How AI assistants choose who to recommend for air duct cleaning

1. What people actually asked
2. What your duct cleaning page has to explain
3. What the assistants looked for before recommending anyone
4. Your duct cleaning page checklist
5. Questions owners ask
6. How we got these numbers
7. See it on your own website

What people actually asked

We asked for air duct cleaning in three different ways. Here is each one, word for word, with how many of the 267 answers it produced between September 3 and October 14, 2026:

• “Duct cleaning near me — I'm in 33772. Who do you recommend?”97 answers
• “Who should I call for duct cleaning in Tarpon Springs, FL 34689?”90 answers
• “Looking for someone to do duct cleaning in 34698 before the end of the month. Any recommendations?”80 answers, asked with five different timings: before the end of the month, sometime this month, in two weeks, in the next few weeks and next month

Together, the 267 answers covered eight towns in Pinellas County: St. Petersburg, Largo, Clearwater, Dunedin, Palm Harbor, Pinellas Park, Seminole and Tarpon Springs. Each town came up in 33 to 35 answers. By assistant: ChatGPT 128, Claude 87 and Google AI Mode 52.

Customers also call it “air duct cleaning”, “ductwork cleaning” or “HVAC duct cleaning”, so use those words on the page as well.

The question underneath all of them

“Which parts of the duct system does your cleaning service cover?” Cleaning, repairing damaged ducts and addressing the cause of a complaint are different scopes.

What your duct cleaning page has to explain

Duct cleaning has a reputation for cheap whole-house offers that grow once the crew arrives. Many answers warned customers about them and told them to get a written, all-in price first. Assistants also told customers to ask whether the price is per vent or for the whole system. A page that states what the price covers, and what it does not, separates a company from those ads.

Customers were told to ask exactly which parts get cleaned. Answers listed supply and return ducts, the main trunk lines, registers, the blower compartment, the air handler and the coil. Some said a quick vacuum of the visible vents is not a real cleaning. The page should name every part included and say which parts are outside the job, such as repairing damaged ducts.

Cleaning is also different from fixing what made the ducts dirty. Answers raised mold, musty smells and moisture, and told customers to ask whether sanitizing or mold treatment is optional. A few noted that duct cleaning is not always needed. A page that explains when cleaning helps, when a repair or moisture fix is the real answer, and shows real before-and-after photos reads as honest.

What the assistants looked for before recommending anyone

We read all 267 answers to see what the assistants looked for before naming a company for air duct cleaning, what they told the customer to ask, and what they said they couldn’t find.

What the assistants told customers to ask

Most common first:

Is the company NADCA-certified?

Most answers told customers to ask whether a company is certified by NADCA, the duct cleaning trade association, and some said to check its directory. It was the credential assistants named most often for this job. Without it, customers were told to look harder.

62% of the answers (165 of 267) brought this up.

Will the customer see before-and-after photos?

Many answers told customers to ask for before-and-after photos or a camera inspection of the ducts. Customers cannot see inside their own ducts, so photos are how they know the work was done. Assistants treated photo proof as part of a real cleaning.

48% of the answers (128 of 267) brought this up.

Ask whether they inspect with a camera before and after cleaning.

Does the cleaning cover the whole system or only the vents?

Answers regularly told customers to ask whether a company cleans the supply and return ducts, trunk lines, blower compartment and air handler, not just the vent covers. Some warned that cheap quotes are often vent-only. The list of parts is how customers compared quotes.

45% of the answers (121 of 267) brought this up.

Ask whether they clean the full duct system and air handler, not just the vent covers.

Is the price per vent or for the whole house?

Many answers warned about low whole-house offers that turn into upsells once the crew arrives. Assistants told customers to ask whether pricing is per vent or flat for the whole system, and to get it in writing. A clear price structure helped customers trust a quote.

37% of the answers (98 of 267) brought this up.

Ask whether the quote is per vent or for the whole house, and whether it includes the HVAC components and dryer vent.

Are sanitizing and mold treatment optional?

Answers told customers to ask whether sanitizing or antimicrobial treatment is optional or bundled into the price. Some said to get an itemized quote before approving any add-on. Customers wanted to choose extras, not find them on the bill.

37% of the answers (98 of 267) brought this up.

Ask whether the quote covers the entire HVAC system—supply and return ducts, blower/fan, and registers—and whether sanitizing is optional.

What equipment does the crew use?

Several answers told customers to ask whether a company uses negative-air or HEPA vacuum equipment with agitation tools. They called this the standard method and contrasted it with a shop-vac style cleaning. Customers used the answer to spot a thorough company.

29% of the answers (77 of 267) brought this up.

Ask whether they use negative-pressure equipment, which is the standard method.

What the assistants couldn’t find

In 37 of the 267 answers, the assistant said it couldn’t find or confirm something it needed about a company. By assistant: Claude in 36 of its 87, ChatGPT in 1 of its 128 and Google AI Mode in 0 of its 52. As we asked it, Claude usually says what it couldn’t confirm; ChatGPT and Google AI Mode seldom do, so these counts mostly show what Claude couldn’t find. Most often:

• A phone number or other way to reach the company: 24 answers
• Reviews it could check: 16 answers
• Whether the company serves the customer’s town or ZIP code: 7 answers

Assistants most often could not find a phone number, then could not verify reviews. Several also flagged lead-generation sites where customers could not tell who would show up, so a page with the company's own name, number and address matters here.

