Optimizing Home Builder Brands for AI Visibility - Daneila Pedroza

Greg Bray: And we are excited today to have joining us Daniela Pedroza. Daniela is the founder and CEO of Siana Marketing. Welcome, Daniela. Thanks for joining us today.

Daniela Pedroza: Hi, Greg. Thanks for having me.

Greg Bray: Well, before we kick off into all the nitty-gritty, let's find out a little bit more about you. Give us that quick background [00:01:00] and overview about yourself.

Daniela Pedroza: Yes, of course. So, as you mentioned, I'm the founder of Siana. I'm also a very creative person, so before diving into marketing, I studied architecture, so I really appreciate, you know, the build environment and design. Another fun fact about me, I've lived in four countries, and I like to travel a lot, so I'm also very curious. Love problem-solving, so I think that's what led me to become an entrepreneur and start with Siana.

Kevin Weitzel: All right. Before we dive into any of that, now we usually ask about some interesting factoid, but living in four countries is pretty interesting. One, what is your favorite and what's the most interesting place you've ever been to?

Daniela Pedroza: Ooh, those are good questions. So, I think my favorite is very biased, but I'm going to say Colombia, because that's where I'm from. That's where I grew up, and I just really like it there. So, that is my favorite one. But each of the countries have their own special thing. It has been very interesting. And the most interesting place I've ever been to, [00:02:00] I'm going to say Morocco was very interesting, very unique, and very rich when it comes to architecture as well, so I really enjoyed that.

Greg Bray: Nice. I have not been to Morocco, Kevin. Have you been to Morocco?

Kevin Weitzel: I have. I have. I spent a year and a half in Africa when I was in the Marine Corps, so I traveled both Northern Sahara and then Sub-Saharan. Morocco was one of the countries we went to, and there's areas that are very nice. The Marine Corps does not send you to places that are very nice.

Daniela Pedroza: Yeah.

Kevin Weitzel: So, we did not get to go see any of the places that you might go to vacation.

Daniela Pedroza: Yeah, fair.

Kevin Weitzel: There was no Casablanca in our travel plans, if you will.

Daniela Pedroza: Fair. Maybe we saw a very different Morocco.

Kevin Weitzel: Yes.

Greg Bray: Well, Daniela, give us a little more information about your agency and the services that you guys offer and who you work with.

Daniela Pedroza: Yeah, of course. So, in very simple terms, what Siana does is that we help companies get found, and we specialize in construction companies, so everything related to construction. Day-to-day, what this means is when people are searching for the [00:03:00] solutions that our clients are offering, we make sure that they show up on those answers.

The services in order to get the companies get found are SEO, which I think everyone's familiar with SEO, so search engine optimization. That will help you get found on Google. There's GEO, which is generative engine optimization, will get you found on AI. And then there's the next step to that, which is ASO, so agentic search optimization, and that will help you get chosen by AI. So, those are our three flagship services that we offer at Siana.

Greg Bray: All right, before we go further, I just have to express, can we come up with one more acronym in this world to help people just be confused about what all these things are? There's so many now. GEO, AEO, now we've got ASO. It's just so many. I'm just putting that out there to the world. Let's just pick a name. Honestly, Daniela, I've been leaning toward AI visibility as a descriptor. People are like, "What are you talking about?" How do you feel about the names?

Daniela Pedroza: I do [00:04:00] say AI visibility a lot. I like to start by saying, like, we help you get found, because that's just true for any of the, you know, SEO, GEO. It's just what changes is the platform. But yeah, the concept of AI visibility, it's also a good way to put it. But yes, especially the US, there's so many acronyms for everything. It's hard to keep up.

Greg Bray: So, let's drill down a little bit more then into this visibility concept. So, let's start with just general SEO. What is it that you feel is the most important thing that a construction company, and in our case, specifically narrowing to home builders, should be thinking about for SEO today?

Daniela Pedroza: If we only think SEO, so in terms of what they should be building on their site, right?

Greg Bray: Sure.

