Contractors Insured Contractor insurance brokerage, California and Texas
33 inquiries in August, on a website launched in April.
Contractors Insured launched a new website in April 2026, up against national companies. In August alone, the brokerage counted 33 inquiries. When we asked ChatGPT on September 4 which broker a California contractor should call first for general liability insurance, it named this brokerage. Google's AI answer uses the brokerage's pages as a source too.
33 inquiriesAugust 2026: 26 written, plus calls the brokerage counted
First sourceFirst in Google's AI answer to a ghost policy question, September 2
66 times as oftenIn Google: 190 a week in April, 12,552 a week at the August peak
ChatGPTSeptember 4, 2026
A general contractor in California needs general liability insurance with a certificate this week, and asks who will write it. ChatGPT answered: "My call order would be: 1. ContractorsInsured.net ... This would be my first call." It notes that the brokerage says a straightforward California policy can be quoted and bound the same business day, and cites the founder's California license.
At a glance
The client, the market, the result.
Client
Contractors Insured, a licensed brokerage that arranges general liability, workers' comp and related coverage for contractors.
States served
California and Texas. Painters, roofers, general contractors, restoration crews and other trades.
Competition
National platforms such as Insureon, NEXT, Thimble and Progressive.
Timeline
New website live April 2026. Results measured April to September 2026.
What we delivered
We built 184 pages that answer the questions contractors ask. We added the company's license and details to the pages in the format Google reads. We got the brokerage listed on business profiles, review sites and directories.
Result
On September 4, ChatGPT told a California contractor to call this brokerage first for general liability. On September 2, Google's AI answer listed its website as the first source for a ghost policy question. 33 inquiries in August.
Where they started
In April, the brokerage was barely showing up in Google search.
April 2026
A brand-new website against national companies.
Its competitors included Insureon, NEXT, Thimble and Progressive.
Shown about 190 times a week in Google search, at an average position of 27 in the results.
Google's own report shows the site appearing in its AI answers close to zero times until late June. We hold no record of ChatGPT or Perplexity naming the brokerage before September.
When we looked at what ranked, the top pages explained what a policy is and what it costs. Few answered the question a contractor on a deadline has: "Who will write this, and how fast?"
Few outside business profiles or directory listings pointed to the brokerage.
The approach
Answer the question buyers actually ask.
Build the pages a contractor on a deadline is looking for, and then make it easy for Google and AI tools to check who is behind them.
Pages written in plain sentences, with cost ranges and short question-and-answer sections.
The license number, the states covered and the company details added to the pages, in the format Google reads automatically.
Business profiles, review-site listings and directory listings outside the website, pointing to the brokerage.
A dated picture of every result we could capture, so the proof can be checked.
What we changed
Four things we changed.
01
Built pages that answer what buyers ask
184 pages covering trades, coverage types and cities, each with cost ranges and short question-and-answer sections written around "Who will write this, and how fast?"
02
Stopped seven pages competing for one search
Seven city pages were competing for the same national cost question. We combined them into one page for the whole country. Within two weeks the combined page was the highest of the group in Google.
03
Added the company's identity and license details
Behind the pages, we added the company facts in the format Google reads: who the brokerage is, which license it holds, what it covers, and the same questions and answers that appear on the page.
04
Built the outside listings
Verified business profiles, review-site listings and business directory listings, all pointing to the brokerage.
Proof 1 of 3: the AI tools
What ChatGPT, Google, Perplexity and Gemini say when a contractor asks.
Every screenshot below is dated. The September 2 screenshots were taken while not signed in to anything. The September 4 ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini screenshots were taken in a RankVisibly account with no previous questions on this subject, and the Google searches were run from a US location with personalization turned off. AI answers change from day to day, so we show the exact screenshots rather than averages. Tap any screenshot to enlarge it.
ChatGPT, rest of the same answerSeptember 4, 2026
The rest of the same answer: Insureon second, then four other brokers. Under the heading "What I would do today", it says: "Call ContractorsInsured first."
Google's AI answer, roofing searchSeptember 4, 2026
We searched "california roofing contractor insurance" from a US location with personalization turned off. Google's AI answer explains the coverage a roofer needs, and the list of pages it used shows the contractorsinsured.net roofing insurance cost page next to Leavitt Group and Amwins.
