Case Study

How a Heater Distributor Got Cited by ChatGPT in 5 Weeks

A woman-owned HVAC supplier wanted a website that looked like her. Now ChatGPT recommends her company first.

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#1

ChatGPT named Hillco first when asked who sells commercial heating equipment in Chicago.
8 of 18

ChatGPT named Hillco in 8 of 18 answers to 9 buyer questions, and put it first each time.
5 weeks

The new Hillco website had been live 5 weeks when we ran these ChatGPT tests.

Hillco Distributing

hillcodistributing.com

Web Design
SEO

Your buyers now ask ChatGPT which supplier to call. If you aren't cited by ChatGPT, the call goes to someone else.

ChatGPT recommends the companies it can describe with confidence. To get AI to recommend your business, say what you sell, where you sell it and what makes you different.

Say it in plain words, on the pages AI tools read.

Hillco Distributing is a woman-owned HVAC and heating equipment supplier in Chicago, in business since 1970. 5 weeks after its new website went live, ChatGPT named Hillco first when buyers asked who sells commercial heating equipment in Chicago.

The challenge

Nikki Liddy owns Hillco. She runs it in an industry full of men.

Her vendors' and clients' websites looked serious and crowded. Many showed tough men standing on a job site.

She wanted the opposite. She wanted a simple website that was a little cheeky, looked like her and made people smile.

She had one more goal. Contractors on public projects need certified woman-owned suppliers to meet their participation goals, and Hillco is one.

Still, she didn't want the certification to be her whole brand. Hillco sells heating and HVAC equipment first. The certification is a bonus on top.

A website that looks like her

Simple, bright and a little cheeky, in an industry where websites look serious.
An HVAC supplier first

Hillco holds woman-owned, small business and disadvantaged business certifications. Buyers should see what it sells before they see the certifications.
Buyers ask AI for a supplier

A contractor can ask ChatGPT who sells commercial heating equipment in Chicago. The company ChatGPT names gets the call first.

What we did

We did a complete website redesign for Hillco. SEO comes with every redesign we do, so it was part of the build from day one.

The design is built around her. Hot pink sits next to navy, and the home page opens with a short brand film.

The pages stay simple and easy to scan.

Every page says what Hillco sells first. The certifications come next, written out in full sentences that ChatGPT can read and quote.

The projects page shows the work behind the name. It lists jobs like Willis Tower, Wrigley Field, McCormick Place, Salesforce Tower and O'Hare Terminal 5, with photos from real job sites.

We do this for every client through our AI search service.

A design with her personality

Hot pink, navy and a short brand film. The product pages stay plain and easy to use.
What Hillco sells comes first

The home page opens with heating and HVAC equipment, fast lead times and good prices. The certifications follow.
Projects Chicago knows

Willis Tower, Wrigley Field and McCormick Place are on the projects page. Buyers and ChatGPT both see the track record.

What ChatGPT said

ChatGPT answer to Who sells commercial heating equipment in Chicago, listing Hillco Distributing first — Click to enlarge

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How we did it

Say what you sell, where, and what sets you apart

The site says Hillco sells commercial heating and HVAC equipment in Chicago. It also says Hillco is woman-owned and certified.
Your company may stand out for ISO 9001, ITAR, Buy American, stock on hand or lead time.
Whatever a buyer checks before calling you, AI tools need to read on your site.
Write it where ChatGPT can cite it

The home, projects and contact pages say these things in full sentences. ChatGPT cited all 3.
Each sentence names Hillco, so it still makes sense when ChatGPT copies it. "Hillco Distributing is a certified woman-owned HVAC supplier in Chicago" can be quoted. "We're proud to serve the area" can't.
Give details a buyer can check

Each certification names the group that issued it and the work it covers.
Numbers work the same way. A lead time in days or a service area is easier to quote than "fast" or "affordable."
Make sure ChatGPT can read the page

ChatGPT reads the words on a page. A fact that only shows up in an image, a PDF or a video is hard for it to find.
The site also lets OAI-SearchBot, the crawler behind ChatGPT search, read every page.

The results

ChatGPT named Hillco in 8 of 18 answers. Every time it named Hillco, it put Hillco first.

How we tested

We wrote 9 questions a buyer might ask ChatGPT. They start narrow, with a product, a place and participation goals. They end as broad as "where to buy a heater."

We asked each question twice, because ChatGPT's answers change from one run to the next. That gave us 18 answers.

ChatGPT searched the web for its answers and listed its sources. We counted Hillco only when ChatGPT named it in the answer.

When a question named no place, ChatGPT guessed one. Some guesses were outside Illinois, like Boston.

Then we asked the Chicago heating question ourselves, on a phone, in a fresh ChatGPT chat. The screenshot above is that answer.

Who ChatGPT named first

Buyer question, shortened	Run 1	Run 2
Modine unit heater in Chicago, woman-owned participation goals	Hillco	Hillco
Unit heater in Illinois, participation goals	Hillco	A gas fireplace company
HVAC from a woman-owned supplier, Illinois public project	Hillco	Hillco
Unit heater with participation goals, no place given	Hillco	F.W. Webb, after ChatGPT guessed Boston
Unit heater for a warehouse in Illinois	Another Illinois HVAC distributor	Another Illinois HVAC distributor
Where to buy a unit heater in Illinois	ILLCO	Another Illinois HVAC distributor
Who sells commercial heating equipment in Chicago	Hillco	Hillco
Where to buy a commercial heater	R.E. Michel	Ferguson
Where to buy a heater	Walmart	Walmart

What the results mean

Participation goals were Hillco's strongest questions. When a buyer asked for a woman-owned or certified supplier, ChatGPT named Hillco in 6 of 8 answers.

Even "a unit heater with participation goals," with no place at all, named Hillco first in one run.

The broadest question Hillco won was "Who sells commercial heating equipment in Chicago?" It says nothing about certifications. ChatGPT still named Hillco first, both times.

Questions that named only a product and a state went to other Illinois distributors. The broadest questions went to big-box stores like Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe's.

A local distributor can't compete with them on "where to buy a heater," and doesn't need to.

The new site had been live for 5 weeks.

Distributors can read how we do this in SEO for ventilation equipment distributors.

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