How does an AI assistant decide which plumber or HVAC company to recommend? In this episode of E-Coffee with Experts, Michael Barber talks with Dmitrii Kustov, Marketing Director, Founder at Regex SEO, an agency focused on HVAC and home services.

Dmitrii started out as a PHP developer, and he still treats marketing as a math problem: know the result you need, then reverse engineer the formula. He explains why packaged agency plans fail business owners, and why home service companies now need to show up across local service ads, the map pack, PPC and AI overviews instead of relying on organic results alone.

On AI search, Dmitrii breaks down two kinds of queries. Lists of top local plumbers lean on map pack reviews and ratings. More specific questions lean on what he calls internet consensus, meaning what people say about you on Reddit, Quora, review sites and forums. He shares a simple test: ask ChatGPT what your business is known for while excluding your own website.

You'll also hear why a clear brand promise, such as specializing in one equipment brand, can make the same ad budget work much harder. He closes with practical advice for this week: track leads, jobs and revenue by channel and campaign, because most owners he talks to can't see what their marketing actually brings in.

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In this episode, we discuss:

00:00 - 01:08: Introduction

01:08 - 02:13: From PHP developer to data-driven SEO

02:13 - 03:55: Why packaged SEO plans fail business owners

03:55 - 07:27: Scaling an agency by hiring next-level talent

07:27 - 11:06: Remote culture built around giving time back

11:06 - 12:48: Home services visibility as organic clicks shrink

12:48 - 17:15: How AI picks which local business to recommend

17:15 - 20:26: Finding a home service brand's real promise

20:26 - 23:38: The math behind a narrow brand message

23:38 - 28:07: Where local search is headed with AI

28:07 - 32:31: What's next for RGX and one change to make this week

32:31 - 36:12: Wrap-up

 Connect with Dmitrii Kustov

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/digitalspaceman

 https://www.regexseo.com/

 FOLLOW US

Website: https://www.digitalwebsolutions.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digiwebsol

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dws_global

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-web-solutions./