An industry contains service families, not just a keyword.

Entity and industry research maps what a trade actually covers before any service gets validated against it. Roofing, for a search engine, isn't one term — it's a set of service families, materials, activities and recognised classifications the same architecture extracts for any trade, not a dictionary hardcoded to one industry.

Roofing isn't a keyword

A keyword list treats “roofing” as one node with variants attached. Industry research treats it as a category containing distinct service families — flat roofing, pitched roofing, guttering, emergency tarping — each with its own materials, failure modes and customer intent. A search for “flat roof repair” and a search for “guttering replacement” sit under the same industry but point to different services entirely.

Layers extracted from one industry

The same extraction runs regardless of trade; only the layer contents change.

Industry layers extracted for two unrelated trades
Layer	Roofing example	Dentistry example
Service family	Flat roofing, pitched roofing, guttering	Restorative, cosmetic, orthodontic, emergency
Material or method	EPDM, felt, slate, clay tile	Composite resin, porcelain, invisible aligners
Failure or need pattern	Blistering, ponding water, flashing failure	Chipped tooth, abscess, misalignment
Recognised classification	NFRC-registered contractor categories	General Dental Council specialty registers

Eight ways a researched concept can classify

Not every term industry research surfaces becomes a service. Each one gets sorted before it reaches service validation — the full breakdown of that sorting lives on the service research page.

Genuine service — a distinct, bookable offering the business could confirm today.
Service family — a category containing several genuine services, not one itself.
Alternative terminology — a different name for a service already confirmed.
Unresolved concept — evidence is too thin to classify either way yet.

See all eight categories.

Research feeds validation; it doesn't replace Business Truth

A concept surfaced during industry research stays a candidate until service validation checks it against the business's confirmed niche and, where needed, the owner confirms it directly. Industry research widens the search; it never writes to the business's confirmed record on its own.

Validated across four unrelated trades

HVAC

Service family: Installation, repair, maintenance contracts, indoor air quality

Legal / Solicitor

Service family: Conveyancing, probate, family law, employment disputes