What a daycare should ask an agency before ads run

The third week of February is when a child care director finds out how fall is going. Tour requests either fill the calendar or they do not, deposits for September start to arrive, and the families still without a seat are reading inspection reports late at night. It is also when agencies call.

Plenty of them have never written for a licensed program and will treat a preschool like a pizza shop: a discount, a stock photo of smiling children and a push for five-star reviews. In child care, each of those can cause trouble. Here are the questions we would want a director to ask any agency, including us, before the first ad goes live.

The rules that reach into a child care ad

Most local businesses only answer to the ad platforms. A licensed program answers to the state as well, and the federal government tells parents to go and read what the state has on file.

• Florida puts the license number in the ad. Under Florida Statutes 402.318, nobody may advertise a child care facility, family day care home or large family child care home without including its state or local license or registration number. A violation is a first-degree misdemeanor. That covers every search ad, every Facebook ad, every flyer and every directory listing.
• Inspection reports are public everywhere. Childcare.gov explains that federal law requires states and territories to post the results of child care monitoring and inspection reports online, and it tells parents to check whether a program’s license has been suspended or revoked.
• Some violations go straight to the parents. In Washington, a provider that receives notice of a safe sleep violation must post the notice in the licensed space for two weeks or until it is corrected, whichever is longer, and send every enrolled family a letter describing it within five business days.
• Background checks are a federal floor. States must make sure staff in licensed programs pass state and federal criminal background checks before they are hired and at least once every five years, and childcare.gov tells parents to ask whether those checks are current.

None of this is hidden, yet most agency playbooks skip it.

Questions to ask in the first meeting

• “Where will my license number appear?” For a Florida program the only right answer is “in every ad, in every format”, and the agency should say it without being prompted. Elsewhere, a good answer still puts the license and a link to the state record on the site and the Google profile.
• “What will you say when a parent finds our inspection report?” A good agency writes plain, factual copy about how the program handles safety and points parents to the record, rather than hoping nobody looks.
• “How will you get us reviews?” The FTC’s rule on consumer reviews, announced in August 2024, bans incentives conditioned on a review expressing a particular sentiment. Google’s own policy goes further: no incentives in exchange for any review, and no asking only the families you expect to be pleased. A month of free tuition for a five-star review breaks both. BrightLocal’s 2026 survey, released this month, found 47% of consumers will not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, so the count matters. The method matters more.
• “Will you use photos of the children?” The answer should be no, unless a parent has signed permission under your own policy. Classrooms, the outdoor space, lunch and the staff carry the message without a single face.
• “Does any of this touch COPPA?” The FTC’s children’s privacy rule was amended on April 22, 2025, and parents must now opt in before a child’s personal information is shared with third parties for targeted advertising. The rule counts cookie numbers and IP addresses as personal information. A site written for parents is not directed to children, but a student portal, a classroom app or a games page might be. An agency that wants ad pixels on every page should be able to name the pages it will leave alone.
• “Should we run Local Services Ads, and what will Google check?” Google has Child care and Preschool categories carrying the Google Verified badge. Both require general liability and professional liability insurance, a state business license, a state credential for each teacher or care professional, and a public, verified Google Business Profile. Google puts average screening at three to four weeks, so be wary of anyone promising ads live by Friday.

What the first ninety days should look like for a center

For a lot of local businesses we would start with being found. For a center we start with being chosen, because parents verify before they call, and a neighbor’s recommendation is wasted if the profile cannot answer the license question.

• Weeks 1 to 2: count the right things. Inquiries, tours booked, tours held and enrollments, split by room. A toddler waitlist and empty infant cribs can sit in the same building, and a single “leads” figure hides that.
• Weeks 2 to 4: the profile and the proof. License number, a link to the state record and any quality rating, a plain sentence about staff background checks, current photos of the rooms, and a review request to every enrolled family.
• Weeks 3 to 8: the tour. A confirmation as soon as a tour is booked, a reminder the day before, a note the same afternoon, and a waitlist message that gives families a real update instead of silence.
• Weeks 6 to 12: the ads. Search and Meta campaigns split by age group, and Local Services Ads switched on once Google’s screening clears.

What a monthly report should show a director

A useful report follows a family from first search to first day, room by room.

• Tours booked and tours held, by source, not just clicks or form fills.
• Enrollments by room against the openings you gave the agency, so the budget moves the day a room fills.
• How fast each inquiry got a reply, and how many tour families heard back the same day.
• Reviews added in the last three months, and how many have a reply.
• Every live ad checked against your state’s advertising rule, with the license number wherever the law requires it.

What we are telling directors this month

• Pull every ad, flyer and listing currently running and check each one for the license number, starting with any Florida location.
• Open your own state record the way a parent would, and write down what it says before an agency reads it for you.
• Ask every enrolled family for a review this week with the direct link, and reply to each review you already have.
• Swap any photo showing a child’s face for one of the rooms or the team, unless you hold signed permission.
• If Local Services Ads are part of the plan, gather the insurance certificates and teacher credentials now so screening finishes before the late summer rush.

Spring is when fall gets decided, and whichever agency a director picks in February will be judged by September’s rosters. Our daycare and tutoring playbook sets out how we plan a program’s year, and our Google Business Profile work covers the profile parents open before they ever pick up the phone.