As it often goes with emerging tech, gaps exist between new capabilities, user behavior, and SMB adoption. The AI adoption gap that exists between those last two elements is where opportunity lies for SMB SaaS players. And this historical trend is evident with the emergence of AI, according to a new report from Scorpion.
Entitled 2026 State of Home Services Marketing Report, the study surveys ~2,000 homeowners and ~1,000 home services companies. And one of the biggest takeaways from surveying both is the degree to which they’re disconnected from each other, especially when it comes to new tech adoption.
For example, 83 percent of homeowners start their local searches online, and 22 percent use AI tools like ChatGPT to research or book services with home services providers. But 55 percent of SMBs struggle to differentiate themselves from competitors, and 80 percent are unsure how to appear in AI search results.
One answer, according to Scorpion CRO Jamie Adams, is reputation management. Since users on AI engines often try to find the best of something – reflected in “what is the best x” query phrasing – businesses that have good reputation management, reviews, and other signals are well-positioned.
Accordingly, Scorpion has revved up its processes for cultivating reviews for the SMBs it works with. That includes stimulating reviews from SMBs’ customers by taking every opportunity to remind them to write one. With this and other measures, it’s all about jumpstarting brand reputation, Adams told us.
Mind the Gap
Going deeper into Scorpion’s report findings, we’ve plucked out the top data points to save time for Localogy Insider readers. We’ve listed consumer responses, followed immediately by the corresponding SMB sentiment. Here they are in no particular order.
- 83 percent of homeowners start their local searches online, and 22 percent use AI tools like ChatGPT and Google AI Mode to research or book services with home services providers.
- 55 percent of business leaders struggle to differentiate themselves from competitors, and 80 percent are unsure how to appear in AI-driven search results.
- Trust and convenience are big factors for consumers when researching new home services providers. 87 percent won’t hire a business rated below 4 stars.
- On the SMB end, 67 percent say that they struggle to stay on top of reviews, including collecting and responding to them.
- 56 percent of homeowners want 24/7 scheduling or a way to communicate after hours.
- On the SMB end, 66 percent report that offering after-hours customer service is their top challenge.
- There’s a gap in tracking marketing performance too. 67 percent of home-services SMBs can’t connect marketing spend directly to revenue, while 78 percent use two or more marketing vendors… making it more difficult to track efforts.
Full Circle
Coming full circle, the consumer/SMB AI adoption gap is a familiar. We saw in past tech cycles, such as the emergence of smartphones. But with the current AI cycle, things are moving at an even faster pace, due to the technology’s acceleration. This means that the gap is widening with greater velocity.
Why is AI faster than past tech cycles? For one, the smartphone revolution was naturally gated by the physical replacement cycle of devices, which takes much longer than the ‘bits versus atoms” adoption of online tools like ChatGPT. There’s also a land grab underway, which ratchets up innovation levels.
That speed puts SMBs at a disadvantage because time pressure is forced on their learning curves. And as always, they’re time starved. All that is further exacerbated by difficulty levels. For example, the art of AI SEO is a moving target and has proved so far to be quite challenging, as we’ve examined lately.
But the good news is that AI can work in their favor. Take the above sentiment about meeting consumer expectations for after-hours customer support. AI-based lead intake and response tools – including those offered by Scorpion – can automate an initial response, where the name of the game is speed.
The bottom line is that the quickly widening gap between consumer behavior and SMB adoption represents an opportunity for SMB SaaS players that can move at the speed of AI. That’s where Scorpion lives – advantaged by a high-touch agency model – guiding SMBs by the hand into the AI era.
Join us in Houston to hear Scorpion’s Kirby Oscar talk about all the above on stage at Localogy’s L26 summit.
