ChatGPT Said It Was the Capacitor

“I get it,” the post continued. “AI is here and has a lot of uses and whatnot. But remember why you called a technician: because ChatGPT couldn’t fix your system. Learn to trust humans again and not just technology.” 

AI itself isn’t the real problem. Contractors have been dealing with self-informed customers since dial-up internet. What’s changed is the confidence — and speed — with which bad information spreads. 

For decades, HVAC contractors — like professionals in any field — have been plagued by self-proclaimed “experts” who Google equipment prices and then demand to know why the thermostat install is $300 when the part is “only $50 on Amazon.” This time, though, the difficulty level feels higher. Google would spit out videos and links to articles, or maybe the manufacturer's website. These days, you’ll get a whole essay on the topic. Wrong information? It’s confidently wrong. 

Now, this is not to discount AI’s potential uses to tradespeople. If you’ve got the background to distinguish between what is helpful and what is utter nonsense — and the sense not to take its answer in blind faith — ChatGPT can come in handy. Even the HVAC pros on the Reddit thread acknowledged that. Nope, I’m talking about the homeowners who treat its word as gospel. 

“ChatGPT said it’s the capacitor.”
 [Narrator]: It was not the capacitor. 

Contractors aren’t the only ones noticing the trend. Manufacturers and software companies are seeing it, too. Ben Reed, technical marketing specialist at MeasureQuick, talked about this at the Midea press conference at AHR. 

“I completely agree that it is hard to combat a lot of the ‘self-informed’ homeowners that are out there, especially now, with AI,” he said, “which is just a big consensus engine.” Simply put, it repeats what most people online already believe. 

But if there’s one thing people trust more than AI, it’s their neighbors. That’s how contractors combat AI misinformation, Reed said: by outperforming it in the one way AI never can — through real, authentic human experience. 

“What I’ve found is one of the most important things to shift people's perspective and overcome some of that doubt or misinformation is experiential information,” Reed said. “So you just do the top-notch job on a couple of installs in your neighborhood, you can get people into a comfort experience that they've never thought was possible.” 

Then, help the word spread. 

Case in point is longtime HVAC educator Jim Bergmann, Reed’s colleague at MeasureQuick. For years, Bergmann was staunchly anti-heat pump. 

“It wasn't until he got a heat pump installed in his house — and it was installed properly — that he switched sides,” Reed said. 

And it’s not just heat pumps — the principle holds true in all kinds of experiences. 

Back to combating “ChatGPT told me.” According to a study we did in 2024, 67% of homeowners reported finding their HVAC contractor via word of mouth or recommendation, including social media. 

I know I did. 

Last month, my tub wouldn’t drain. Sure, we tried fixing it ourselves first, but it soon became clear the little 2-foot plastic snake wasn’t going to handle it this time. I called Jen the Plumber, because everyone on Nextdoor had been singing her praises for months. 

Jen was fabulous and diagnosed the issue quickly, but her team didn’t have equipment heavy-duty enough to clear a rusty drum trap. 

“Call Rootmasters,” she said. So I did — and they came right out and fixed it. Both plumbers get five stars in my book. I’ve been hyping them up every time someone mentions a drain. 

And that is what you want. 

“Have some local homeowner testimonials — maybe even five — and make sure those are highlighted on your website,” Reed said. “If you have video testimonials from customers talking about how it changed their lives (because for some people, it changes their life), make that pronounced, and then that will make a difference.”  

You can offer incentives for customers to record those videos, or for techs who line them up. Think of it like the new version of putting a sign in their front yard for 30 days. Kind of old-school, huh? Sometimes it feels like the more technologically advanced our communication becomes, the more the “old-school” method cuts through the noise. It just has to be supercharged for the digital era — and fortunately, filming videos is something anyone with a smartphone can do. 

At the end of the day, AI can suggest all it wants. Comfort still requires someone with gauges and a truck. Build a reputation strong enough that customers never feel the need to consult AI in the first place. 

Or if you’re feeling snarky, you could always just respond like redditor Alternative-Land-334 does: “Cool — when's ChatGPT available to fix?”