profile was not … only was it not optimized, it wasn't even fully set up. You know, we were nowhere to be found on maps after 12 months, even though we had been smoking reviews" (10:25).
- Primary category: the one that matches most of your revenue, usually "HVAC contractor". Add secondary categories only for work you actually do, such as "Air conditioning contractor", "Heating contractor", "Air conditioning repair service" or "Furnace repair service".
- Services: list every money service (AC repair, AC installation, furnace repair, heat pump installation, ductless mini-splits, maintenance plans) with a plain description.
- Service areas: the cities and towns your trucks actually reach, backed by a page on your site for each.
- Photos and posts: real job photos from your techs, posted on a steady schedule.
- Reviews: a request after every completed job, with replies to every review.
- Spam competitors: fake listings in your area get reported for removal.
The full checklist is in The Local SEO Playbook.
On reviews: our best-performing clients are getting 25 new reviews per month.
Bodhi's take on Google Business Profiles
Bodhi ranked his family's Generac service business on Google Maps from scratch, and walked through the profile on video. In his words:
"This right here is the Google Business Profile and what's awesome about this Google Business Profile is this is where 80 to 90% of our business is actually coming from" (4:02). "Reviews are probably one of the most important ranking factors when it comes to ranking a Google Business Profile" (5:53). On review replies, he names the service and the area: "Thank you, Fred, for the five-star review. We appreciate you choosing Rockland County Generac Maintenance for dependable Generac generator service in Rockland County" (6:09). And on photos: "If you're at 500k plus in revenue, I highly recommend posting your employees, posting yourself, your family, whoever you can, products about once or twice a week to just get this profile looking more real to your target customer" (10:15).
For companies that serve more than one county, Bodhi's advice in a pest control audit applies to HVAC too: "I would get a second Google business profile in one of those other markets that you're in" (7:45). NexAir now runs five profiles.
HVAC searches to build pages for
Each page should target one service and one intent. A single "Services" page can't rank for all of these searches at once. Our full HVAC SEO guide covers ranking factors, pages, technical SEO and what to measure.
- Repair (urgent): AC repair, furnace repair, heat pump repair, emergency HVAC service.
- Replacement (highest ticket): AC replacement, furnace installation, heat pump installation, ductless mini-split installation.
- Maintenance: AC tune-up, furnace tune-up, HVAC maintenance plans.
- Indoor air quality: duct cleaning, air purifiers, humidifiers, if you offer them.
- City pages: one page per town you want calls from, with real local detail and real jobs, not the same text with the city name swapped.
Maintenance plans deserve their own page. Every member brings in recurring revenue and is a customer you already know when their system needs replacing.
What we do for HVAC companies
- Google Business Profile: primary and secondary categories, services, service areas, photos, review requests, and removing spam competitors. See The Local SEO Playbook and our HVAC Google Business Profile optimization guide. How the profile turns into rankings is in HVAC Google Maps SEO.
- Service and city pages: one page per money service (AC repair, furnace repair, heat pump installation, maintenance plans) and per city you want calls from.
- Google Ads + call tracking: HVAC Google Ads management, with every call recorded and tagged as booked or not.
- AI search: structured answers, schema and citations so ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Perplexity name you when homeowners ask who to call.
- Reviews: a request flow your techs use at the end of every job.
Want this done for your HVAC company? Book a free growth call and we'll review your Google profile, site and ads.
Book a Growth CallGetting named by ChatGPT and AI Overviews
When a homeowner asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok or Google's AI Overviews who to call, the answer comes from what's written about you across the web. We work on the four things those answers depend on:
- Consistent listings: the same business name, address and service areas on Google, Bing, Apple Maps, Yelp and the major directories. ChatGPT's search relies heavily on Bing, so Bing Places matters.
- Reviews that mention the work: reviews that name the service and the town ("replaced our furnace in Tulsa") give AI tools something specific to quote.
- Clear answers on your own site: short, direct answers to service, service-area and "do you do X" questions, marked up with schema.
- Mentions on other sites: local news, sponsorships, supplier pages and trade associations that name your company.
No one can guarantee an AI recommendation. We track a set of prompts for your market each month so you can see whether you're being named.
How we work with HVAC companies
- Audit: your Google Business Profile, website, reviews and ads, compared with the companies that rank above you on the map.
- Fix the profile first: categories, services, service areas and any setup gaps, because that's usually the fastest win.
- Build pages: service and city pages on a steady schedule. Logan Haskett on the reporting: "They keep me updated. They … tell me exactly when they post pages. They post links to it" (4:03).
- Reviews: a request flow your techs run at the end of every job.
- Track booked jobs: calls are recorded and tagged as booked or not, so you know what each channel brings in.
