Contents
As of October 2026. Measured on 13 October 2026.
For bathrooms and kitchens, your own website wins. We asked ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Google AI Mode eight typical questions about bathroom renovation and kitchen fitting in Zurich: 32 answers, 199 mentions, 100 different firms. Two thirds of the cited sources were the businesses' own websites, more than in the other industries in our October measurement. City pages such as "Badsanierung Zürich" were read particularly often. The five most-named firms get only 21 percent of mentions. The field is open.
"Badezimmer renovieren" is searched around 480 times a month in Switzerland, "Küchenbau Zürich" and "Küche renovieren" 210 times each. Few searches, but expensive ones: Google Ads estimates around USD 19 per ad click for "Badsanierung Zürich" and around USD 14 for "Badumbau Zürich". No wonder, since according to the AI answers themselves a complete bathroom renovation quickly costs CHF 20,000 to 60,000. Many homeowners now ask an AI first whom to call, and then request quotes from the businesses it names.
For this article we put eight questions to four assistants on 13 October 2026, ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini with web search and location Zurich, Google AI Mode with location canton of Zurich:
- "Welche Firma in Zürich kannst du für eine Badsanierung empfehlen?"
- "Küchenbauer in Zürich: Wer ist empfehlenswert?"
- "Ich will mein Bad in einem Altbau in Zürich komplett renovieren. Welche Anbieter kommen infrage und was kostet das ungefähr?"
- "beste badsanierung firma zürich"
- "Neue Küche in Zürich: Welche Küchenbauer oder Schreinereien sind gut?"
- "Nenne mir 5 gute Firmen für einen Badumbau im Kanton Zürich und was für sie spricht."
- "Ich suche einen Generalunternehmer für Küchen- und Badrenovation in Zürich. Wen empfiehlst du?"
- "Badsanierung Winterthur Empfehlung"
Who gets named: a hundred businesses, hardly any dominance
No answer refused to make a recommendation. Claude and Gemini named eight to nine firms per answer, Google AI Mode four, ChatGPT three. Of the 199 mentions, 115 went to local businesses, 32 to chains and national brands, and 26 each to general contractors and to showrooms and specialist retailers.
| Business | Answers (of 32) | Named by |
|---|---|---|
| Sanitas Troesch | 13 | all four assistants |
| Viterma | 11 | all four |
| HT Haustechnik | 7 | three |
| Rutz Sanitär & Heizung | 6 | three |
| Nolte Zürich | 5 | three |
| Storrer Gebäudetechnik | 5 | three |
| MSH Bauunternehmen | 5 | three |
| HMA Interior | 5 | three |
The five most-named firms account for only 21 percent of all mentions, and 62 of the 100 businesses appeared exactly once. By comparison, among estate agents five firms take 44 percent. For a local plumber, a joiner or a kitchen studio this means the spots in the answers have not been allocated. Whoever answers the question best gets named.
What the AI wants to hear: planning, reviews, everything from one source
The most frequent reasons given were planning and design (56 times), reviews (52), "everything from one source" (49), experience (32), showroom or exhibition (32), fixed price and quote (26) and punctuality (24). Price itself came up only 11 times, experience with older buildings 8 times, warranty 7 times.
Almost every answer also gives homeowners advice: 26 of 32 recommend getting several quotes, 19 mention a fixed price, firm price or cost cap, and 21 the coordination of all trades from one source. These are exactly the terms that should appear on a business's website, as concrete statements: "We coordinate plumbing, tiling, electrics and painting and guarantee a cost cap" is citable, "Your partner for bathrooms and kitchens" is not.
Where the AI gets its recommendations
67 percent of the cited pages are business websites, 24 percent portals and Google Maps, 6 percent lists and rankings, 3 percent associations and forums. Among estate agents, lists made up 21 percent of sources; here they hardly play a role.
What stands out is which pages of the businesses get read: city pages. 39 of the 128 cited company pages had a city or region in the address, such as "badsanierung-zuerich", "badezimmer-winterthur" or "badsanierung-zuerich-oberland". Only 26 were home pages. The most-cited single page was the "Badsanierung Zürich" page of a plumbing business, cited in 6 answers. For the question about Winterthur, all four assistants named businesses that have their own Winterthur page.
That is a clear brief: one page per service and region, with the place name in the title and in the text, with references from that region. The assistants search with the words homeowners use, and they say "Badsanierung Winterthur", not "plumbing services".
Among portals, daibau.ch, search.ch and local.ch were cited most often, along with Houzz, aroundhome and Comparis. Quote portals such as renovero and ofri were rarely mentioned, in 3 and 1 of 32 answers respectively.
What the AI says about costs
7 of the 32 answers give concrete costs, mainly for the question about the older-building bathroom. The ranges: around CHF 8,000 to 18,000 for a partial renovation, CHF 20,000 to 40,000 for a standard full renovation, CHF 30,000 to 60,000 and more for a completely rebuilt bathroom in an older building, plus a reserve of 10 to 20 percent for surprises behind the tiles. Some answers calculate with prices per square metre.
Some of these figures come from the websites of businesses that publish cost examples. Whoever has an honest page "Was kostet eine Badsanierung in Zürich?" with examples from their own projects gets cited on the cost question, and their name with it.
