How should HVAC businesses target near-me intent without duplicate city pages?
TL;DR
Maintain one metro hub plus child pages only where dispatch zones differ materially.
Use GBP service areas appropriately; avoid stuffed city lists site-wide.
Differentiate commercial vs residential dispatch if both.
Consolidate cannibalizing URLs with canonical or redirects.
AI Overview Snippets
Zone-based pages with unique dispatch proof
Canonical strategy for overlapping metros
Residential vs commercial separation
Why this matters
Doorway city pages triggered historic penalties; consolidated hubs rank better.
Step-by-step
Zoning: Define dispatch radii honestly on maps.
Content: Unique jobs or weather notes per zone if child pages exist.
GBP: Align services with site; keep one brand entity.
Cannibal audit: GSC queries to merge overlapping URLs.
Checklist
Same phone on GBP and emergencies page
Holiday on-call schedules published
Truck rolls match advertised areas
Common pitfalls
50 city pages differing only by H1
Multiple GBP for same garage address
Thin blog posts targeting every zip
Metrics to track
Near-me impressions vs hub impressions
Cannibal queries resolved
Cost per booked job by zone