---
title: "Inspection report: nine homeowner questions, graded across 155 pest control websites"
status: published
date: 2026-10-15T13:50:00Z
author: clikiti-research
excerpt: "We graded the websites of 155 independent pest control companies the way an inspector grades a house: clear, monitor or action. Four questions come back clear. Three need action, led by the licence number only 12% show."
featured_image: /research/pest/2026-q4/scenes/scene-older-1600.webp
featured_image_alt: "An older woman on a sunlit porch reads a printed inspection report while a technician points to a line on it"
featured_image_caption: "A good inspection report says what is fine, what to watch and what to fix. A pest control website can be read the same way."
og_image: /research/pest/2026-q4/og.jpg
category: pest
tags: [trust, pricing]
type: finding
cites:
  - pest/2026-q4#licensed
  - pest/2026-q4#price
  - pest/2026-q4#safe
  - pest/2026-q4#guarantee
summary:
  - "Only 12% of 155 independent pest control company websites show a state licence number (Clikiti Research, October 2026)."
  - "Graded the way the report's own checklist grades them, four of the nine homeowner questions come back clear, two need monitoring (same-day service, 41%; safety for children and pets, 38%) and three need action: licence, price (21%) and guarantee terms (32%)."
  - "For an agency, the action items and the two monitor items are the pitch, and all of them are content the company already has on paper."
pitch_line: "Your licence number is on every service ticket you leave behind. It isn't on your website."
audio:
  src: /research/posts/pest-control-websites-inspection-report/episode.mp3
  duration: 208
  transcript: /research/posts/pest-control-websites-inspection-report/episode.txt
---

A good pest inspection ends with a form on the kitchen table. Each item is marked clear, monitor or action, and the homeowner can see at a glance what is fine, what to keep an eye on and what needs doing. We used the same form for the websites of the companies that do the inspecting.

[The State of Independent Pest Control Websites 2026](/research/pest) scanned 155 independent companies across the US: 45 general household pest companies, 36 termite companies, 39 wildlife and rodent removal companies and 35 mosquito, bed bug and specialty companies. Each site was read against the nine questions a homeowner asks before letting a technician into the house. The item that most needs action: **only 12% of the sites show a state licence number.**

::stat{ref="pest/2026-q4#licensed"}

## How were the grades set?

Each question has a written pass rule, published in the report's method. A site passes when the scan finds the answer on its home page or a page the home page links to. The grades are the report's own, from the homeowner checklist at the top of it, and they describe the industry, not any one company:

- **Clear:** half of the sites or more answer it.
- **Monitor:** between a third and half answer it.
- **Action:** fewer than a third answer it.

For an agency the grades sort the conversation. A clear item is one to confirm on a prospect's site and move past, though "clear" here only means most sites pass, so plenty of prospects still fail it. A monitor item is one most prospects fail: check it every time. An action item is where a pitch starts, because two in three prospects or more fail it.

## The findings, graded

| Item | The homeowner asks | Sites that answer | Grade |
| --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | Do you treat my problem? | 97% | Clear |
| 4 | Do you come to my town? | 70% | Clear |
| 3 | Can I book without calling? | 59% | Clear |
| 9 | Do my neighbours vouch for you? | 54% | Clear |
| 2 | Can you come today? | 41% | Monitor |
| 8 | Is it safe for my kids and my dog? | 38% | Monitor |
| 6 | What if they come back? | 32% | Action |
| 5 | What will it cost? | 21% | Action |
| 7 | Who will treat my home? | 12% | Action |

The median site answers four of the nine.

::chart{ref="pest/2026-q4" highlight="licensed"}

## Clear: what most sites already get right

**The pests treated (97%).** Nearly every site says what it handles. Termite and wildlife companies pass every time, often because the answer is in the company's name. No agency needs to sell this, and a prospect who fails it has a thin site with bigger problems.

**The service area (70%).** Most sites name the towns or counties they cover. The exception is the specialty group, where 54% do. A specialty company often works a wider area than a household company, which is a reason to name it, not to leave it out.

**Booking without calling (59%).** A pass is any way to request an inspection, a quote or a visit online: a form, a button to the company's scheduling software or an embedded calendar. Household companies lead at 67%; wildlife companies sit at 51%, which is close to a coin toss.

**Reviews on the site (54%).** A pass is review markup, a review widget or quoted customer reviews. Household companies again lead (67%), wildlife companies trail (41%). Most of these companies have reviews somewhere. The gap is showing them where a homeowner is deciding.

## Monitor: the items most sites miss

**Same-day or emergency service (41%).** Wildlife companies say it most often (49%), specialty companies least (26%). A company that does come the same day and doesn't say so is leaving out its strongest line.

**Safety for children and pets (38%).** A pass needs a sentence connecting the treatment to children or pets. Most passes we read are a single reassurance line; only a couple say when the family can go back into a treated room. Specialty companies pass most often (51%), wildlife companies least (23%). So the grade is generous: a site with one line passes, and 62% don't have that line. Our [safety page playbook](/research/posts/pest-control-safety-page-spec) sets out what a full answer contains.

## Action: the three items to raise first

**The licence number (12%).** A homeowner letting a stranger treat their home has one thing they can check: the state licence. 88% of the sites give no number to check. Termite companies (8%) and specialty companies (9%) show it least. The number is printed on paperwork the company already uses, so this is the smallest fix in the report.

**The guarantee, with its terms (32%).** "Satisfaction guaranteed" doesn't pass. Free re-treatment between visits, money back, or a warranty for a stated period does. Household companies lead at 40%; wildlife companies, whose exclusion work often carries a warranty, state one on 23% of sites.

**A price (21%).** A pass is a dollar amount tied to a visit, a plan or an inspection. Coupons don't count. Household companies show one most often (36%), because a recurring plan has a recurring price. Wildlife companies almost never do (3%), since most removals start with an inspection. That inspection fee is a price, and it passes.

## What about the site underneath?

The same grading works for the four technical checks:

| Item | Sites that pass | Grade |
| --- | ---: | --- |
| Images described for screen readers | 79% | Clear |
| LocalBusiness structured data | 57% | Clear |
| Text contrast passes WCAG 4.5:1 | 23% | Action |
| Loads in under 2.5 seconds on a phone | 12% | Action |

The median overall website score is 77 out of 100. Specialty companies have the lowest median of the four groups, and 97% of their sites take longer than 2.5 seconds to load on a phone. Speed is a build job; the content items above are not, which is why they make the better opening.

## Does any site come back clear on everything?

One does. [Berner Pest Solutions](https://bernerpest.com/) in Lexington, Kentucky, answers all nine questions and passes the speed and image checks. It publishes a price table by home size, shows its Kentucky company licence number, says it returns free between visits and states that its treatment is pet-friendly. It is the report's best in class, and a useful site to show a prospect what a finished answer looks like.

:::pitch{title="How do you use the report with a prospect?"}
1. **Run their site down the form.** Nine questions, one line each. Mark clear, monitor or action, the way their own technicians mark a house.
2. **Lead with one action item.** The licence number is the easiest to agree to: 88% of their competitors don't show one either, so it sets them apart in a day.
3. **Quote the fix, not the redesign.** Price, guarantee terms and a proper safety page are content the company already has on paper. Speed is the follow-on project.
:::

Pest control owners are used to reading this kind of report, because they write one at every visit. If you sell to dentists too, the same idea of answering on the page what the front desk answers on the phone is in our [dental insurance page build sheet](/research/posts/dental-insurance-page-build-sheet). Every number above, split by kind of company, is in [the full report](/research/pest).