Perplexity, an AI search toolSeptember 4, 2026
We asked what general liability insurance costs a contractor in California. Perplexity cites contractorsinsured in the answer itself, on how to lower the premium, and lists Contractors Insured twice among the 15 sources it used.
Perplexity, its list of sourcesSeptember 4, 2026
The same answer's list of sources, which also includes MoneyGeek and Golden Benchmark. The Contractors Insured cost guide is in the list.
Gemini, Google's AI assistantSeptember 4, 2026
We asked who will write a workers' comp ghost policy in California, and how fast. Gemini lists four types of broker and names three companies. ContractorsInsured.net is one of the three named; Insureon and Simply Business appear grouped as "commercial and digital brokers." Asked two general liability questions the same day, Gemini did not name Contractors Insured.
Gemini, the question we askedSeptember 4, 2026
The question as we asked it, in a RankVisibly account with no previous questions on this subject: "Who will actually write a workers' comp ghost policy for a contractor in California, and how fast?"
Google's AI answer, ghost policy searchSeptember 2, 2026
For a California ghost policy question, Google's AI answer lists contractorsinsured.net as the first page it used.
ChatGPT, not signed inSeptember 2, 2026
We asked who will actually write a California ghost policy. ChatGPT names several brokers and then commits to an order: "My first three calls would be Asena, CCIS, and ContractorsInsured." Insureon comes last, and only as something to compare against.
Two terms that appear in the screenshots: a "ghost policy" is a workers' comp policy issued at the minimum premium to a contractor with no employees, and "general liability" is the basic coverage most contracts ask a contractor to carry.
Proof 2 of 3: Google's own numbers
What Google's own reporting shows, week by week.
Google gives every website owner a report called Search Console. It counts how often the site was shown in Google search, how often it was clicked, and where it came in the list of results. The two charts below are drawn from the brokerage's own report.
How many times contractorsinsured.net was shown in Google search each week, from the week of April 6 to the week of August 24, 2026. Source: the brokerage's own Google Search Console report, read on September 3, 2026.
The site's average position in Google's list of results, same weeks and source. Position 1 is the top of the first page. The line climbs as the site moves up the list. The most recent week shown, August 24, was 10,242 showings at an average position of 20.5.
What we tracked
Week of April 6
Week of June 1
Week of August 17
Times shown in Google search that week
190
2,475
12,552
Clicks from Google that week
2
6
38
Average position in Google's results (1 is the top)
27.0
33.1
16.6
Why 12,552 showings became only 38 clicks: Google counts a showing whenever the site appears in results, including inside its AI answers, where people often read without clicking. Google's own count of those AI appearances, 12,100 in three and a half months, is in the screenshots below.
Google's own report on the siteSeptember 4, 2026
The brokerage's own Google Search Console report, six months to September 1, 2026: 346 clicks and 115,000 times shown. The purple line is how many times the site was shown each day: close to zero in April, reaching 12,552 showings in the week of August 17.
Google's count of AI answer appearancesSeptember 4, 2026
Google's own count of how often the site appears inside its AI answers: 12,100 times from mid-May to September 1, 2026, about three and a half months, across 166 pages. Near zero until late June, then 250 to 350 a day through August. This is Google's count, not ours.
Google search, the normal resultsSeptember 4, 2026
The same roofing search, further down the page, below the sponsored results (NEXT and Thimble were advertising on it that day). The contractorsinsured.net roofing cost page sits on page one of the normal results, between Century Roof Tile and Balsiger Insurance.
The pages bringing in the visitsSeptember 4, 2026
The pages doing the work over six months: an explainer on contract insurance terms (67 clicks, shown 10,783 times), the California ghost policy article (50 clicks, shown 3,883 times), the same-day certificate guide (37 clicks, shown 6,334 times) and the Fort Worth general liability cost page (15 clicks, shown 10,458 times).
Proof 3 of 3: the phone rang
What came in during August.
33
inquiries in August 2026 in total
21
came through the website's forms
5
came by direct email
7
came by phone, counted by the brokerage
The website also recorded that 5 of the written inquiries arrived from ChatGPT. Some contractors submitted the form more than once, so the brokerage's own log shows more entries than people.
"These are the warmest leads we've ever gotten."
PB
Pascal Burke
Founder, Contractors Insured
Commercial painting firm, three states
The extra coverage its own insurer had turned down.
A commercial painting and waterproofing firm, twelve years old and already under contract, needed extra coverage for one project that its existing insurer had refused to add.