Daniela Pedroza: The landing pages. I think that hasn't changed a lot, so you want to make sure that you have landing pages that describe all of the services that you offer, all of the audiences that you offer to, and all of the locations that you offer in. [00:05:00] But you shouldn't just have a landing page that lists all of those services, but you should have landing page for each of those services.

And if you take it a step further, you should create a matrix that combines the service with the audience and the location, and then create landing pages for all of those. So, that would be, like, the ultimate step. But, yeah, I would start with making sure that you have the services, location, and audiences listed, and landing pages for each of those on your site.

Kevin Weitzel: So, let me get this straight. So, if I'm building a banana split, and I hate to go food on you, but I'm hungry. I haven't eaten breakfast, so. If I'm creating banana splits, I need to have a page that says, "Hey, we specialize in making some of the best banana splits out there." But then I should have another page that says, "We use only fresh bananas," and that our nuts come from Colombia and Honduras, and that our cherries are Bolivian and from Michigan. Should I have those types of pages, or is that too granular?

Daniela Pedroza: No. It's never too granular, but it should be [00:06:00] more about you have banana splits, but what do you offer with those banana splits? So do you have, I don't know, there's desserts, ice creams, and in those landing pages, you can explain that the nuts are from Colombia and all of that, but yeah.

Greg Bray: Now I'm hungry, Kevin.

Kevin Weitzel: I'm sorry, Greg. I rub off on people that way.

Greg Bray: So Daniela, SEO of course has been around for a long time, in internet years at least, it's been around for a long time. But now over the last little bit, this environment's changed dramatically in the last couple of years. What do you think is the biggest change that companies need to start paying attention to that they may not have quite grasped onto yet from this visibility standpoint?

Daniela Pedroza: This was true with SEO as well, but even more with AI, and it's not creating content that will not get you leads. So, for example, I think something very typical with SEO was [00:07:00] creating guides, because that will get you traffic and will get you ranked. But that information nowadays you could get straight from ChatGPT without having to go into anyone's website. And ChatGPT, what it will do is that it will steal your information, and it will just present it in another way on their own UI.

So, you shouldn't waste time creating that type of content that is more informational, because that won't get you mentioned, or it won't get you leads, you won't get found, which is our goal, right? What people need to focus on is on creating transactional content, so thinking of those prompts that people might ask AI when they're ready to hire. Those are the pillars that you should create content around.

Greg Bray: So, take that a little bit deeper for us. So, when you say transactional content, often construction, home buying, it's kind of a long buying cycle where there's a lot of research that goes into picking that partner because it's a big purchase. Can you give us a few more [00:08:00] examples of what would qualify as that transactional type content you're describing?

Daniela Pedroza: Yeah, of course. So, when it comes to the research that you described before I described the transactional prompt, that is more about research that you do about the company, right? And that is happening also offsite, but here you can control what AI will say about your company. So, in that case, you want to make sure that your About page is very good, that you're talking about all of your accomplishment, that you have an up-to-date portfolio, that you show case studies. So, when that research happens offsite, 'cause now it's happening more on ChatGPT, that you're asking like, "Hey, is this home builder good enough or not?" You make sure that that information is available to AI so it will talk highly about you.

But when I talk about transactional prompt is that first steps when people are asking AI you know, I'm looking to, I don't know, renovate my house. What home builder should I hire for this in [00:09:00] Miami? So this is someone that is looking for recommendations on who to hire.That is very transactional, and that is the list that you want to show up in, and that is the type of content that you want to create in order to show up in that list.

Greg Bray: Now, one thing I've seen some people talking a lot about are these, I've seen the term listicles and things where people are publishing best XYZ in area, right? They publish a list, and you kind of put it out there as a blog article on your own site that says, "Hey, here's the best, you know, home builders or the best remodelers in Miami," and you happen to list yourself at number one, and then you put a few others after that. Are you seeing that that type of content is moving the needle for your clients, or is that more of a game right now that people are kind of playing? What are your thoughts there?

