What does a wrong-service recommendation mean?
It means a generated answer told someone you provide a job you do not sell.
Typical pattern: a general dentist recommended for oral surgery, or a gardener listed for tree felling. The model retrieved a broad category or an old service paragraph.
Is this the same as the wrong kind of leads?
No. Wrong leads are people who already enquired for work that does not fit.
Diagnose those calls on why Local SEO is bringing the wrong leads. This page is the recommendation before the phone rings.
Could the profile category be the source?
Yes, if the primary or additional category describes a business you are not.
Choose categories that complete “this business is a,” not “this business has a.” See how to choose Google Business Profile categories. Directory taxonomies are why directories list the company in the wrong category.
Prompt
What service did the answer recommend? Save the query. “Emergency locksmith” is a different job from “key cutting.”Offer
Is that work on the real menu? If the shop does not do it, the public description is wrong — or the model guessed from a neighbour category.Source
Where is that service still published? Profile categories, service lists, directories and leftover pages all get retrieved.Yes
Unqualified calls are a different diagnosis Use the wrong-leads guide when people phone for work you never advertised.Next
Correct the offer; do not add a fake service URL People-first pages describe what you actually provide.
Where should you look on the site?
Service pages, the homepage offer list, schema and leftover blog posts that still describe the retired job.
Google’s helpful-content guidance is to write for people and to be accurate. Source: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content. If a discontinued URL still ranks, that is what to do when an old service page still ranks.
What should you change?
The public offer: categories, service lists and any page that still books the work you dropped.
Do not add a thin “we also do X” URL to satisfy a prompt. Google’s generative-feature help is ordinary SEO and an accurate Business Profile, not extra AI schema. Source: Optimizing for generative AI features.
Service-recommendation table
| What you see | What it usually means | Decision | What not to assume |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI recommends a retired treatment | A leftover service URL is still retrieved | Update or retire that URL honestly | That you must keep the page for AI |
| Category is broader than the shop | Profile or directory taxonomy | Narrow to a true primary category | That extra categories “capture” AI |
| People already phone for that work | Lead-quality problem | Use the wrong-leads guide | That this page replaces call tracking |
| One chat invented a service from a neighbour | Entity mix | Use the mixed-entities guide | That you should copy the competitor’s offer |
What should I not do?
Action checklist
- Save the prompt and the recommended service.
- Compare it with the real booking menu.
- Correct categories, service lists and leftover URLs.
- If the problem is already incoming calls, switch guides.
- If two businesses were blended, switch guides.
- Do not invent work you will not honour.
When professional help makes sense
Help is useful when categories, franchise templates and old service URLs disagree. It cannot stop every chat product inventing a service, and it cannot promise AI recommendations for the work you do offer.
Sources and further reading
- Google Search Central: Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search
- Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
- Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business on Google
AI still recommending services you do not provide?
Otepsphere can align categories and service pages with the real offer — without publishing pages for the model.
Contact OtepsphereWho writes this
This page is published by Otepsphere, a specialist Local SEO consultancy. A named founder biography, photograph and professional profiles will be added here only when they have been verified. Until then, treat Otepsphere as the responsible organisation rather than a fictional expert.