Questions to ask any HVAC marketing agency
Jeremy Payne's first SEO company cost him "$36,000" and, after 12 months, his profile still "wasn't even fully set up" (10:25). Before you sign with anyone, including us, ask:
- Will my Google Business Profile, website and ad accounts stay in my name?
- What will you change on my Google Business Profile in the first 30 days?
- How do you report booked jobs, not just clicks and rankings?
- Can I talk to an HVAC client you work with now?
Guides for HVAC owners
- How Much Should HVAC Companies Spend on Marketing? (2026 Benchmarks)
- HVAC SEO: How HVAC Companies Rank on Google Maps, Search and AI
- HVAC Google Business Profile Optimization: The Complete Guide
- HVAC Google Maps SEO: How to Rank in the Map Pack
- Google Business Profile suspended? HVAC reinstatement guide
- HVAC Local Services Ads (Google Guaranteed) guide
- Local Service Ads vs Google Ads for HVAC
- 25 HVAC Marketing Ideas That Book Jobs (2026)
- Google Ads for HVAC Companies
- Case study: local SEO for a family Generac dealer
- Case study: Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air moves past $440 PPC leads
- About the author: Bodhi Gallo
- All guides and case studies
Proof
NexAir Home Services, West Virginia
NexAir Home Services (Jeremy Payne, Charleston and Huntington, WV; heating, cooling and plumbing). "Before we started working with Stryker Digital, we weren't ranking at all anywhere on Google Maps … now we are consistently ranking in number one to number two positions in all of our service areas." "Our revenue has doubled year over year, and we're looking at tripling it this year." (video testimonial, 0:00 and 0:32, recorded about one year into working with Stryker). In a February 2026 interview, asked about roughly $30,000 spent with Stryker, he put the return "in top line revenue … in the millions" (2:17). On his second year: "Our overall revenue growth exceeded 150% in our second year than it did our first year. I contribute that largely to … the SEO work that we've been able to do together and our presence on Google" (11:14). (Owner's figures, not audited.) Full story: NexAir case study.
Summit Heat & Air, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Summit Heat & Air (Logan Haskett, Tulsa, OK). Logan says the company did "just over a million" in 2025, with B2B word of mouth as its best channel and "a close second would be SEO" (4:36). On working with Stryker: "our leads are really picking up. And not only that, but our rating is just really picking up" (4:18). (Owner's words, not audited.)
Cardinal Heating & Air, Seattle, Washington
More results across the trades: Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air, Surge pest control and a family Generac dealer. We also work with plumbing and pest control companies, plus roofing, fencing, remodeling and more. Every guide is in our resources hub.
What HVAC owners ask us
Industry survey data says most home services businesses already buy digital ads: 75% invest in digital advertising, but only 37% invest in SEO (Scorpion home services survey, ~1,000 respondents). The same survey found online scheduling is the top-converting call to action for 37% of HVAC businesses. That's why we put a booking option on every HVAC landing page.
FAQ
How much does HVAC marketing cost?
The SBA's general rule is that businesses under $5M in revenue spend 7–8% of revenue on marketing (Investopedia, citing the SBA). For HVAC, the right number depends on growth goals and seasonality. See our 2026 HVAC marketing budget guide.
Is SEO or Google Ads better for HVAC companies?
Ads produce calls within days but stop when you stop paying. SEO and Google Business Profile take longer but keep producing calls. Most HVAC companies need ads during the busy seasons while SEO compounds.
How long does HVAC SEO take to work?
Map-pack gains often show first, followed by organic page rankings. It varies by market competition and how many reviews you start with.
Do you work with HVAC companies in any city?
Yes. We work with HVAC companies across the United States.
Can you get my HVAC company recommended by ChatGPT?
No one can guarantee it. AI assistants cite businesses that have consistent listings, strong reviews and clear, structured answers on their own site. We build all three and track the prompts that matter for your market.
What's the best Google Business Profile category for an HVAC company?
Usually "HVAC contractor" as the primary category, since it matches most HVAC revenue. Add secondary categories such as "Air conditioning contractor", "Heating contractor" or "Furnace repair service" only for work you actually do.
Do HVAC companies need a separate page for each city?
Yes, for every town you want calls from. Each city page needs real local detail and real jobs. Copies with only the city name swapped rarely rank.
Should I stop marketing in the slow season?
No. The slow months are when SEO and reviews get built, so you're already ranked when the first heat wave or cold snap hits. Ads can scale down; content and reviews shouldn't stop.
What should I ask an HVAC marketing agency before signing?
Ask whether your Google Business Profile, website and ad accounts stay in your name, what they'll change on your profile in the first 30 days, how they report booked jobs, and whether you can talk to a current HVAC client.
Are Local Services Ads worth it for HVAC?
They're often the fastest source of calls, because you pay per lead and appear above the regular ads once you're Google Guaranteed or Google Verified. Most HVAC companies run them alongside SEO, not instead of it.