EP: 023 - The New Rules of PPC Ads: Insights with ProfitFill CEO Amanda Wilhelm

Send us Fan Mail The game of Google PPC and lead generation has fundamentally changed.  In this episode, we sit down with Amanda Wilhelm, trade marketing expert and the powerhouse behind Profit Fill. We unpacked the reality of the 2026 home services: rising costs per click, dropping organic traffic, and the heavy influx of Google AI overviews eating up valuable mobile search territory. If you want to know exactly what to ask your ad agency, how to audit your internal operations, and how to safely throttle your paid marketing up and down, this episode is an absolute must-watch. Timestamps: 00:46 - Introducing Amanda Wilhelm from Profit Fill. 02:11 - The Reality of Google Today: Why lead costs are skyrocketing. 03:07 - How AI overviews are killing organic traffic. 04:36 - Shifting ad space on mobile and why clicks hit $200. 05:32 - Why HVAC shops are aggressively adding plumbing and electrical. 07:00 - Is an $800 cost per booked job profitable? Decoding the long-term math. 07:55 - When should a small company stay away from AI-optimized PPC? 09:21 - Navigating modern multi-platform lead generation. 10:15 - Marketing 101: Defining Top, Middle, and Bottom-of-Funnel trade leads. 11:45 - Why the cheapest price shouldn't be your hook. 12:50 - Leveraging Service Titan data to target aging equipment. 14:03 - Speed to Lead: Nurturing a customer from a raw hand-raise to a 5-star review. 15:30 - Why bad call scripts and phone trees destroy five-star potential. 16:31 - How broken forms and missed calls kill your PPC budget. 17:42 - Operator Problem vs. Agency Problem: How to evaluate your marketing team. 19:40 - Conversational strategies to convert unbookable leads. 21:50 - Overcoming operational bottlenecks with AI Voice Agents 23:35 - Testing campaigns on ChatGPT and open-source AI search. 24:35 - The Throttle Signal: Knowing exactly when capacity demands a new technician hire. 25:56 - How to Maximize customer acquisition costs you already paid for? 27:10 - Branded Search Strategy: How to Run offensive and defensive name bidding on Google? 30:44 – The Importance of Running Branded Search Campaigns 33:07 - Measuring the ROI of Branded Search Ads vs. Organic SEO 35:34 - The Google AI Bidding Trap & Budget Pitfalls 37:55 - Crafting Top-of-Funnel Value Creatives & "Stalker Ads" 40:22 - Conversion Rates & The Agency Reinvigoration 42:40 - The Fallacy of Constantly Changing Brand Messaging7 52:11 - Beyond the 30-Day Window: Mapping Ad Spend to Revenue Potential 56:47 - How to Stop Wasting Marketing Dollars When Your Schedule is Full 1:03:26 - Episode Ends. Connect with Amanda:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandaleighwilhelm/ Website: https://profitfill.com/ Our Sponsor:  https://freeagency.ai/