Daniela Pedroza: Yes and no. I always say this is kind of like the cherry on the top. So, that is the step that you take once you have everything [00:10:00] else working for you. So, we do create those listicles, we call them comparison blogs, and there's a specific way that we create them. It's just listing a company. But if you don't have any of the other aspects that AI looks for, if you only create that type of content, it won't get you mentioned. It's not enough only to create, you know, a thousand comparison blogs where you say you're the best in all of these cities.

So, what do you need to have on top of that? You need, first, the landing pages that I talked about. I think that's the foundation of everything. You do need to have some authority with Google, so traditional SEO is still important. You don't need to be number one on Google to be mentioned number one on AI, but you want to be at least in the first 20 positions. Like, you do need to have some kind of authority.

You need to have also presence outside of your own domain. So, ideally, you would have, I don't know, three or four other websites that are not your own that are [00:11:00] also saying that you're a very good home builder or you're the best or there's another listicle out there that is saying these are the best home builders, and they're listing you first. That is called, you know, third-party validation. Reviews, also very important for AI.

So, all of that also needs to happen, and then that listicle is the cherry on the top that when AI is looking for that answer and you're giving that list and it looks at everything else is working, then it will recommend you first. So, it does work, but it's not only about creating comparison blogs and that's it.

Greg Bray: Do you have any suggestions or tips about how someone goes about getting that type of content on a third-party site? Is that just something you email them and say, "Hey, could you mention me on your site?" Do you guys do some of that type of outreach? How does that work for you?

Daniela Pedroza: Yeah, that's a very good question. That is one way you can do outreach. Obviously, it's very time-consuming, but sometimes it works, and it has worked for us. And then you get, you know, [00:12:00] placed on a few websites. The other way that is not ideal, but it's also a strategy, is to do paid guests blogs. So, there's a few websites that accept paid placements of content, and you can always reach out.

You do want to do some due diligence before, like make sure it has authority with Google, that it has a high domain rating, that it's not like a spammy website. What we do is that we have our own network of companies, and then we kind of like do an exchange where we publish about the companies, and that way we're able to increase that third-party validation faster and in a way that we can control.

Kevin Weitzel: A home builder could literally have all their trades, just have a meeting with all their trades and say, "Hey, let's all cross-pollinate on each other's websites. Let's all mention each other on our blogs," and literally all elevate each other just by nepotism.

Daniela Pedroza: No, because if [00:13:00] you do also the reciprocal, so I publish something for you and you publish something for me, that won't work, because AI is smart enough that it will catch that eventually. If you do that, it needs to be in a very smart, sophisticated way, and you need to have enough partners that it won't be you do me and I do you, but it needs to be like a whole network.

Also, if you have to publish stuff that it's true. So, like, it's not only you're the best, you're the best, and that's it, but it needs to have some facts that come with it. So, how we create the listicles, for example, is that we choose the categories that make the client stand out, so that way we compare them through that filter, you're naturally the best.

So, as an example for Siana, we specialize only in construction. So, when we compare Siana against a company that is a generalist SEO or GEO agency, we're gonna be the best naturally, right? If we talk about, I don't know, if we're based in [00:14:00] Miami and we're comparing with another agency that's not based in Miami, then we're going to be the best. So, you just have to choose the categories that make the client stand out, and you always have to talk facts. Everything that you write then needs to be also proven on the site as well, through case studies, through reviews, through third-party validation awards, et cetera.

Greg Bray: On the review front, do you recommend like Google Business Profile to collect the reviews, or is there a different platform that you think is a good place for AI to find your reviews?

Daniela Pedroza: Yeah. I would recommend Google Business Profile. That is still really the most important one. We do recommend you having some type of presence in the other ones, so Yelp, Houzz. You just want to show up there. But getting reviews can be tedious sometimes, so my recommendation would be to focus on one platform and just gather all of them in one, and that would be Google Business Profile.

Greg Bray: You know, Kevin, I don't know if you've noticed this, [00:15:00] but Daniela said a couple of times that it takes a lot of work to do these things.

Kevin Weitzel: Yeah. She did.

Greg Bray: I think that's one of my big takeaways. This is not a five-minute process, is it, Daniela?

