Time to read: 13 minutes
Here’s What Roofers Need to Know to Win at SEO and AI Search
To help roofers learn more about search engine optimization, whether they are doing it themselves or want to know more before partnering with a roofing SEO agency, we’ve created this handy guide to common (and uncommon) questions.
From what it is to getting the most out of your Google Business Profile and how to outperform your local competitors, we hope that this guide serves as a one-stop place to learn about all things SEO.
What Our Guide to SEO for Roofing Companies Covers:
- What is SEO for roofing companies?
- Ranking factors most important for roofers
- What keywords should roofers target?
- How can roofing companies get more backlinks?
- How to add additional roofing services to your GBP
- What statistics back up investing in roofing SEO
- How long does it take to see results from SEO?
- How does SEO benefit roofing companies?
- How can my roofing company get recommended by AI?
- How does storm season impact roofer SEO strategies?
Let’s dive in!
What is SEO for roofing companies?
SEO, or search engine optimization, for roofing companies is a digital marketing strategy that involves making calculated enhancements to your website, local profiles, and backlinks to help you increase your rankings on Google, Bing, and Yahoo, and even get cited and mentioned on emerging AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and more.
For your business specifically, roofing SEO requires special dedication to your local presence, which means extra tactics that other industries don’t require. From optimizing your Google Business Profile, collecting reviews, getting local links, and maintaining directory listings, there are various things roofers can do to improve their SEO. We will go over some high-level techniques below.
The most important ranking factors for roofers (local and non-local)
Here is a brief overview of some high-level things you should analyze and update:
- Google My Business Profile – In order to gain positioning in the local pack or map pack listings, it’s critical to update your Google My Business profile. Based on what you discover in your local competitor research on maps, it’s time to make some changes. Completing your profile as much as possible can get you in a better place to rank higher locally. This also includes keeping it up to date with offers and updates from your team. One of the highest-ranking factors considered from your profile is your main category, and currently, as of January 2026, there are two specific relevant categories you can add. However, if you do more than just roofing, you can also add up to 10:
- Roofing contractor
- Contractor
- Landing Pages – The content on your website is vastly important for SEO, and in the past year, Google has changed the way it evaluates local content and has put a higher emphasis on websites that provide high-quality, helpful content. Having helpful content on your pages will be appealing not only to customers but also to search engines. So be sure to display your services, testimonials, hours, locations, and photos on all of your location pages.
- Quality Backlinks – Getting links from websites that have high authority online can signal to search engines that your site is also important. But as a local business, this can be hard! One thing you can do is to lean on your connections in the community. Are you a part of any local unions or chambers of commerce? Be sure they are linking to you if they mention you on their site.
- User Experience – People looking for a new roof don’t reach out because of a pretty layout, but because of trust and speed. To win more leads, your layout needs three things immediately: a clickable phone number front and center, your local licensing and insurance numbers, and information about your warranty offering. If a homeowner has to dig through your site to finally conclude you’re reputable and reliable, they are clicking back to Google
What keywords should roofers target in SEO campaigns?
Having the right keywords on your site is essential for a successful SEO campaign. And tracking them to see your progress is also essential. It’s important to first research which keywords are searched the most by your target audience so you can get the most traffic to your site. The thing that most roofers get wrong, however, is that they are chasing generic terms that don’t actually result in showing reputable companies, but rather general advice and DIY tips. You are also up against PPC ads taking up most of the real estate at the top of search results, so you have to be wise.
So instead of wasting your time chasing broad terms like ‘roofing repair,’ focus on high-intent queries like:
- Commercial flat roof pooling solutions
- Professional metal roof installation and repair
- [City] tile roof leak detection
- Hail damage specialists [City]
How can roofing companies get more backlinks?
As mentioned above, quality links are important for ranking. And link building involves acquiring links from other websites other than your own; it is also sometimes referred to as backlink building. Building links can increase the relevance, authority, and page traffic of your site and help it be considered high-quality in the eyes of search engines.
Directory links
One thing you can do is search “find roofers” and see what different sites come up that list multiple roofers in the area. You do some research on those websites and see if you can be listed as well. We’ve seen this method work in the past with our clients, and it’s an easy way to gain a backlink. Or at least a profile page that lists your relevant information. Notable directories you should have profiles on are:
- Yelp
- Angi
- Houzz
- BBB
Local Links
We also suggest looking into getting involved in your community by sponsoring events, offering up expert advice on both local and industry blogs, and looking for mentions of your brand without a link and kindly asking for attribution. Or better, if you partner with any other local businesses, like major construction companies, see what opportunities arise there. Not only would a link like that be hyperlocal, but it would also be industry-relevant.
Niche industry links
Something else you can try is to become an expert in your niche and supply answers to other writers and reporters who are publishing content related to roofing and home services. You can gain these links by signing up for free link-building platforms like HARO, SOS, Featured, and Qwoted and submitting answers to questions you think you can answer.
How to list additional services on your Google Business Profile
Something that was recently discovered is that adding custom services to your profile can give you a boost in rankings! If you didn’t know, Google provides pre-defined services that you can easily add to your profile, but you can create custom services as well.
Simply head over to your profile and click on “Services” from the menu:
You will then be able to add custom services to your profile. A few examples of custom services we’d recommend for roofers would be:
- Custom roofing quotes
- Emergency roof repair
- Roofing services in [city]
- Same-day appraisals
Obviously, these will depend on what capabilities your team has. Be sure not to make any false promises if you can’t keep them, or you may wind up getting a negative review.
