The companion to our AEO playbook. That one covers how being named in an AI answer works; this one is the raw material — the questions facility managers, property managers and office managers actually ask, grouped, with notes on what a good answer contains.
Put these on your site as a real FAQ, in your own words and with your own policies. A generic answer copied from here helps nobody, least of all you.
Before they trust anyone
- Are janitorial companies insured? What happens if they damage something?
- What is a janitorial bond, and does my cleaning company need one?
- Do janitorial contractors carry workers' comp for their crews?
- Do janitorial companies background-check their staff?
- Is it safe to give a cleaning crew keys and alarm codes?
- How do I know a janitorial company is legitimate?
What a good answer contains: specifics, not adjectives. Say what coverage you carry, how your crews are screened, and describe how you handle keys and codes in one concrete sentence. "We are fully insured and bonded" is what everybody writes. "Every key is logged in and out, stored unlabelled, and alarm codes are unique to each crew member and removed the day someone leaves" is answerable.
Price
- How much does office cleaning cost per square foot?
- Is nightly cleaning worth it, or is three times a week enough?
- What is a day porter, and how is it priced?
- Why is floor stripping and waxing priced separately?
- Should the janitorial contract include paper products?
What a good answer contains: how pricing works and what moves it — square footage, frequency, restroom count, floor types, consumables. If you will not publish rates, explain why a walkthrough is needed and what the quote will include. An assistant cannot repeat "call us".
What actually happens
- What is included in nightly office cleaning?
- What is not included?
- Will the same crew clean our building every night?
- How are cleaning crews supervised?
- Do janitorial companies bring their own equipment and chemicals?
- Can the crew clean during business hours instead of at night?
What a good answer contains: the exclusions, plainly. Almost nobody publishes what is not in routine service — carpet extraction, floor refinishing, high dusting, interior glass, kitchen appliances — and it is both one of the most-asked and most-useful things to state. It also prevents the scope disputes that end contracts.
Contracts and risk
- How long is a typical janitorial contract?
- How do I switch janitorial companies?
- What happens if I am not happy with the cleaning?
- How quickly do you respond to a complaint?
- Do you use green or low-toxicity cleaning products?
- Do you subcontract the work?
What a good answer contains: your actual terms and your actual process. "Complaints logged by 9am are fixed that night" is a fact. "We are committed to responsiveness" is not, and it will not be repeated.
Situations
- Can you do a post-construction cleanup before tenants move in?
- Do you clean medical or dental offices?
- Do you offer disinfection services?
- Can you clean a tenant space after the tenant moves out?
- Can you take over mid-contract from our current company?
What a good answer contains: whether you do it, and what makes your version different. These searches carry unusually high intent — someone asking about post-construction cleanup usually has a date and a budget already. For specialised spaces, say which credentials or training you actually hold, and do not imply ones you do not.
How to use this list
Do not publish all of these at once as a wall of text. Take the ten you genuinely get asked most, answer them properly on one FAQ page with a question-shaped heading each, and add to it as new ones come up on walkthroughs.
Then do the thing almost nobody does: ask an assistant the same questions with your city attached, and see whether the answer sounds like you. If it does not, you now know exactly which page to write next.