Daniela Pedroza: No, it's not. What I said before, like it's putting a lot of things together because I sometimes show we do those listicles for ourselves, and people are like, "Oh, well, I can do that with AI in a second, and I don't need you anymore." But it's so much more than that. You need to have so many aspects that you need to put together a whole strategy, and then everything else kind of comes together, and then the listicle is the cherry on the top. But, yeah, it is a lot of work.

Greg Bray: So, one of the things that we love in the SEO world, of course, is we can measure rankings, right? Oh, I moved up. I used to be number 20, and now I'm number 10, and I did something right. Everybody claps and we're happy. With AI, that's a little harder. What are some of the things that you do to try to measure progress as you're working on these types of programs?

Daniela Pedroza: [00:16:00] Yeah. That's a good question. So, there's a few AI visibility trackers that can help you get a sense of what visibility you have. If you don't want to invest in any of those, what we do as well is just create a Google Sheet, and then you have those 20 prompts that you want to target, and then a column would be a date that you track those prompts.

So, what you want to do is that you want to go into ChatGPT or the AI that you want to get mentioned, and set aside time once a week where you run that prompt, and you can take a look if you're showing up or not. And then every week you do that, and then you can track progress that way. You want to make sure that you're incognito modus, hopefully, because that will give you the most neutral answer. And other ways to track also progress is just through the traditional methods. So, Google Analytics, Google Search Console also gives you a little bit of a hint if, you know, traffic is going up or not.

Something we like to look [00:17:00] at is direct traffic, 'cause a lot of the times people find you through AI, but they don't click on the link that is on ChatGPT. They will Google then your name and click directly on that. So, as a result of AI traffic, you will see the direct searches go up. Obviously, AI and Google Analytics has now, like, an AI referral metric attached to it as well that you could use as a reference. But again, that's not really the source of truth, because a lot of people don't really click directly on AI. So, direct searches is another way to, to track progress.

Greg Bray: Well, if there was somebody listening today who's like, "You know what? I haven't really started doing these things yet, I need to start paying attention to it," what are some places you would recommend they start? What's kind of step one?

Daniela Pedroza: The very first step would be to make sure that you have presence in all of those third-party directories that you can just go and create an account in. So, Yelp, Google Business Profile, Houzz. So, you want to make sure that you [00:18:00] have all accounts there. If you don't have a lot of time to invest in marketing, my recommendation would just be focus on reviews, because if one day you want to do the GEO, you already have that review number in a good spot, it would be a lot easier to catch up.

If you do have a little bit more time to spend on your website, I would recommend then looking at those landing pages that we talked about at the beginning, and also taking a look at your About and your Case Studies page. And hopefully when you write them down, you try to write as much data as you can, so when you talk results, you don't say, like, "Oh, this house was pretty," but, like, I don't know, what was the investment that was in, how happy were the clients. Like, really try to put it in facts, because that's something AI really likes, when it can be very objective about it.

And then I guess the next step after that would be the third-party validation part, which is, I know, the most time-consuming one, so that would be really if you're looking [00:19:00] to invest even more time on AI visibility.

Greg Bray: Yeah, one thing I'm learning is every time you start down one of these little paths, it keeps growing and growing. It's like, "Oh, I just want to do this," and it just keeps getting more and more. There's a lot. Well, Daniela, we really appreciate you spending time with us today. Do you have any last thoughts or words of advice you'd like to leave with our audience before we finish?

Daniela Pedroza: Yeah, I think don't sleep on reviews. I see that happen a lot. It's tedious, but it doesn't take that much time, and it will help you a lot when it comes to your business. So, don't forget about those.

Greg Bray: Well, if somebody wants to connect with you and learn more, what's the best way for them to get in touch?

Daniela Pedroza: Yeah, of course. They can take a look at our site, so it's sianamarketing.com. That's S-I-A-N-A. Or they can email me, that's daniela@sianamarketing.com.

Greg Bray: Well, thank you for your time today, and thank you everybody for listening to the Builder Marketing Podcast. I'm Greg Bray with Blue Tangerine.

Kevin Weitzel: And I'm Kevin Weitzel with OutHouse. Thank [00:20:00] you.