Homeowners are pasting your bids into ChatGPT.
These are my stories and my fixes. An AI writes them up, and I check every fact and link before a post goes up.
A Maine HVAC contractor came in thousands above the lowest of four bids and got the job anyway. The homeowner told him why: "AI determined his system design was by far the best of the four." ACCA wrote it up in July (opens another site). The homeowner had handed all four bids to an AI and asked which was best.
Owners in the local groups already compare notes on which AI assistant they use, so I'd assume their customers are using one too. That gives your bid two readers: the homeowner, and whatever AI the homeowner pastes it into. The AI has no idea who you are or how your last job went; it judges what's on the page. ACCA says it notices a design process, a load calculation and a commissioning step, and warns against sending a bid that's just a vague list of equipment and a price.
Most of the fix is writing, and one old bid is enough to start with.
Show the work behind the price
Write down what you're going to do and why, in plain words, so the homeowner and the AI they paste it into can both see what the number buys. Leave the number alone.
What every bid should show
- The design work behind it. For HVAC, the load calculation.
- What's included, and what isn't.
- Who does the work: you, your crew, or a sub.
- The warranty in plain words: what's covered, for how long.
- How you'll check it works before you leave.
The AI reads the bid, and you still make the case at the kitchen table.
How to rebuild your bid
This takes one old bid and whatever AI you already use.
Start with an old bid
Pick a bid you sent recently, take out the customer's name and address, paste it into ChatGPT or whatever you use, and ask what a homeowner should worry about in it.
Add what it flagged
Most of what it flags will be from the list above: no load calculation, nothing on who's doing the work. Add those in plain words. It will suggest padding and get some things wrong; you decide what goes in.
Make it your template
Save the better version as the bid every job starts from, for anyone on your crew who writes one. Leave blanks for the design numbers, the scope, who's on it, the warranty, the final test.
Keep the price yours
Use the AI on the scope and keep it away from the number. It hasn't seen the attic and doesn't know what your crew costs you by the hour, so its number would be a guess.
If you'd rather not rebuild your bids yourself, I'll work through one with you and set up a template for everyone on your crew who writes them.
