Local Service Ads management
Local Services Ads, run properly.
Google Local Service Ads sit above everything else in the results and charge you per lead instead of per click. That changes the whole job: screening, ranking factors and dispute discipline decide whether they pay.
4.9 on Google30+ verified reviews
You pay for the lead, not the click.
That single difference makes Local Service Ads a completely different discipline from paid search. There is no keyword list to optimize and no landing page to test. What decides your result is your profile, your responsiveness, your reviews, and how rigorously somebody disputes the charges you should not be paying.
Screening comes first
License, insurance and background checks have to clear before anything runs, and the paperwork is where most contractors stall for weeks. Getting it through cleanly is unglamorous and it is most of the setup work.
Answer the phone
Responsiveness feeds ranking directly. Missed calls do not just cost you that job, they reduce how often you are shown. This is the most common reason a contractor concludes the channel does not work when the channel was working and nobody picked up.
Dispute relentlessly
You will be charged for wrong numbers, spam and callers who wanted something else. Google credits some of those on its own and not others, and most contractors never check. Consistent review is the difference between a channel that pays and one that quietly bleeds.
What Local Service Ads are, and where they show.
Google's own name is Local Services Ads. They are offered for certain service categories, shown when someone searches for that service nearby, and the customer reaches you by call or message. Google says they run on Google Search and Google Maps, and you have to clear its screening first. See Google's getting started guide.
The top three inches of page one.
Local Service Ads render above the paid ads, above the map pack, above every organic result. For a homeowner deciding in under a minute, that strip is the whole page. You are not bidding on a keyword to get there. Google ranks you on your bid and the quality of your profile, including reviews and how fast you answer, then charges you for the lead itself.
How pay per lead works, and what counts as a lead.
You are billed for valid leads, not impressions or clicks. Google assesses each lead when the customer first makes contact.
What counts as a lead
A call you answer or return and speak to the customer. A missed call where the customer stays on the line more than 20 seconds. A text or email from the customer. A voicemail. Booking requests count too in the US and Canada.
Repeat contact is not charged twice
Follow ups from the same number or email within 15 days are not charged again.
Charged leads stay under review
Google reassesses charged leads for about 30 days and may credit low quality, invalid or duplicate ones automatically. The original charge still shows on the invoice.
Source: How leads work.
Who qualifies, and what screening checks.
Google screens every advertiser before ads run. On average the process takes 3 to 4 weeks after you submit your documents.
Profile and identity
A public, verified Google Business Profile, plus identity checks on the business owner.
Background checks
Business and owner background checks for most categories. Urgent service categories, including plumbers, electricians, HVAC and garage door, get an extra level of screening that includes background checks on service professionals.
Licenses and insurance
State business and owner licenses, and generally liability coverage. Requirements vary by category and state.
Google Verified: what happened to Guaranteed and Screened.
Older guides still talk about Google Guaranteed and Google Screened. Google replaced those badges with one, Google Verified, earned by completing screening and verification. Google also discontinued the Money Back Guarantee that went with the old badge. Read it as proof of screening, not a score for quality. See About the Google Verified badge.
What a lead costs, and what moves the price.
Google does not publish one price. Lead prices vary with your location, the job type, the type of lead and your bidding mode. We leave dollar figures off because every market differs.
Bidding mode
Maximize leads, Target cost per lead or Max per lead. Manual bidding is not supported once an account moves into Google Ads.
Budget
You set an average weekly budget. A bigger budget can mean more leads, up to your monthly max.
Profile quality
Google says higher quality profiles may rank higher and may also pay lower costs per lead. Reviews, response time and images all feed it.
Sources: How leads work, How bidding works and the move to Google Ads.
How Local Service Ads rank, in Google's words.
Ads are ranked in an auction, and the highest ranked show first. Google says the auction takes your bid and your overall profile quality into account.
Profile quality
Your rating, number of reviews, average response time, high quality images and the verification checks you have completed.
Responsiveness
Missed calls can hurt your responsiveness, and a consistently fast response can improve your ranking.
Search context
The service searched, the time and the location, and how relevant your services and bio are. Google does not publish a distance formula, so we do not promise one.
Source: About ad rankings.
Who files the disputes?
Every LSA account gets charged for leads it wishes it had not been: wrong numbers, spam, solicitors, duplicates, callers who wanted something else. Google credits low quality, invalid and duplicate ones automatically, but it no longer credits leads marked job type not serviced or geo not serviced. That is why somebody has to review every charged lead, week after week, and dispute what does not belong. We do it weekly, and we keep your service types and area tight so the avoidable ones never get charged. See Google's lead credits page.
It is line one of the work at the Compass plan and up: managed, with disputes.