I didn't find reliable phone numbers for any of them.

Where the assistants sent people

Each answer linked to the pages the assistant relied on. Of the 215 ChatGPT and Claude answers about air duct cleaning, this is how many linked at least once to each kind of site:

• A contractor’s own website: 97% (208 answers)
• A directory or review site such as Yelp, Angi or the BBB: 70% (151 answers)
• A Google search or Maps page: under 1% (2 answers)
• A manufacturer or home-improvement guide: under 1% (1 answer)
• An official license lookup: under 1% (1 answer)

A contractor’s own website was the page linked most often, so your site is usually what the customer is sent to read.

Google AI Mode works differently. In 77% of its 52 answers, the links opened Google’s own listing for a business rather than a website. There, your Google Business Profile is the page the customer sees, so it needs the same facts as your site.

The checks behind every recommendation, applied to air duct cleaning

Can the customer reach a person?

Phone numbers were what assistants most often could not find for this job. Some warned that lead sites hide who will actually come to the house.

24 of the 267 answers about air duct cleaning, 24 of them from Claude, said the assistant couldn’t confirm this. In our July–August study across eight trades, it cost a business its place in 147 of the 290 conversations where it came up.

What do recent customers say?

Assistants often could not verify ratings and told customers to check Google or the BBB themselves. Some flagged BBB alerts on duct cleaners.

16 of the 267 answers about air duct cleaning, 16 of them from Claude, said the assistant couldn’t confirm this. In our July–August study across eight trades, it cost a business its place in 139 of the 569 conversations where it came up.

Do you serve the customer’s town or ZIP code?

For duct cleaning, coverage means a crew will come to the customer's home for a planned visit. Answers often could not confirm that a company served the customer's ZIP code.

7 of the 267 answers about air duct cleaning, 7 of them from Claude, said the assistant couldn’t confirm this. In our July–August study across eight trades, it cost a business its place in 350 of the 554 conversations where it came up.

Source: How we research what AI assistants recommend.

Your duct cleaning page checklist

Work through this list on your duct cleaning page. Each item answers something the assistants looked for above.

1. Use “duct cleaning”, “air duct cleaning” or “ductwork cleaning” in the page title, the main heading and the first paragraph.
2. Say whether you or your technicians are NADCA-certified and link to your listing in the NADCA directory.
3. Say that you take before-and-after photos on every job and show real examples from a recent cleaning.
4. List every part of the system your standard cleaning includes, and say which parts cost extra or are excluded.
5. Explain how you price a cleaning, per vent or per system, and what a typical home's written quote includes.
6. Say which treatments you offer, what each costs, and that the customer chooses them before the work starts.
7. Describe the equipment and method your crews use, in plain words, and why it matters for the result.
8. Put your own phone number, company name and address on the duct cleaning page.
9. Link to your recent reviews and to your BBB profile, and point to reviews from duct cleaning customers.
10. List the towns and ZIP codes where you do duct cleaning.

Going further: let assistants see real openings

For planned work like air duct cleaning, a useful opening says whether it is for an assessment or the job itself, and whether the customer’s address is covered.

Merchant Context builds custom integrations with scheduling software so customers and AI assistants can read your current availability. Where your system records the job type, service area, duration and crew capacity, the integration can show those details with each opening, so an assistant can match it to the request instead of guessing.

We scope each connection to the software and data you actually have. A displayed opening is not a confirmed booking: the customer still confirms through your normal booking process, and the information is only useful while it is fresh.

Source: Merchant Context: custom integrations in the AEO service · checked 2026-10-14.

Questions owners ask

What should a full air duct cleaning include?

Answers about this job listed the supply and return ducts, the main trunk lines, registers, the blower compartment, the air handler and the coil. They told customers to get before-and-after photos. A company's page should list the parts it cleans and those it does not.

Why are some duct cleaning prices so low?

Many answers warned that very low whole-house offers often grow with add-ons once the crew arrives. Assistants told customers to ask whether the price is per vent or for the whole system, and to get it in writing before work starts.

Is dryer vent cleaning part of duct cleaning?

Usually it is a separate service. Many answers told customers to ask whether a dryer vent is included or costs extra, and whether a dryer vent company also cleans HVAC ducts. A page should say which services it offers and how each is priced.

Which AI assistants did you test?

ChatGPT, Claude and Google AI Mode. Between September 3 and October 14, 2026, they answered 267 questions about air duct cleaning: ChatGPT 128, Claude 87, Google AI Mode 52.

Will these changes guarantee a recommendation?

No. Nobody can promise that. These changes supply what the assistants were looking for in our research. Whether they move recommendations for your business is something to measure after they go live.

See it on your own website

Send us your website address and we’ll make a free preview of your homepage, rewritten so customers and assistants can find your duct cleaning answers. You pay only if you accept it: $2,000 a month, month to month, with no build fee.

Get your free homepage preview

Source: Merchant Context: the current website offer · checked 2026-10-14.

Keep reading

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• Which services need their own page on a contractor website?