AI for Contractors: How Home Service Pros Are Using AI in 2026
We just surveyed over 1,000 home service business owners across the U.S. and gathered real-time stats about how they're using AI in their day-to-day operations. The gap between businesses using AI and those that aren’t is starting to show: 88% of businesses who are fully-booked use AI vs 27% of businesses who are still filling their calendars Here's what 52% of the 1,050 home service business owners surveyed say they use AI for: 54% for quoting 52% for invoicing 51% for writing emails and proposals Younger owners are adopting it fastest --> 64% of business owners under 30 already use AI. Curious how this compares to what you're seeing in your own business. Are you currently using AI for quoting, scheduling, or customer communication? Or is it something you're still exploring?
Starting a New Hardscape Division While Busy with Landscape Maintenance Team
How do you actually start a new division of your business while still managing day-to-day operations? Between quoting, scheduling, and running jobs, it’s hard to carve out time to build something new. Curious how others have handled this without things falling through the cracks. What worked for you? Context: our "bread and butter" as a landscaping company has been in residential maintenance (lawn cutting, care, property clean-ups, trimming, garden care, softscape / small hardscape installs, etc.). My business partner and I are near max capacity with taking on more residential maintenance clients and would like to get into higher earning, longer term, larger projects on the install / design side of landscaping.What Should Home Service Businesses Automate First to Save Time?
Small manual tasks start stacking up, catching up on follow-ups, re-adjusting scheduling, invoicing, review requests, the list goes on and on. Sound familiar? What’s one task you’re still doing manually that you know could be automated? What’s stopping you from setting it up?How I Finally Delegated Estimating (Without Hiring Another Person)
For years, estimating was the one thing I couldn’t take off my plate. We changed the org chart. We hired roles. Delegated everything we could. But estimating? That was always me. Even if I wasn’t doing anything else in the business... I was still stuck quoting jobs. It was the bottleneck I couldn’t fix—until now. I built a ChatGPT-powered estimator trained with my systems, my pricing, and my language. It asks the right questions, runs the math, and delivers estimates like I would—without me being involved. Now I’m no longer the bottleneck. Customers get quick answers. I get my evenings and weekends back. Want to build your own? Map out your estimating logic. Plug it into ChatGPT. Test and refine. If you're stuck working all day and doing estimates at night and on Saturdays anddddd, sometimes even Sunday mornings when everyone's sleeping—this might be your way out. Heres my direct Zoom link if you'd like to learn more: https://calendly.com/ryaan-besthandymancompany/bh-plan-phone-consultationWhat Supplementary PM Software Are you using with Jobber?
Jobber has that sales pipeline which is still in beta but is limited to the info on jobs. Especially for you GCs out there, what other PM software are you using and HOW are you using it? I've been using a trello board but I feel like most my time is just "cleaning up" the trello board instead of it actually benefitting the business. I'm looking in to a solution that can be more automated with zaps, can help disseminate information from sales to production, and that can help make us more efficient.How do home service businesses fill their calendar before busy season?
When work slows down, most service businesses feel it fast: stress, cash flow pressure, and last-minute scrambling. Sound familiar? What’s the one thing you rely on most before busy season to keep your calendar full? New leads Repeat customers Referrals Deposits or upfront payments Booking weeks in advance Something else? (do tell!) Bonus: What used to stress you out about slow periods that doesn’t anymore?Will AI replace jobs in home service and skilled trades?
I saw an article yesterday about all the tech jobs that are being replaced by AI and I thought about how hard that would be to know your position can be replaced by someTHING that can do it faster and cheaper than you can. Then I thought how happy I am that I decided a long time ago that I am going to work with my hands. Be handy. Solve real problems. I would be safe in saying that AI is never going to cut your lawn, remove your junk, exterminate your bed bugs, plumb in or wire your home. Am I going to regret saying this? Is AI reading thins and just started plotting to take all our jobs???How Are Home Service Businesses Preparing for AI Search Visibility?
Search is changing fast. We’ve already seen Google test online estimates and AI-assisted pricing in local search. Now, AI tools are helping homeowners decide who to call, sometimes before they ever visit a website. Scorpion Marketing published a report with the following stats: 22% of homeowners are already using AI tools to research services or get recommendations 80% of business owners say they don’t know how to prepare for AI-driven search visibility We’d love to hear what you’re seeing👇 Have you noticed changes in how customers find you or ask questions? Are you doing anything intentionally today to prep for AI-driven search? If AI search on your radar but still confusing, what question do you have? This space will continue to evolve. Sharing what’s working (or not) across different trades helps everyone get ahead of it!New Google Search Features: Online Estimates Filter and “Have AI Check Prices” — what does this mean for service pros?
Google has recently started rolling out new pricing-related features in local home service search, and they could impact how service businesses get discovered. Two early changes we’re seeing: “Online estimates” filter Google is beginning to surface an Online estimates filter in some home service searches. Early signs suggest businesses that provide clear, machine-readable pricing or instant estimates may be favored over generic contact forms. “Have AI check prices” or “Ask AI for Pricing” feature Google is also testing an AI feature that gathers pricing on a homeowner’s behalf by using AI to call businesses and collect price quotes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=illIa8LSfY0 These features are still new and evolving, but they raise big questions about pricing transparency, estimates, and local search visibility. We’re curious: Have you noticed either of these features in your area yet? Do you currently show pricing or estimate ranges online? Do changes like this make you rethink how you approach pricing and Google visibility? Would love to hear what service pros are seeing so far 👇
Using AI and Voice to Capture Job Notes and Follow-Ups in Real Time
Hi everyone, I wanted to start a discussion around how home service teams capture job notes, follow-ups, and action items during busy workdays, especially while on-site, on calls, or moving between jobs in Jobber. In many service workflows, essential details come up verbally: - Notes after a customer conversation - Follow-ups discussed on the phone - Reminders during travel between jobs These often get entered into the system later, which can lead to missed context or extra admin work at the end of the day. One approach we’ve been exploring is using AI-powered voice input through tools like Gennie, where teams can speak notes or tasks and have them synced back into their existing systems while Jobber remains the system of record. I’m interested to hear from others here: - How do you currently capture job notes or follow-ups when typing isn’t convenient? - Do you update everything in real time or batch it later? - Would voice-based input be helpful in field operations, or does it create more overhead? Looking forward to learning how others approach AI and operations in real-world home service workflows.
