Best questions for citizen survey about public service satisfaction

Here are some of the best questions for a citizen survey about public service satisfaction, plus tips on how to design them for impactful results. If you need to build your own survey, you can generate one instantly with Specific—no hassle, just deep insights.

Best open-ended questions for citizen surveys about public service satisfaction

Open-ended questions are gold when you want to capture detailed feedback and discover perspectives you hadn’t anticipated. They help us get beyond simple ratings, letting citizens share the reasons behind their satisfaction or frustrations. Use these when your goal is to truly understand not just what people think, but why they feel that way. Considering that only 32% of UK citizens are now satisfied with local NHS hospitals—a sharp drop from previous years—digging into the "why" is more critical than ever. [1]

1. What has been your most positive experience with public services in the past year?

2. Can you describe a recent challenge or frustration you encountered when using a public service?

3. What do you believe is the biggest strength of our public services?

4. Where do you think public services should improve to better serve the community?

5. How easy or difficult was it for you to access the services you needed?

6. What suggestions do you have for making our public services more effective?

7. Have you ever had trouble getting the information you needed about a public service? Please explain.

8. How do you feel about the level of funding and support for our public services?

9. What one change would have the biggest positive impact on your experience with public services?

10. If you could send a message to public service managers, what would it be?

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for citizen surveys

Single-select multiple-choice questions shine when you need to quantify responses or introduce topics in a way that's approachable. They give citizens a low-effort way to share feedback, making it easy to spot patterns and start deeper conversations. You can always follow up to dig further once you’ve got their initial answer.

Question: How satisfied are you with the quality of public services in your area?

• Very satisfied

• Somewhat satisfied

• Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

• Somewhat dissatisfied

• Very dissatisfied

Question: Which public service do you interact with most often?

• Healthcare services

• Education

• Public transportation

• Waste collection/cleaning

• Other

Question: Do you feel public services are adequately funded?

• Yes, fully funded

• Somewhat underfunded

• Significantly underfunded

• Not sure

When to follow up with "why?" Whenever a citizen picks an extreme response ("Very dissatisfied" or "Significantly underfunded"), a follow-up asking “why?” is essential. This transforms quantitative data into concrete feedback you can act on: “You selected very dissatisfied. Why do you feel this way about public services in your area?” It helps unearth what’s behind the numbers so we can make real improvements.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? "Other" lets citizens highlight something your options missed. Always follow up with, “Please specify,” since these responses often uncover issues or strengths you hadn’t thought of. These details are especially valuable in public service surveys—the unexpected responses can drive real innovation.

NPS questions for public service satisfaction surveys

NPS (Net Promoter Score) isn't just for customer experience; it’s a trusted way to measure overall loyalty and trust—even in public services. The classic NPS question is, “How likely are you to recommend these public services to friends or family?” Respondents rate 0 to 10, revealing not just satisfaction but advocacy. This works especially well here, since the divide between “satisfied citizen” and a true promoter is sharp. You can build an NPS survey in seconds for public service satisfaction on Specific.

The power of follow-up questions

One reason AI survey platforms, like Specific, excel is their mastery of smart, automated follow-up questions. (If you’re curious, here’s a deeper look at the automated follow-up question system.) These follow-ups transform vague answers into actionable insights, all in a way that feels like a real conversation.

Specific’s AI reviews responses in real time and knows exactly when to ask for clarification or a deeper explanation. Instead of going back-and-forth over emails to clarify a citizen’s comment, the AI gets it right at the moment, saving days of follow-up work. This dynamic also boosts data quality—AI surveys see completion rates of 70-90%, dramatically better than traditional methods (which often struggle below 30%) [2]. Here's how it works if you don’t ask follow-ups:

• Citizen: “I had a bad experience with public transport.”

• AI follow-up: “Can you tell me more about what happened during your public transport experience?”

Now, you get context—was it timeliness, cleanliness, cost, or something else? Without this, we’re left guessing.

How many follow-ups to ask? Two to three smart follow-ups are usually enough to get the full picture without tiring the respondent. With Specific, you can tune this with a simple setting—stop when the AI has what it needs, or let citizens skip ahead if they’ve said enough.

This makes it a conversational survey—not a cold form. Every answer is explored naturally, which is why people finish these surveys and share honest feedback.

AI survey response analysis: Even when you collect thousands of detailed replies, analyzing unstructured text is easy with AI (see how AI survey analysis works here). You don’t have to read every word. The AI digs out themes, summarizes answers, and lets you chat with your data to spot trends. This is next-level for anyone running citizen surveys.

Try generating a survey to see how automated follow-up questions create richer, more actionable results in minutes.

How to use ChatGPT prompts to generate strong survey questions

If you want to come up with great questions yourself, prompting ChatGPT or another AI can deliver solid drafts in seconds. Here’s how:

Start simple:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for citizen survey about public service satisfaction.

But if you want better results, give more context. Tell the AI your audience, what you want to achieve, and any problems you’re trying to solve. For example:

We need to understand why satisfaction with public healthcare has dropped, and what citizens would like improved. Please suggest 10 open-ended questions for a citizen survey about satisfaction with public healthcare, focusing on recent experiences and ideas for improvement.

Then organize your questions for clarity. Try:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Finally, if you spot, say, “access issues” and “service quality” as key themes, dig deeper with:

Generate 10 questions for categories like access issues and service quality.

This approach makes the most of AI’s creative range and laser-focuses your survey on real community needs.

What is a conversational survey?

A conversational survey is exactly what it sounds like: instead of static, faceless forms, you create a chat-like interaction that adapts in real time. These surveys ask smart follow-ups, clarify answers, and flow like a real conversation. Why does it matter for public service satisfaction? Because engagement soars and answers are richer. According to recent studies, AI-powered conversational surveys achieve completion rates of 70-90%—compared to 10-30% for old-school survey tools. [2] And because the AI adapts, abandonment rates drop to 15-25%, versus 40-55% for traditional surveys. [3]

We see this difference every day in our projects:

Why use AI for citizen surveys? Because you don’t just want raw data—you want meaningful insights. AI-powered surveys collect better data, adapt to citizens’ answers, and deliver results you can act on within hours instead of weeks. Try creating an AI survey and experience the difference.

Specific is the leading platform for conversational surveys—making the process smooth and engaging for both you and your respondents. If you want a full guide, check out our step-by-step article on how to create a public service satisfaction survey.

See this public service satisfaction survey example now

Don’t wait to uncover community insights—see how a conversational AI survey can reveal new ideas, reduce your workload, and turn citizen feedback into real change. Create your public service satisfaction survey and experience powerful results in minutes.