Restoration contractor, Texas
An expired certificate had locked them out.
A Dallas water-damage restoration business had been blocked from the website it gets jobs through because its certificate of insurance had run out. It needed liability plus pollution coverage, and it needed the certificate the same day.
General contractor, Texas
A general contractor ChatGPT sent directly.
This inquiry came from ChatGPT, as the website's own records show, and needed liability coverage within the week. Four more liability inquiries followed over the next four days.
The brokerage's inquiry log, August 2026September 4, 2026
The website's own inquiry log filtered to August 2026: 37 form entries from 21 different contractors, several of whom sent the form more than once. Each entry shows the trade, the state, the deadline and the page it came from. Personal details are blurred; the rest is untouched.
The brokerage's inquiry log, continuedSeptember 4, 2026
Further down the same log: general contractors from Texas, and HVAC and roofing contractors from California. Ten of the 26 written inquiries gave a deadline of "today" or "this week." The page each one came from is listed in the last column.
Property repair & maintenance (CA Class B General Building)
California
Shopping several brokers
General liability
08/11
Website form
Roofing
Texas
No rush
not stated
08/12
Website form
HVAC contractor
California
No rush
not stated
08/14
Email
Industrial automation / PLC programming engineer
Argentina
Project underway
General liability
08/17
Website form
Foundation contractor
California
No rush
not stated
ChatGPT
08/18
Website form
HVAC contractor
California
No rush
not stated
08/20
Website form
General contractor
California
No rush
not stated
08/20
Website form
General contractor
California
Today
not stated
08/21
Website form
Other trade
California
No rush
not stated
08/22
Website form
Roofing contractor
California
This week
not stated
08/25
Email
Water-damage restoration
Texas
Prior certificate expired
General liability and contractors pollution liability
08/25
Email
Security camera / low-voltage cabling / access control
Nevada
Contract in place
General liability and workers comp and commercial auto
08/26
Website form
General contractor
California
No rush
Ghost policy (owner-only workers comp)
08/27
Website form
HVAC contractor
California
Today
Ghost policy (owner-only workers comp)
08/27
Website form
General contractor
Texas
This week
General liability
ChatGPT
08/28
Website form
General contractor
Texas
This week
General liability
08/30
Website form
Restoration contractor
California
This week
General liability
ChatGPT
08/31
Website form
Roofing contractor
California
Today
General liability
ChatGPT
08/31
Website form
General contractor
Texas
No rush
General liability
Names, phone numbers and email addresses are not shown in this table. Only the inquiries marked "ChatGPT" were recorded by the website as arriving from ChatGPT. The others arrived while the work was running, and we do not claim every one came from AI. Phone inquiries are counted by the brokerage and are not in this table. A few of the inquiries came from outside California and Texas.
What this case proves
Five of August's written inquiries were recorded by the website as arriving from ChatGPT, including a Texas contractor who needed general liability within the week. The dated screenshots show ChatGPT, Google's AI answer, Perplexity and Gemini pointing contractors to a website that launched in April. A brand-new site can appear in those answers when its pages answer the question the buyer is actually asking.
Results measured from the April 2026 launch to early September 2026; each figure carries its own dates. Figures come from the brokerage's own Google Search Console report, its inquiry log and dated screenshots held on file. Contractors Insured is a current RankVisibly client.
Questions
What owners ask about this case.
How long did this take?
The new website went live in April 2026. The 33 inquiries were counted in August 2026, the fifth month the site was live. The screenshots of Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini were taken on September 2 and September 4, 2026.
Did the inquiries come from AI or from Google?
The website recorded that 5 of the 26 written inquiries in August arrived from ChatGPT. For the rest, we have no verified source, so we do not claim one.
Once AI names you, does it stay that way?
These screenshots show what appeared for the questions we asked on September 2 and September 4, 2026. AI answers change from day to day and with the wording of the question, so every AI screenshot on this page is dated, the testing conditions are described above them, and we do not claim the results will stay the same.
Would this work for my business?
This case is one brokerage in one market, so it does not promise results for another business. What carried the result here: buyers with a specific question, pages that answer it plainly, and outside business listings that point to the company. The first step is a 30-minute call in which we look at what Google and ChatGPT say about your business today.
See what AI says about your business.
Book a 30-minute call. No sales presentation. We look at what Google and ChatGPT currently say when someone looks for a business like yours.
