A homeowner researching geothermal in October wants to know three things in order: will it work on my lot, what does it actually cost, and what tax credits and utility rebates apply. A generic chatbot points them at a PDF brochure. SleekAI reads your loop catalog, lot-size minimums, vertical-bore pricing per foot, federal tax credit guidance, and local utility incentives from WordPress and walks the homeowner through real scoping.

The example chat shows the conversation. A half-acre lot with mature trees triggers a vertical loop recommendation over horizontal, because horizontal needs 1,500 to 2,500 square feet of disturbance and the trees are in the way. The bot quotes the vertical loop at $25,000 to $32,000 depending on bore depth and soil conditions, the indoor equipment at $9,000 to $13,000, and the 30 percent federal tax credit through 2032 on residential systems. Local utility rebates surface based on the published list, with the caveat that the homeowner files for them.

That early scoping matters because geothermal is a 6-to-12 month decision cycle for most homeowners, and the installer who answered the loop-type and tax-credit questions on the first visit to the site stays in the consideration set. The conversation, the lot description, the soil notes, and any HOA constraints save into WordPress so the site evaluator arrives with the right driller contact lined up and the right loop math already in the proposal draft.

Geothermal is a 6-to-12 month decision for most homeowners, and that timeline kills generic chatbots. The homeowner who poked at the website in March is not ready to buy in March, they're ready in October when the heating bill arrives, and the installer who answered their loop-type question in March is the one they remember in October. Early scoping matters because geothermal has more disqualifying conditions than any other residential HVAC option.

Lot too small for horizontal, mature trees blocking horizontal, well too close to the loop field, HOA prohibitions on visible exterior equipment, ductwork too undersized for low-temperature delivered air. A generic chatbot collects an email and lets the evaluator burn a half-day confirming the lot can't support the system the homeowner already half-decided they wanted. SleekAI does the lot screening in chat, which means the evaluations on the calendar are real opportunities, not site walks to deliver bad news.

The tax credit conversation is the second leg. The 30 percent federal credit through 2032 is the single biggest reason a homeowner picks geo over a high-efficiency furnace, and a chatbot that doesn't know about it loses the deal silently. Utility rebates are the third leg, and the math changes again.

Installers running this find their site-evaluation-to-close rate climbs because the homeowners arriving at the evaluation are already qualified through the chat: the right lot, the right ductwork, the right incentive eligibility, the right payback expectations. The evaluator's day turns into closing conversations instead of sales conversations, which is the productivity multiplier that funds the rest of the year.