Hello Lunch Break. My little pond out back is almost dry. I love the sun but the birds look thirsty. Thank goodness my neighbors are running their sprinklers 24/7 right now after their sod installation. Birds flock to it.
Quenching my thirst with the bonus of caffeine for the break today. Nothing says almost Friday like a lunchtime coffee and a walk.
What’s your lunchie today? Reply back.
Alright. Clock's ticking. Back to work.
The yummiest caffeine @ Hidden Grounds
THE GAME CHANGED
Have You Skipped A Visit?
Be honest. Have you asked ChatGPT about a medical issue? Uploaded a picture and asked for advice? I know I have. The data says you have too. 59% of us are asking AI about our symptoms before the appointment. 56% go home and fact-check the doctor. And 14 million are skipping the appointment entirely because of what AI told them.
If you own a practice, here’s the question. Are you the trusted source AI points to before the visit? Are you the one your patient fact-checks against after?
The health space has always sold trust. The medium just changed. What's true in healthcare is about to be true in every category. If your business sells on trust, take note.
THE WINDOW IS NOW
It’s Hot in Here
No one calls an HVAC company for fun. When the AC goes, speed matters. Michael & Son owns traditional search. But nobody owns this yet. When someone's AC quits at 10pm, AI hands them five names. The company that spent a decade winning Google isn't one of them.
Source: Google Search
Now ask ChatGPT the way your customer actually asks.
Source: ChatGPT, April 2026
Five names. No Michael & Son.
If you own an HVAC company, a plumbing company, a roofing company, or any service where people search at 10pm because something is broken, this is your window.
YOUR COMPETITORS ARE ASLEEP
What’s Right? What’s Wrong? What’s Missing?
While you were in your Tuesday staff meeting, three of your customers asked ChatGPT about your business. You don't know what it told them. AI pulls from a wider and weirder set of sources than Google does, and the picture it builds can be outdated, generic, or just wrong.
Here is an audit any business owner can run in 30 minutes. Call it Prompt Your Business.
Open three tools in three tabs: ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. Then run five prompts in each. Not your brand language. The actual sentences a customer would type at 10 p.m. from their couch.
Who are the best [what you do] in [your city]?
Is [your business name] good at [your top service]?
What do people say about [your business name]?
What should I expect working with [your business name]?
How does [your business name] compare to [a competitor]?
Keep a running note. Three columns. What's right? What's wrong? What's missing?
You will find three patterns.
AI will say something generic that could describe any business in your category.
AI will cite a source you forgot exists, maybe an old directory listing or a press mention from three years ago.
AI will get a small detail wrong in a way a customer wouldn't catch but that matters for trust.
That note is your brief. For the content, directory listings, and citations AI is actually reading.This 30 minutes is the diagnosis. The fix is the next 30 days. If you'd rather we run it for you, work with us.
WHAT’S THE PROMPT
Are You Recommended?
If you didn't make the list, or you did but you're ranked behind competitors you know you've outworked, the reason isn't random.
CITED
RIP Marlboro Man
AI says: Hidden Grounds
Hidden Grounds opened in late 2023 and already owns the Wilmington coffee conversation. Ask ChatGPT or Claude where to grab coffee in town and this is the top pick. AI says expect a line but that it moves. It says locals rave. Both true.
This past week Hidden Grounds lost Franky, the real Marlboro Man behind the shop's tobacco cowboy aesthetic. Thirty years at Marlboro, the inspiration for the whole vibe, the voice behind every decision: "shit yeah, we got this."
Order the Marlboro Man. AI would confirm what Franky already knew. They got this.
- Anna
THE POLL