Google AI Mode and ChatGPT Ads
Google AI Mode relied on Google Maps data for 5 of 8 questions. The suggested businesses had a median of 4.8 stars but only 20 reviews, one of them just a single review. You do not need many reviews here, but you do need a complete profile with the right category ("Badsanierung", "Küchenstudio", "Sanitärinstallateur"), photos of reference projects and honest reviews. How Google AI Mode chooses across all industries is shown in our measurement with 100 questions.
Unlike clinics or lawyers, tradespeople are allowed to advertise in ChatGPT: local services are one of the permitted categories, and ads can be targeted to cities and postcodes, from CHF 20 per day. How it works is covered in ChatGPT Ads in Switzerland. Whoever is named organically and also advertises occupies both spots.
How do I get ChatGPT and Google to recommend my business?
- One page per service and region. "Badsanierung Zürich", "Badsanierung Winterthur", "Küchenbau Zürich", "Küchenrenovation Zürichsee". With place names in the title, in the text and in the references.
- Reference projects with location and scope. "Older-building bathroom in Zurich-Wipkingen, 6 m², pipe replacement, 4 weeks" tells the assistant more than an image gallery without text.
- Process, fixed price, cost cap. Explain how the quote, planning and construction time work and what you guarantee. These are the terms the AI uses to justify its picks.
- An honest cost page. "Was kostet eine Badsanierung in Zürich?" with ranges and examples from your own projects.
- Mention showroom and consultation. Address, opening hours, appointment booking. A showroom or exhibition came up in 19 of 32 answers.
- A complete Google Business Profile. Category, services, project photos, reviews after every job.
- Name your associations. Memberships of suissetec, of the joiners' association VSSM, of Küche Schweiz or of the tile association CERUNIQ, as text on the website.
Templates you can copy
The following templates put the data into practice. Replace the placeholders in square brackets with your own details.
Page "What does a bathroom renovation cost in Zurich?"
Page title: Was kostet eine Badsanierung in Zürich? Preise aus echten Projekten | [Firm]
URL: /badsanierung-kosten-zuerich
H1 What does a bathroom renovation cost in Zurich?
Short answer in the first sentence with your own ranges. As of: [month year].
H2 Cost ranges by scope table, see below
H2 What drives the price size, pipes, older building, materials,
tile format
H2 Three examples from our projects place, m², scope, duration, cost
H2 Fixed price, cost cap or time and what you guarantee
materials
H2 Process and duration site visit, quote, planning, works
H2 Frequently asked questions reserve, rented flat, permit
Write the page in German for your Zurich customers; the English outline is only here for readability.
The cost table, with your own numbers:
| Scope | Typical cost with us | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Partial renovation (e.g. shower, basin, tiles) | CHF [x] to [x] | [x] weeks |
| Standard full renovation | CHF [x] to [x] | [x] weeks |
| Full renovation in an older building with new pipes | CHF [x] to [x] | [x] weeks |
A reference project as text
Older-building bathroom in Zurich-[district], [x] m²
Scope: new pipes, walk-in shower, new tiles, ventilation
Trades: plumbing, tiling, electrics, painting, coordinated by us
Duration: [x] weeks, cost cap met
Cost: CHF [x] (if the client agrees, or as a range)
Structured data for a bathroom or kitchen firm
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "HomeAndConstructionBusiness",
"name": "[Firm]",
"url": "https://[your-domain].ch",
"telephone": "+41 [number]",
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"streetAddress": "[street no.]",
"postalCode": "[postcode]",
"addressLocality": "[town]",
"addressCountry": "CH"
},
"areaServed": ["Zürich", "[municipality]", "[municipality]"],
"makesOffer": [
{ "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "@type": "Service", "name": "Badsanierung" } },
{ "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "@type": "Service", "name": "Küchenbau" } }
],
"sameAs": ["[Google Business Profile link]"]
}
Every detail must match the visible text.
Checklist: 10 points for your business's website
And an eleventh point: measure it. Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode the same five questions every month, with your city and your services, and note who gets named. How to do that is explained in measuring AI visibility.
What we do for tradespeople
Hierarchy is a full-funnel marketing and AI agency for SMEs in Zurich, specialised in SEO, GEO and paid ads, with marketing and engineering in one team of four. For bathroom renovators, kitchen fitters and joiners, we build service and city pages, references and cost pages so that Google and the AI assistants find and cite them, maintain the Google Business Profile and, if you wish, run Google Ads and ChatGPT Ads for your region. Every month you see whether your business is named. Where you stand today is shown by the free AI Visibility Check. Details: SEO & AI visibility and paid ads.
Conclusion
For bathroom renovation and kitchen fitting, AI recommendation is more open than for estate agents and clinics; only HVAC and plumbing had an even broader field in our October measurement: a hundred businesses in 32 answers, no firm dominates. What gets read is mainly the businesses' own websites, and there preferably city pages, references and cost examples. Whoever describes their services per region, explains process and cost cap and shows projects with location and scope supplies exactly the material the assistants build their recommendations from. How other industries fare: estate agents, HVAC and plumbing, aesthetic medicine and architecture firms.
