Absence Index, release 2026-09

Field service management software, measured across five AI engines

HVAC, plumbing and electrical operators ask ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode which field service management platforms to shortlist before they talk to sales. The engines answer from public material, and the named set shapes the first list a buyer sees. This page records who the engines named in the September 2026 Absence Index, the buyer questions, where the five engines disagree, the sources they cited and the rename facts that confuse retrieval.

Get the Category Audit, $490 Free 10-question check (one engine)

Field service management software, observed 22 September 2026 (UTC)

108 of 150observed answers named Housecall Pro

22vendors checked in this category

7 of 22checked vendors named in none of the 150 observed answers

0 of 10buyer questions with no checked vendor named in any observed answer

Observed answers on stated dates, not a ranking. Every checked vendor on the Index

Who the engines named

Housecall Pro was named in 108 of 150 observed answers across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode, more often than any of the other 21 vendors the Index checked in this category. Housecall Pro on the Index.

7 of the 22 checked vendors were named in none of the 150 observed answers:

0 of the 10 buyer questions returned no checked vendor in any observed answer. This counts checked vendors only; an engine may still have named a vendor outside the checked set.

Also named often: ServiceTitan and Workiz. Every checked vendor's count and base is on the Index category page.

Answers were observed on 22 September 2026 (UTC) and released on 23 September 2026. These are observed answers on stated dates, not a ranking.

On the Index

What buyers ask

The ten buyer questions, in the buyers' own words, exactly as each engine was asked them.

Shortlist

what is the best field service software for a small HVAC company
best field service management software for a growing plumbing company with about 10 techs
best field service software for commercial mechanical and fire protection contractors

Alternatives

what are the best alternatives to ServiceTitan
what are the best alternatives to Housecall Pro
what are the best alternatives to Jobber for a home service business

Buyer evaluation

Jobber vs Housecall Pro for a plumbing business, which is better
FieldEdge vs ServiceTitan, which one is worth the price
what should I look for when choosing field service management software

Specific workflow

which field service software is best for a one person HVAC business

Where the five engines disagree

The engines split. ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews named Housecall Pro most often; Claude and Google AI Mode named ServiceTitan most often. The per-engine counts are on the Index category page.

The vendor each engine named most often in its own observed answers
Engine	Named most often
ChatGPT	Housecall Pro
Claude	ServiceTitan
Perplexity	Housecall Pro
Google AI Overviews	Housecall Pro
Google AI Mode	ServiceTitan

The sources the engines cited

The domains the engines cited most often in this category's observed answers, in the order the Index records them. Each domain's count and base is on the Index category page.

fieldpulse.com
fieldservicesoftware.io
getjobber.com
housecallpro.com
servicetitan.com
youtube.com
capterra.com
softwareadvice.com
myquoteiq.com
fieldcamp.ai

Renames and ownership changes in field service management

When a field service management vendor is acquired, taken private or rebranded, directories, review sites and trade press often keep the old string for months. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode, which most buyers call Gemini, retrieve that stale material. A retired product brand without a former-name bridge can still appear in answers, while the living brand is missing from the same shortlist.

Renames and ownership changes with a public source
Old name	New name	Date	Owner or sponsor	Product brand	Source
ServiceTitan (private)	ServiceTitan Inc (NASDAQ: TTAN)	2024-12	Public markets (IPO)	kept	Source, ServiceTitan (private) Read 2026-09-22
Successware (Authority Brands)	Successware, a JDM Technology Group company	2025-03	JDM Technology Group	kept	Source, Successware (Authority Brands) Read 2026-09-22
Joblogic (independent)	Joblogic (Vista portfolio)	2025-09	Vista Equity Partners	kept	Source, Joblogic (independent) Read 2026-09-22
BigChange (Great Hill backed)	BigChange, a Simpro Group company	2024-10	Simpro Group (K1 Investment Management)	kept	Source, BigChange (Great Hill backed) Read 2026-09-22

What changes the answer

Entity and structured data

Publish Organization and SoftwareApplication markup that states the current legal name, product name, former names and sameAs links to the profiles engines already cite. When a rename or acquisition happened, add a formerly-known-as bridge so the engines can connect the old string to the living brand.

Answer pages

Write pages that answer the buyer questions above in buyer language, with no brand name planted in the question wording itself. Publish them on the vendor domain the engines already try to cite.

Source placement

Place accurate product and ownership facts on the directories, review sites, trade press and forums the engines cite in this category, listed above.

Crawler access and review presence

Confirm robots rules, rendering and any bot filter still let AI crawlers reach the answer and entity pages, and keep listings current on the review sites for this category so the engines retrieve one consistent name, domain and category label.

Start with a measured baseline

Category Audit

$490

Findings within 48 hours of your category confirmation. Refundable in full within 30 days of delivery. The $490 credits once against the $2,900 Fix Sprint within 30 days of delivery, so the Sprint is $2,410.

Get the Category Audit, $490

Fix Sprint

$2,900

The first fixes your Category Audit points at, done over 30 days and re-measured on the same questions: a measured gain or a full refund. $2,410 after the Audit credit.

See the Fix Sprint

The program is $13,500 per 90 days, billed $4,500 monthly.

Free 10-question check (one engine)

Questions

Which field service management software vendors did AI engines name most often in the September 2026 Absence Index?

Housecall Pro was named in 108 of 150 observed answers across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode. The next most named were ServiceTitan and Workiz. These are observed answers on stated dates, not a ranking; every checked vendor's count and base is on the Index category page.

Why does a rename change what AI engines say?

Engines retrieve public material that still carries retired product names, old legal entities and pre-acquisition domains. When those strings are not bridged to the current brand, the answer can name a name the company no longer uses, or skip the living brand entirely.

What should a field service management software vendor measure first?

Start with the ten buyer questions on this page. Record, for each question and each of the five engines, whether the brand was named and whether the brand domain was cited. Keep the wording frozen between runs so the comparison stays valid.

How is Broadcastwell related to the vendors in this category?

Broadcastwell measures AI search visibility for B2B software and publishes the Absence Index. It does not sell field service management software, and no vendor commissioned this category's measurement.

Industries in the Absence Index

Cite as: Broadcastwell, The Absence Index, release 2026-09, 23 September 2026, method v1.1. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22907695. This category in release 2026-09 on the Index. Data license CC BY 4.0. Every Audit figure comes from the published method, v1.1.