TLDR: AI search platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot are already sending traffic to hot tub dealer websites, and that share is only going to grow. Microsoft Clarity and Bing Webmaster Tools are two free tools that show you exactly how your site shows up in AI search, what queries are driving that visibility, and what content you should be creating next. Most dealers haven’t set these up yet, which means they are losing months of valuable data. Install both today, then review the reports every four to six weeks to keep refining your content.
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Why Hot Tub Dealers Can’t Ignore AI Search Any Longer
If you’re a hot tub or above ground pool dealer looking for a new way to build brand awareness and drive more traffic, phone calls, and walk ins, you can no longer afford to ignore AI search optimization, also known as AEO and GEO.
Right now, most dealers we work with are generating somewhere between five and seven percent of their total website traffic from an AI platform. That includes ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Copilot. Five to seven percent might not sound like much today, but this number is climbing fast. As more shoppers turn to AI tools to research big purchases like hot tubs, the dealers who show up in those conversations are going to capture demand that their competitors never even see coming.
The dealers who start optimizing now will have a massive head start once AI search becomes a mainstream research habit for home and backyard purchases.
The Two Free Tools Every Dealer Should Be Using
There are a lot of ways to optimize a website for AI search, including category pages, product pages, and blog content. But before you can optimize anything, you need to understand how your site is currently performing. Two free tools, both from Microsoft, give you that visibility better than almost anything else available today.
The first is Microsoft Clarity, which is the more powerful of the two for understanding how your site shows up in AI search. The second is Bing Webmaster Tools. Keep in mind that this data comes specifically from Microsoft properties, including Copilot and its partners, but the insights you gain apply to how you should think about optimization across every AI platform.
As Karen Martinez, our Head of SEO, puts it:
“The tools that Microsoft are rolling out for AEO and GEO insights are amazing and sadly, most hot tub dealers we onboard don’t have them setup, which is months of lost data. Get Microsoft Clarity and Bing Webmaster tools setup today. It only takes a few minutes and then schedule time each month to dig into the data and make optimizations.”
Three Reports That Reveal How You Show Up in AI Search
Inside Microsoft Clarity, there are three specific reports worth your attention.
AI Visibility Report. This report shows how many citations your site is earning across AI platforms and your share of authority compared to other domains in your industry. It also shows referral traffic and something called grounding queries, which are the exact phrases people used that led an AI platform to pull content from your website.
Grounding queries can include both branded and non branded searches. When dealers first start digging into this data, they often see familiar short keywords they already target in Google, things like hot tub or hot tubs. But over time, a different pattern emerges. AI search queries tend to be much longer and more conversational, often six, seven, or even fifteen words long. Instead of a short keyword, someone might type something like, what are the best hot tub dealers that sell Caldera Spas in Victorville, California.
That level of specificity is a gift. Once you see the actual grounding queries driving traffic to your site, you can compare them against your existing content and find the gaps. If your content doesn’t match what people are actually asking, you can expand and refine it so it becomes more relevant and authoritative, which helps you show up for even more of these queries. This is something worth reviewing every four to six weeks, which is exactly the cadence we use for our own clients.
Bot Activity Report. This one is straightforward. It shows what percentage of your traffic is coming from each AI platform, such as ChatGPT or Gemini, so you can see which platforms are actually sending you visitors.
Topic Insights. This report is currently in beta, and it might be the most useful of the three. It analyzes your website’s query grounding data and surfaces the actual blog topics you should be writing about, often organized into a handful of clear buckets. You can take those topics straight into an AI tool like Claude or ChatGPT to build a content outline. Just don’t have the AI write the finished post for you. That leads to thin, generic content that ends up duplicated across the internet. Instead, feed the AI your topic and the specific grounding queries tied to it, ask for a strong outline, and then have your agency or in house writer turn that outline into a real, well written piece for your dealership.
Make This a Monthly Habit
Setting these tools up is only step one. The dealers who win with AI search are the ones who treat this like an ongoing process, not a one time project. Every month, revisit your grounding queries, refine your existing content, and keep improving each piece over time.
If you haven’t installed Microsoft Clarity yet, that is the very first thing to do today. It’s free and takes less than three minutes to set up, regardless of whether your site runs on WordPress, Shopify, BigCommerce, or something else. We have dealers successfully running it on all of these platforms.
Once it’s installed, start pulling data and digging into these reports regularly. Over time, you’ll build a broader footprint, more brand awareness, and a steady stream of new traffic. As demand for AI search continues to grow, you’ll already be front and center instead of scrambling to catch up.
Ready to Get Ahead of AI Search?
If you want a clear picture of where your gaps and opportunities are, we’ll run a full AEO and GEO audit and build you a custom plan. Claim Your Free Marketing Plan today and let’s get your dealership showing up where your customers are already searching.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of traffic are hot tub dealers actually getting from AI search right now?
Most dealers we work with see between five and seven percent of total website traffic coming from AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Copilot, and that percentage is growing.
What is a grounding query?
A grounding query is the actual phrase someone typed into an AI platform that led it to pull content from your website. These are often longer and more conversational than typical Google search keywords.
Should I let AI tools write my blog content for me?
No. AI tools are excellent for building content outlines based on grounding query data, but having them write the finished piece typically leads to low quality, generic content that gets duplicated across the internet.
How often should I be checking these reports?
We recommend reviewing your AI visibility and grounding query data every four to six weeks so you can continue refining and expanding your content.
Is Microsoft Clarity hard to set up?
Not at all. It’s free and takes less than three minutes to install, and it works regardless of whether your site is built on WordPress, Shopify, BigCommerce, or another platform.
Greg is the founder and CEO of Stryde and a seasoned digital marketer who has worked with thousands of businesses, large and small, to generate more revenue via online marketing strategy and execution. Greg has written hundreds of blog posts as well as spoken at many events about online marketing strategy. You can follow Greg on Twitter and connect with him on LinkedIn.
