Picture this: a new dog owner moves to your service area. Instead of opening Google, they ask ChatGPT, “Who’s the best dog walker in my neighbourhood?” Within seconds, they get three recommendations, but your business isn’t one of them.
This isn’t a hypothetical. It’s happening right now, and it’s happening more every month.
If you run a pet-sitting, dog-walking, grooming, training, or daycare/boarding business, the way people find you is shifting fast. AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews are quietly and quickly becoming the way consumers find local services.
The good news? Most of your competitors haven’t caught on yet, which means there’s a real window of opportunity for you to put in the work now to get ahead.
Pet care is one of the most trust-driven industries out there. People aren’t just hiring you to walk a dog; they’re handing you a key to their home and the well-being of a family member. This kind of important decision used to almost exclusively start with a Google search, then move to reviews, then maybe a phone call.
Now, more and more, it starts with a question typed into an AI tool. And when AI answers that question, it pulls from a specific set of sources it considers trustworthy. It doesn’t work the same way as traditional search engines. If your business shows up consistently across all the sources, you get recommended. If it doesn’t, you’re invisible, no matter how good you actually are at the job. AI can only recommend what it can find; you need to make sure it can find you, and your website provides answers to the questions potential clients are asking AI.
The businesses that adapt to this shift early will own their local market for years. The ones that wait will spend a long time wondering why the phone stopped ringing.
Common mistakes to avoid
Here are the blind spots that quietly keep pet care businesses out of AI recommendations:
- Continuing to rely only on Google. A great Google Business Profile is 100% essential, but if it’s the only place your business shows up, AI has just one source to trust. It wants to see you in more than one place.
- A vague, hard-to-read website. If a potential client has to dig to figure out what you do, where you serve, and what it costs (or can’t find it at all), AI has the same problem, except AI just moves on to a competitor whose site is clearer.
- Chasing review quantity over quality. Ten “Great dog walking service!” reviews tell AI almost nothing. A handful of detailed reviews that name the service, the neighbourhood, and the result are worth far more.
- Being invisible besides your own website. If your business is never mentioned anywhere else other than your own website, no directories, no local blogs, no community platforms, AI has no reason to believe you’re an established, trusted option.
- Treating this as a one-time task. AI visibility builds gradually and needs maintenance. A single burst of effort fades; consistent activity compounds.
The checklist: How to get AI to recommend you
1. Search your main keywords in AI tools
Start by seeing what AI already says. Open ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity and ask the questions your potential clients would ask, like “best dog walker in [your city],” “pet sitter near [your neighbourhood],” “where can I board my dog in [your town].” If you are a Barketing Client, you can use the AI Visibility Scanner for more detailed reports, prompt performance, server log reporting (the data Google Analytics can’t see, and DIY website builders won’t give you access to), plus recommendations on how to improve your visibility.
Note which businesses get named and how AI describes them. That’s your baseline, and it tells you exactly who you’re competing against in this new arena. If it’s a competitor’s blog post getting cited, you’ve just found your next topic. Time to create a better version.
2. Find the sources AI is citing and get mentioned there
Most AI tools will show you where they pulled their answer from. Look closely at those sources: review sites, directories, local blogs, “best-of” lists, news sites, and industry publications. This tells you which places AI trusts. If your competitors are listed there and you’re not, that’s your roadmap. Work your way onto those same sources, and AI starts to see you as part of the trusted local landscape.
One thing you’ll notice: gig platforms like Rover and Wag often show up here, because they’re massive sites with thousands of pages. But as an independent professional, you can’t (and shouldn’t) list on a marketplace that takes a cut and trains clients to book through an app instead of with you. So focus on the things AI weighs for local trust, which gig apps can’t fake: a credentialed professional directory listing like Canadian Pet Care Professionals, Pet Sitters International, (which gig workers can’t get), a spot on a local “best-of” list, community mentions, and detailed local reviews. That’s what pushes a real pro ahead of them in AI answers.
3. Diversify your reviews
Keep earning Google reviews; they still matter enormously. But don’t stop there. Build a presence on other prominent platforms, such as Yelp, the Better Business Bureau, Bing, Facebook Reviews and industry-specific pet care sites. Review diversity signals legitimacy. A business reviewed in several trusted places looks far more established to AI than one with reviews in a single spot. Try to get 1 out of ever 5 reviews on a platform outside of Google.
4. Ask clients for detailed reviews
A five-star rating with no words behind it does very little for AI. Coach your happy clients to mention specifics: the service you provided, the problem you solved, and what made the experience great. A review that says “Booked daily walks for our anxious rescue in Austin, and she’s like a different dog now” is jam-packed with the kind of detail AI uses to match your business as a solution to pet owners’ questions.
5. Make your website easier for AI to understand
Your website should clearly and concisely answer the core questions: what you do, where you serve, detailed pricing, why someone should choose you, your process, and the proof you have. Structure matters as much as content. Clean heading structure, schema markup, dedicated service and location pages, FAQs, and plainly stated information all make it easier for AI to read, understand, and quote you accurately. Establish a well-structured, credibility-building local blogging strategy that positions you as an expert.
6. Be everywhere
The more places your business is mentioned, the more confident AI becomes that you’re a real, trusted local option.
Get mentioned on relevant local blogs, podcasts, social media, YouTube, community platforms, Reddit, local news, “best-of” lists, industry publications, industry & local directories and press. Every credible mention is another trust signal pointing back to you.
7. Keep optimizing your Google Business Profile
This doesn’t mean it’s time to abandon GBP. GBP is still one of the most important sources AI pulls from, especially Google’s own AI systems. Make sure your profile is complete and includes: detailed business description packed with the services you offer (main services + location at the top), add specific service descriptions for each thing you do (don’t just list “dog walking” but describe it), scheduled tasks to review and up-to-date photos, hours, and service areas, regular Google Posts, provide quick responses to reviews (both positive and negative) and proactively complete the Q&A section.
The bottom line
AI search isn’t totally replacing traditional SEO, but AI is shaking things up and adding a new layer on top of it.
Pet care businesses that adapt now will have a significant edge over those who wait until “everyone’s doing it.” By then, the AI tools will have already decided who the trusted local recommendations are. The work will always remain an ongoing project, and it’s about consistency. Pick one or two items from this checklist each week, and within a few months, you’ll start seeing your business show up in places it never did before.
Need a hand?
At Barketing, we work exclusively with pet care businesses, and AI search optimization is one of the things we’re helping our clients get ahead on right now. Curious how The Barketing Blueprint can put your business in front of AI? Let’s talk, because our clients are getting cited!
Erika Godwin is the President of Barketing Solutions and the Co-Founder and CMO of ProPet Software, an industry-leading kennel management software. Erika has over 8 years of experience with WordPress and graduated from Elmira College in 2009 with a BS, Business Administration- Marketing and Management. View Erika’s Full Bio.
