Google is now answering "is duct cleaning a scam" above your listing. Here is what it says and what to do.
Google's AI answers now sit on top of duct cleaning searches and repeat the warning signs consumer sites list. The companies that state those signs in plain text are the ones getting named.
Search "air duct cleaning near me" from a phone in most US metros this month and the first thing on the screen is no longer an ad or the map. It is an AI answer. For the scam-adjacent queries, "is duct cleaning worth it," "duct cleaning scam," "how much should duct cleaning cost," the answer is a short paragraph that reads like the EPA page and the consumer warnings: be wary of very low advertised prices, look for companies that use negative air equipment, ask for before-and-after evidence, get the full price up front, check reviews for price complaints.
Then, in a growing share of those answers, it names two or three local companies.
This is a real change in how duct cleaners get found, and the companies it names are not random. They are the ones whose pages say, in plain sentences, the exact things the warning list tells the homeowner to look for.
What the answer box is doing
Google's AI features pull from the regular index and the Business Profile. For a local service query they lean on the map pack, on review text, and on web pages that contain direct answers. When a homeowner asks a trust question, the engine assembles the warning signs from authoritative sources and then looks for local businesses whose own pages match those signs. A company whose site says "truck-mounted negative air vacuum, whole-house price quoted before the appointment, before-and-after photos on every job" is a near-perfect match. A company whose site says "your trusted indoor air quality partner" is not.
The same mechanism runs in ChatGPT and Perplexity, which cite the pages they used. We ask the engines the same five questions once a month for a few markets and the pattern is consistent: the named companies have a page that states method, price range and process in text.
Why this favors the honest operators
The $49 companies cannot write that page. Their model depends on not stating a real price and not describing the equipment. So for the first time, the homeowner's trust question is being answered by a system that structurally rewards the company that does the job right and says so.
That is good news with a catch. 35.1% of duct cleaners have no website at all, and most of the rest have no page that states anything the engine can quote. Being the honest company is not enough. It has to be written down where the engine can read it.
The page to write this week
One page, or one section of the home page, titled something like "How our duct cleaning works and what it costs." Six short blocks:
- Equipment, by name. "We use a truck-mounted negative air vacuum with rotary brush agitation" or whatever is true. One photo captioned identically.
- Process, as a numbered list. Inspect and photograph, seal registers, connect negative air at the trunk, agitate every supply and return run, clean the blower compartment, reinstall, show the after shots.
- Price, as a range, by home type. "Single-system homes up to about 2,200 square feet: $375 to $525. Two systems: $600 to $850. Dryer vent: $110 to $175."
- The sentence. "The price quoted before the appointment is the price on the invoice. There are no per-vent charges."
- Credentials. License number if your state issues one, insurance carrier, NADCA membership if you have it.
- A short FAQ with the questions the engine is being asked: is duct cleaning worth it, how often, how long does it take, do you use chemicals, what about the $49 ads.
Write it in sentences, not bullet fragments. The engine quotes sentences. Keep it under 700 words. The AI search guide has fuller examples.
Then fix the profile to match
The engine cross-checks the website against the Business Profile. Three things to align:
- Services with the same price ranges as the page.
- Q&A seeded with the same six questions and short answers.
- A description that uses the same equipment and process language.
Mismatches hurt. A profile that says "starting at $99" next to a site that says $375 to $525 reads as the bait-and-switch pattern the engine is warning about.
Reviews are being read for the price
The AI answers summarize review text, and in this category they specifically look for whether the price held. Reviews that say "quoted $450, paid $450" or "no upsell" are getting surfaced in the summaries. Reviews that say "great job" are not.
So the ask at the door changes slightly. Ask the homeowner to mention what they paid and what you showed them. The reviews guide has the wording, and the pricing guide covers holding the number so the reviews can say so.
What this means for ads
The AI answer sits above the ads on many of these queries, and the homeowner reads it first. If your ad says "Fall special, whole house $89," the homeowner has just been told by Google to be wary of that exact ad. If your ad says "Truck-mounted vacuum, $375 to $525 quoted up front," the ad agrees with the answer they just read. Expect the second ad to get the click at a lower cost, and watch the search terms report for the trust queries; they are cheap and they are growing.
Check it yourself
From a phone, in a private window, search "is duct cleaning worth it [your town]," "honest duct cleaning near me," and "duct cleaning cost [your town]." Read the AI answer. Note which companies are named and tap through to their pages. Then read your own site and ask whether it says what theirs says. If it does not, the fix is a page, not a budget.
Writing that page and aligning the profile is a two-day job inside the free 14-day trial, and the monthly engine check is part of the AI search service. Text or call (385) 486-5536.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, air duct cleaning companies among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor