What 320 cleaning services on Google get right, and miss
Daylight cleaning services visibility study, November 2026. By the Daylight Editorial Team, collected .
- of ChatGPT's picks weren't in Google's top 3 for the same search
- 94%
- of ChatGPT's picks weren't in Google's top 3 for the same search
- as many Google reviews for the businesses in Maps' top 3 as for the ones below them
- 1.8×
- as many Google reviews for the businesses in Maps' top 3 as for the ones below them
- of websites have no phone number you can tap to call
- 18%
- of websites have no phone number you can tap to call
- of websites don't take a booking or a quote on the home page
- 9%
- of websites don't take a booking or a quote on the home page
How we checked
Daylight looked at the 320 businesses Google Maps showed for "cleaning company" in 16 US metro areas (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Diego, Dallas, Austin, Denver, Seattle, Boston, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Portland, Nashville), up to 20 per city, and read what each Google listing shows. We then read the home page and robots.txt of the 213 websites those listings link to that we could open. Then we asked ChatGPT, with web search on, "What are the best cleaning services in [city]?" for each city (16 answers), and noted who it recommended and which websites it cited. Each figure is a share or a median across the businesses it could be judged for, with that number beside it. Maps results change by the hour and by where you stand, and the sample is what Google shows first, so it leans towards businesses already doing well.
What it means, and what to do about it: Cleaning company marketing statistics: what 320 Google Maps results show
Google Maps
- 4.9
- Median Google rating (stars, of businesses with reviews) (n = 286)
- 31
- Median number of Google reviews (n = 320)
- 26
- Median number of photos on the Google listing (n = 311)
- Link a website from their Google listing (n = 320)83%
- Have claimed their Google listing (n = 320)97%
- Show opening hours on their Google listing (n = 320)97%
- Offer online booking from their Google listing (n = 320)9%
- Have fewer than 10 Google reviews (n = 320)29%
- Use more than one Google category (n = 320)46%
Top 3 in Maps against the rest
- 51.5
- Median Google reviews, businesses ranked 1-3 in Maps (n = 48)
- 29
- Median Google reviews, businesses ranked 4-20 in Maps (n = 272)
- 4.9
- Median Google rating, businesses ranked 1-3 in Maps (n = 47)
- 4.9
- Median Google rating, businesses ranked 4-20 in Maps (n = 239)
- 36
- Median listing photos, businesses ranked 1-3 in Maps (n = 48)
- 25
- Median listing photos, businesses ranked 4-20 in Maps (n = 263)
- Businesses ranked 1-3 in Maps that link a website (n = 48)88%
- Businesses ranked 4-20 in Maps that link a website (n = 272)83%
Websites
- Websites with a phone number you can tap to call (n = 213)82%
- Websites that take a booking or a quote request on the home page (n = 213)91%
- Websites that show a price on the home page (n = 213)32%
- Websites that show reviews or testimonials on the home page (n = 213)75%
- Websites whose page title names their city (n = 213)63%
- Websites whose page title names what they do (n = 213)86%
- Websites with a search-result description of a useful length (n = 213)62%
- Websites that describe the business in structured data (schema.org LocalBusiness) (n = 213)73%
- Websites with FAQ structured data (n = 213)21%
- Websites built to fit a phone screen (n = 213)99%
- Websites whose copyright line is 2024 or older (n = 148)13%
- Websites that shut out at least one AI assistant's crawler in robots.txt (n = 202)4%
- Websites with an llms.txt file (n = 219)32%
ChatGPT's recommendations
- 287
- Median Google reviews, businesses ChatGPT recommended (n = 53)
- 20
- Median Google reviews, businesses ChatGPT didn't recommend (n = 267)
- Of the first 15 businesses each ChatGPT answer recommended, ranked in Google's Maps top 3 for the same search (n = 210)6%
- Of the first 15 businesses each ChatGPT answer recommended, found anywhere in Google's Maps top 20 for the same search (n = 210)29%
- Businesses ranked 1-3 in Maps that ChatGPT also recommended (n = 48)23%
- ChatGPT answers that cited at least one business's own website (n = 16)6%
- ChatGPT answers that cited expertise.com (n = 16)75%
- ChatGPT answers that cited bestinhood.com (n = 16)56%
- ChatGPT answers that cited ratingsnearme.com (n = 16)38%
- ChatGPT answers that cited reddit.com (n = 16)38%
- ChatGPT answers that cited tenbestfind.com (n = 16)38%
Every figure
Each figure, and how many businesses it could be judged for. Download every figure as a CSV.