Pro-tip: If your local area is flooded with competition, something you should look into is whether others on Google Maps are abiding by their policies, which include not having loads of keywords in the business name, not having fake reviews, not displaying an address for a private residence, and not using a P.O. box as an address. If you find businesses ranking above you who are doing this, you can report them to Google and have them removed.
What statistics back up investing in roofing SEO
If knowing your competitors are doing SEO isn’t enough, here are some compelling roofing marketing statistics you should know from Invoca:
- 62% of users searched for roofing companies before converting
- The year-over-year growth for “roofing companies” is up 107%
- 80% of users did not have a roofing company in mind when they started searching
- 84% of people looking for roofing called a company after they researched
- The sale amount for people searching for roofing companies is nearly 5k
How long does it take to see results from SEO?
SEO isn’t something that you’ll reap results from immediately. You’ll typically see some initial results within 3-6 months. However, some tactics can move the needle quicker than others, such as getting a fake competitor off Google Maps for violating policies, thus moving your listing up. Search engines tend to take time to understand the changes you’re making as well as crawl the new content or links you’ve built.
When developing an SEO strategy, you’ll really want to focus on creating goals and finding ways to determine the success of your campaign. Some SEO key performance indicators to better understand your performance include:
- Keyword rankings
- Search visibility
- Organic traffic
- Conversion rate
How does SEO benefit roofing companies?
We know we’ve presented the stats on why SEO is helpful, but we know you may want more detail. People tend to research online before choosing a company, which is why it’s critical to build an online presence. SEO for roofing will benefit your business by:
- Reap long-term results – With SEO, you’ll see that it drives continuous long-term results for your business.
- Build brand recognition and trust – People want to put their house or roof, more specifically, in somebody’s hands that they trust. When you rank highly in the search results, it tells them that your business is matching what they are looking for.
- Drive more qualified traffic – SEO helps you rank in searches where people are looking to find a roofer. While it helps bring in more traffic, it leads to more qualified leads as well.
How can my roofing company get recommended by ChatGPT, Claude, or Google’s AI Overviews?
What is known to help brands get cited by AI is still very much the Wild West. And we know that you’ve probably seen a decrease in clicks to your site because of all the different AI search interfaces. Or, you’ve seen such a change in traditional search results that you just want to stay ahead of the shifts. The businesses that will win in AI search long-term are the ones building genuine authority, and thankfully, most of the things that help are rooted in traditional SEO. Here are some things we’ve noticed that can help build trust for AI search:
- Write content that answers questions directly
AI platforms are essentially answer engines, so the more your website and blog content is structured around specific questions homeowners ask, the more likely you are to be referenced. This is where having a blog comes in handy, as you can write to answer questions, especially location-specific questions, such as “When will I know it’s time for a new roof?” or “Can homes in Tucson have a metal roof?” You can then intertwine this content by linking it internally from your other key service and location pages to guide people who come to your site. - Build brand trust that AI can verify
AI platforms aren’t just going to your website and scanning it; they are looking for sources across the web that mention you to gather the bigger picture. This means sourcing from Yelp or Angi, local news mentions, and even Reddit. The more your business name appears (in a positive context), the more likely AI tools are going to view your business as something they can cite confidently. Thankfully, a lot of this already overlaps with local SEO best practices such as consistently getting reviews, building backlinks, and more. - Maintain your N.A.P. and local profiles
Building off the above point, since these tools are reading more than your website, the information they find must be consistent. You may have heard of N.A.P., which stands for Name, Address, Phone. This is an old-school local SEO term that is used alongside citation building to ensure businesses are consistent with how websites are showing these key identifiers. However, your Google Business Profile will always be king when it comes to local profiles, so be sure you’re checking it frequently, as Google will often change information on profiles from their own automation or if users are submitting that your profile is incorrect. - Consistently get reviews from real customers
Homeowners are most likely to leave a review the exact moment your crew wraps up as they inspect your finished work. The key is not to wait to send an email or text asking for a review when the invoice goes out next week. To get reviews at a better pace, have the onsite managers carry business cards with the QR code that sends customers directly to your Google Business Profile, and make it part of their final on-site inspection checklist to have the homeowner scan it right then and there.
Note of Caution: AI search is still evolving incredibly fast. There’s no single tactic that guarantees placement the way there might be for a specific Google ranking factor. So if you’re hearing from marketing agencies that they are guaranteeing results on AI platforms or specifically offer just GEO or AEO, please tread carefully! But incase you’ve already gone full force and are seeing declines, we can help with that, too.
How does storm season impact roofing SEO strategies?
If you live somewhere with tornadoes, hurricanes, or strong windstorms, you are probably well aware that you’re the busiest after those storms hit. This makes your business highly seasonal, and you should adjust your marketing accordingly. It’s important to note that roofers who have their SEO strategy in place ahead of time are far better positioned to capture that surge in demand than those who try to react in the moment.
We recommend that you write storm-damage-specific landing pages before storm season comes around and keep them updated to reflect your area’s forecasts. These pages should target terms like “hail damage roof repair [city]” or “hurricane damage roofing [city].” It would be wise to include information about the insurance claims process, which is a major concern for homeowners dealing with storm-related damage, and it can save you from having to answer such questions over the phone.
Pro-tip: Keep these pages live, but don’t link them just yet from your main menu. Then, when the weather strikes, don’t just add them to your main menu but also create posts or offers on your GBP that can take users to these pages so they are front and center on your profile.
Have a Question We Didn’t Answer?
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Distinctive Metal Roofing partnered with us to improve their presence across Ohio and Western PA. To generate leads, we implemented customized SEO, CRO, and PPC.
