How Google Local Services Ads work
Local Services Ads (LSA) are pay-per-lead ads that appear at the top of many local searches. You are charged when a customer contacts you through the ad, such as a phone call, message or booking request, and not when someone simply views or clicks the listing.
Google decides which businesses show and in what order. Factors it has named include proximity to the customer, your reviews and rating, how quickly you respond, your business hours and complaint history. Lead prices vary by trade and market, and you control spend through a weekly budget and your bid settings.
LSA is available for a specific list of categories, such as many home-service trades and some professional services. Availability depends on your category and location.
Verification and badges
Before your ads can run, Google verifies your business. The checks depend on your category and state and can include background checks, license verification and proof of insurance.
The badge shown on your listing has changed over time. Home-service businesses have historically shown a Google Guaranteed badge, and professional services such as lawyers and financial planners a Google Screened badge. Google has also introduced a Google Verified badge in many markets. Which one you see depends on your category and region.
We help you gather documents, complete each step and respond to requests, so verification does not stall for weeks.
Setting up your profile to win the right leads
A complete, accurate profile helps Google match you with the jobs you want. We set it up so you pay for leads you can actually serve.
- Choose job types carefully and switch off services you do not want
- Set the service area to match where your crews really go
- Keep business hours accurate, since you can lose ranking for missed calls
- Connect reviews and keep your Google Business Profile consistent with your LSA details
- Choose between letting Google maximize leads or setting a maximum per-lead bid, based on your goals
Managing leads and disputes
Not every lead is a real opportunity. Google lets you dispute leads you believe are invalid, and we check your lead list so you do not pay for them.
Common examples include spam, solicitations, wrong numbers and requests for a service or area you do not cover. Google reviews each dispute and decides whether to credit it, and policies and time limits for disputes change, so we review leads on a regular schedule. We also mark leads as booked or not, which keeps your records clean and helps you see which job types pay off.
Fast response matters. We can route LSA leads into your CRM so calls and messages reach the right person quickly. Our CRM development team builds that routing.
LSA and Google Ads work best together
Local Services Ads and regular Google Ads appear in different places on the page and are paid for differently. Running both often gives you more coverage for high-intent searches.
We have run LSA alongside a restructured Search account for a Houston-area home-services company and reported the two side by side. That lets you compare cost per lead and booked jobs across both, then shift budget to whichever performs better that month. Read why more calls do not always mean more jobs.