See every figure (41)
| Measure | Value | Counted |
|---|---|---|
| Link a website from their Google listing | 83.4% | 320 |
| Have claimed their Google listing | 97.2% | 320 |
| Show opening hours on their Google listing | 97.2% | 320 |
| Offer online booking from their Google listing | 8.8% | 320 |
| Have fewer than 10 Google reviews | 29.1% | 320 |
| Use more than one Google category | 46.3% | 320 |
| Median Google rating (stars, of businesses with reviews) | 4.9 stars | 286 |
| Median number of Google reviews | 31 reviews | 320 |
| Median number of photos on the Google listing | 26 photos | 311 |
| Median Google reviews, businesses ranked 1-3 in Maps | 51.5 reviews | 48 |
| Median Google reviews, businesses ranked 4-20 in Maps | 29 reviews | 272 |
| Median Google rating, businesses ranked 1-3 in Maps | 4.9 stars | 47 |
| Median Google rating, businesses ranked 4-20 in Maps | 4.9 stars | 239 |
| Median listing photos, businesses ranked 1-3 in Maps | 36 photos | 48 |
| Median listing photos, businesses ranked 4-20 in Maps | 25 photos | 263 |
| Businesses ranked 1-3 in Maps that link a website | 87.5% | 48 |
| Businesses ranked 4-20 in Maps that link a website | 82.7% | 272 |
| Websites with a phone number you can tap to call | 81.7% | 213 |
| Websites that take a booking or a quote request on the home page | 90.6% | 213 |
| Websites that show a price on the home page | 31.9% | 213 |
| Websites that show reviews or testimonials on the home page | 75.1% | 213 |
| Websites whose page title names their city | 63.4% | 213 |
| Websites whose page title names what they do | 86.4% | 213 |
| Websites with a search-result description of a useful length | 62% | 213 |
| Websites that describe the business in structured data (schema.org LocalBusiness) | 72.8% | 213 |
| Websites with FAQ structured data | 21.1% | 213 |
| Websites built to fit a phone screen | 98.6% | 213 |
| Websites whose copyright line is 2024 or older | 12.8% | 148 |
| Websites that shut out at least one AI assistant's crawler in robots.txt | 4% | 202 |
| Websites with an llms.txt file | 31.5% | 219 |
| Of the first 15 businesses each ChatGPT answer recommended, ranked in Google's Maps top 3 for the same search | 6.2% | 210 |
| Of the first 15 businesses each ChatGPT answer recommended, found anywhere in Google's Maps top 20 for the same search | 28.6% | 210 |
| Businesses ranked 1-3 in Maps that ChatGPT also recommended | 22.9% | 48 |
| Median Google reviews, businesses ChatGPT recommended | 287 reviews | 53 |
| Median Google reviews, businesses ChatGPT didn't recommend | 20 reviews | 267 |
| ChatGPT answers that cited at least one business's own website | 6.3% | 16 |
| ChatGPT answers that cited expertise.com | 75% | 16 |
| ChatGPT answers that cited bestinhood.com | 56.3% | 16 |
| ChatGPT answers that cited ratingsnearme.com | 37.5% | 16 |
| ChatGPT answers that cited reddit.com | 37.5% | 16 |
| ChatGPT answers that cited tenbestfind.com | 37.5% | 16 |
You're welcome to quote these figures with a link to this page. We only report totals across businesses; no business is named or identifiable. Questions about the method go to the editorial team via our editorial standards page.
How to cite: Daylight (2026). Daylight cleaning services visibility study, November 2026. https://dylt.ai/blog/research/cleaning-services-visibility-2026-11-13