How Architects Get More Clients from Google and ChatGPT | How-to Guide

How architecture practices win clients from search: project-type pages, planning and permit guidance, fee approaches, protected title rules, RIBA, AIA and Houzz directories, and schema.

Most homeowners hire an architect once in their lives. They start by searching the project, not the profession: "rear extension ideas", "do I need planning permission for a loft conversion", "cost to build a passive house". Practices that answer those early questions well are the ones people trust with the drawings.

1. Organise by project type

Extensions, loft conversions, new builds, listed or historic buildings, barn conversions, commercial fit-outs. Give each a page with completed examples, typical stages and what the client needs to decide at each one. A portfolio grid alone tells a visitor what you like, not what you can do for them.

2. Explain planning and permits locally

Permitted development, conservation areas and building regulations in the UK; zoning, variances and permit review in US cities. Write what you have learned from your own local authority. That knowledge is hard to copy and exactly what searchers need.

3. Be open about fees

Architects charge as a percentage of build cost, a fixed fee per stage, or hourly. Explain which you use and what each RIBA Plan of Work stage or AIA design phase includes. You do not need to publish numbers to make the structure clear.

4. Respect the protected title

"Architect" is a protected title in the UK (ARB registration) and in US states (licensure). Only registered people should use it on the site, and designers on the team should be described accurately. Show registration numbers; clients and journalists check.

5. Directories and press

  • RIBA's Find an Architect and the AIA's directories.
  • Houzz, where homeowners browse projects and read reviews.
  • Coverage in design publications and local awards, linked from your project pages.

6. Project pages that do more than show

For each project, write the brief, the constraint that shaped the design, the budget band and the outcome. Credit photographers. Captions with real words help both Google Images and AI tools understand what the project was.

7. Schema

Use ProfessionalService with address and service area, and Person entries for registered architects.

Help clients set a realistic budget

Many projects stall because the budget and the brief do not match. Explain what drives build cost in your area: structural work, glazing, site access, specification level, and the professional fees beyond yours (structural engineer, party wall surveyor, building control). Use ranges from your own completed projects and say how old they are. Prospects who arrive with a realistic number are easier to help, and this page attracts the serious ones early in their research.

What AI assistants need

"An architect in Bath experienced with listed Georgian houses" is a question people ask assistants. Your site answers it only if the project pages say "listed", "Georgian" and "Bath" in plain text, not just in photos.

Practices on We.Inc can let SEO God Mode propose one homeowner question a week, such as what happens at a planning pre-application, based on the project types already on their site, and approve each draft by email.

Frequently asked questions

Can anyone call themselves an architect on their website?

No. In the UK only ARB-registered people may use the title, and in the US you should check your state board's title rules.

Should architects publish fees?

At least explain the fee model (percentage, fixed per stage or hourly) and what each stage includes, so clients can compare.

Which directories help architects get found?

RIBA Find an Architect, AIA directories and Houzz, alongside a complete Google Business Profile.

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