#490 Answering Remodeler's Top Photography Questions
Contractor Growth Network
How do you find a good remodeling photographer — and once you've found them, how do you actually get photos worth paying for? In this episode of the Contractor Growth Network podcast, Aaron Horner sits down with Luke Strappelli, a CGN client success manager, to answer the photography questions that come up over and over from remodeling clients. Aaron spent years traveling to shoot on-location photography for CGN clients and has been building a full photography guide, so this one gets tactical. They cover what actually separates a good photo from a bad one (spoiler: it's not just camera...
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#489 Your Remodeling Business' Marketing Strategy for 2027
Contractor Growth Network
A year ago, in episode 466, we laid out the entire six-step marketing strategy for a remodeling company. A lot has changed since — the market has slowed, AI search has gone from a curiosity to a real force, and the tactics that used to move the needle have shifted. In this episode of the Contractor Growth Network podcast, Logan Shinholser and Aaron Horner give you a "State of the Union" on what CGN is now doing differently for its remodeling clients, and why. The foundation hasn't changed: know your ideal client and their real problem, articulate how you solve it, back it up with strong...
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# 488 AI Tools Built BY REMODELERS (ft. Data X)
Contractor Growth Network
Everyone keeps telling contractors they’ll be out of business in six months if they don’t adopt AI. The reality is calmer than that—and a lot more useful. In this episode of the Contractor Growth Network podcast, Logan Shinholser sits down with Peter Ranney and Elliott Wittstruck, the founders of DataX, an AI optimization company built specifically for contractors running JobTread. Peter and Elliott come from the remodeling world themselves, and DataX started as a hodgepodge of tools they built to solve their own problems—Peter brute-forcing automations in Zapier, Elliott writing code...
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#487 Branding for the Billion Dollar Client (ft. Vought Construction)
Contractor Growth Network
Everybody says they do "high end." Almost nobody looks the part. In this episode of the Contractor Growth Network podcast, Logan sits down with Devin Vought of Vought Construction — JobTread's 2025 Builder of the Year and a luxury home builder in the Bay Area whose clients are routinely worth hundreds of millions, sometimes billions. Devin breaks down what branding actually means when your prospects can buy anything they want. It's not the logo or the tagline. It's the client journey he's engineered behind the scenes — the demo-day party, the handmade pastries waiting for a client flying...
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#486 How to Get Cited by ChatGPT, Gemini & Claude in 90 Days
Contractor Growth Network
Is your remodeling company being recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude — or would you even know if it was? In this episode of the Contractor Growth Network podcast, Logan sits down with Patrick Sculley, CGN's in-house SEO lead, to walk through a 90-day plan for getting cited in AI search. They start with the basics — what "cited" actually means, why personalization is making AI results different for every searcher, and why the old SEO formula of "more reviews + more backlinks = trust" doesn't hold the same weight anymore. Then they break the 90 days into three sprints. Days...
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#485 JobTread's Founder on AI, Automation, and The Future of Remodeling
Contractor Growth Network
What's the one thing in your business you wish could be automated? In this episode of the Contractor Growth Network podcast, Logan sits down with Eric Fortenberry — founder and CEO of JobTread — to dig into how AI is reshaping the way contractors run their businesses, and where the real risks are hiding underneath the hype. JobTread just rolled out a feature that lets contractors connect their own AI model directly into their JobTread account, and within two weeks over 1,500 users had spun up Claude and wired it in. Eric walks through what's working, what's blowing up in people's faces...
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#484 The Anatomy of a Great Remodeling Testimonial
Contractor Growth Network
How well does your company share stories of your past work? Many remodeling companies know that client testimonials are important, but are wasting the opportunity because of a lack of understanding around what a testimonial is supposed to do. In this episode Logan and Aaron are breaking some of the most impactful lessons they've learned over the years making impactful testimonials that actually sell more work. They walk through why most testimonial videos fail, the biggest mistakes contractors make when trying to capture them, and what it actually takes to create a video that builds trust and...
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#483 Tommy Mellow: Scaling Your Contracting Business Presentation
Contractor Growth Network
Tommy, founder of a $200M+ home service business, breaks down the exact principles he used to scale—from performance pay and hiring A-players to dialing in branding, KPIs, and company culture. But more than tactics, this talk hits on something deeper: accountability, execution, and why most contractors stay stuck despite having access to great ideas. If you’ve ever felt like you’re working hard but not making the progress you expected—or you know what to do but aren’t actually doing it—this episode will challenge you to rethink how you operate your business and your life. ...
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#482 "My biggest Lessons and Mistakes from 26 Years in Design Remodeling"
Contractor Growth Network
In this episode of the Contractor Growth Network podcast, Logan sits down with Jef Forward—founder of Forward Design Build Remodel—to unpack what it really looks like to build a remodeling business from the ground up… the hard way. Jef shares the unfiltered story of his first five years in business—projects going months over schedule, losing money, taking on debt, and nearly reinforcing every negative stereotype about contractors. But instead of quitting, he used those failures as the foundation for what would become a 40+ person design-build firm. From digging out of financial holes...
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#481 How I Restarted my Remodeling Business from 0 (ft. Sebring Design Build)
Contractor Growth Network
In this episode of the Contractor Growth Network podcast, Logan sits down with Bryan Sebring—owner of Sebring Design Build—to unpack what it really looks like to start over from scratch. After building a nearly $3M design-build company over 20+ years in Illinois, Bryan made a bold decision: relocate his entire life and business to Franklin, Tennessee. No team. No clients. No local reputation. Just experience. Bryan shares what changed the second time around—from how he structured his business and hired his team, to the mindset shifts that allowed him to hit similar revenue with fewer,...
info_outlineIn this episode of the Contractor Growth Network podcast, Logan and Aaron break down how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way homeowners search for remodelers—and what you need to do to keep getting found. With tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google’s AI Overviews shifting how search results are delivered, contractors who rely on organic leads can’t afford to sit this out. From local SEO to AI-friendly website structure, Logan shares what’s working right now (October 2025) and how remodelers can prepare for a future where search engines are smarter—and less likely to send users to your site by default.
If you’ve heard phrases like “zero-click search” or “retrieval augmented generation” and don’t know how they affect your marketing, this is the episode to listen to.
Free Webinar Link:
Logan is hosting a free live webinar on November 6, 2025 at 2:00 PM EST to go even deeper on this topic—with tactical examples and live Q&A.
👉 [Register here] https://www.contractorgrowthnetwork.com/google-ai-remodeler/
Can’t make it live? Use the same link to access the replay after the event.
🔑 Key Takeaways
The Game Is Changing—But Not Gone
→ Google still dominates local search (AI Overviews only show in ~6% of local searches).
→ Organic SEO is still king—but AI is adding new rules to the playbook.
AI Search Works Differently Than Google Search
→ Tools like Gemini and ChatGPT don’t just scan top search results—they combine multiple searches and synthesize answers.
→ If you’re not in the top 10 organic results, you may be invisible in AI search.
SEO Fundamentals Still Matter
→ Clear website structure, fast load times, keyword strategy, and quality content are still foundational.
→ Blogs and project pages should be conversational and answer real homeowner questions.
Citations and Consistency Are More Important Than Ever
→ The more places your business info appears (and matches), the more credible you seem to AI and Google.
→ Directory listings, Houzz profiles, YouTube videos, and local backlinks all help.
Get Found Where the AI Is Looking
→ It’s not just about your website anymore—YouTube, Google Business, Instagram, and even Houzz or Angie listings can all feed AI.
→ Quality, relevance, and proof-based content wins in every search format.
🧠 Memorable Quotes
“If you're not in the top 10 organic search results, you’re not getting found by AI search tools.”
“Google wants to keep people on Google. So if your site doesn’t offer a better experience, they won’t send users to you.”
“AI search isn’t about clever hacks—it’s about clarity, credibility, and being everywhere your ideal client is.”
✅ Action Steps
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Check your Google Business Profile for accuracy and reviews
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Reformat your blogs to include question-based headers (AI scans better this way)
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Get listed on trusted directories like Houzz, Yelp, and local chambers
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Structure your site to make important pages 1–2 clicks from the homepage
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Continue investing in SEO—the top 10 spots matter more than ever