Where it fits, and where it does not
This is a good channel for some trades and a poor one for others, and we will tell you which before you sign up rather than after.
Strong for emergency and service work
Somebody with a burst pipe or no heat wants the top result and a phone number. The format suits that perfectly, the lead prices are usually justified by the job, and the badge does real work on a stranger deciding in under a minute.
Weaker for long consideration work
Somebody nine months from a kitchen remodel is not calling the top result today. Paying per lead for people at the beginning of a long research process is usually a poor trade compared with content and organic visibility.
It does not replace search or the site
The ads sit above organic results and the map pack, so they take a slice of a page you should also be occupying underneath. Treating them as a substitute for the rest of the work means renting a position instead of owning one.
Budget behaves differently
You set a weekly budget and Google decides how many leads to send, which makes spend less predictable than paid search. Google is also moving the channel into Google Ads, where weekly budgets become daily averages. Worth knowing before it surprises you in a busy week.
Local Service Ads versus Search ads.
It is not either or. LSA catches the person who wants someone now. Search catches the person comparing, and you choose the words. See paid search.
| The difference | Local Service Ads | Google Ads Search |
|---|---|---|
| You pay for | A valid lead | A click |
| How you are matched | Keywordless, by service type and area | Keywords and match types you choose |
| Ranking | Auction on bid and profile quality | Auction on bid and ad quality |
| Where it shows | Google Search and Google Maps | Google Search results |
| Trust badge | Google Verified | None built in |
| Budget | Weekly average, moving to daily | Daily |
Google says it is moving Local Services Ads management into Google Ads as Performance Max campaigns with pay per lead goals, starting with US home and storefront service businesses in August 2026 and other accounts through 2027. Pay per lead stays and manual bidding goes. Source: Google Ads Help.
What we actually do every month.
Get you verified and keep you verified
Initial screening, then the renewals and re verifications that lapse quietly and switch your ads off without much warning.
Review every charged lead
Every week, not every quarter. Wrong numbers, spam and duplicates get rated and disputed on a routine rather than when somebody remembers.
Tune service types and area
The categories you accept and the geography you cover decide the mix of calls. Narrowing both usually raises quality more than raising the budget does.
Watch response time as a metric
Because it is a ranking factor, not just an operational nicety. If missed calls are hurting your visibility we will say so plainly, even when the fix is on your side of the phone.
Not every trade or market qualifies
We check availability and category fit before building a plan around a channel your business cannot fully use.
The badge is a trust signal, not a score
Google Verified, the single badge that replaced Google Guaranteed and Google Screened, means the business passed Google's screening. It is not a quality endorsement. Real credibility, read correctly.
Lead quality swings week to week
Some weeks are clean, some are wrong numbers. We judge it on a rolling window and the dispute rate, not one bad week.
Runs alongside paid search and organic search rather than instead of them. See what it costs.
Want the top of the page without the junk-lead tax?
Tell us your trade and your market. We check whether LSA is even available for your category, audit what you are running now, and hand you the plan. Free, and yours to keep either way.
No obligation, no pushy sales call. Month to month if you start.
Where LSA sits in the plans.
Trailhead includes LSA setup and ongoing monitoring. Managed LSA with weekly disputes starts at Compass. Polaris carries it alongside aggressive Google and Meta programs. Flat monthly pricing, published for anyone.
| The four plans | Trailhead | Compass | Timberline | Polaris |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $1,750 | $3,250 | $4,995 | $9,500 |
| Built for | Solo · under $1.25M | Established · $1.25M to $6M | Growth mode · $6M to $12M | Multi-market · $12M+ |
| Google LSA | Setup + monitoring | Managed + disputes | Full management | Full management |
| Google Ads | Search | Full management | Aggressive, weekly tuning | Premium budgets |
| Setup fee | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Contract | Month to month | Month to month | Month to month | Month to month |
These are the same published prices as our pricing page, because there is only one price list. $0 setup, month to month, and you own everything we build.
The questions owners actually ask.
Q.01Is LSA the right first move for my trade?
Not always, and we will say so before you sign up. Emergency and service trades fit the format: somebody with a burst pipe wants the top result and a phone number. Long-consideration work fits it poorly, because paying per lead for a homeowner nine months from a remodel is usually a bad trade against content and organic visibility.
Q.02What happened to Google Guaranteed and Google Screened?
Google replaced Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and License Verified with one badge, Google Verified, in late 2025. It means the business completed Google's screening and verification. The Money Back Guarantee that went with the old badge was discontinued. Read it as proof of screening, not a score for quality.
Q.03Why am I being charged for junk calls?
Some junk gets charged on every account: wrong numbers, spam, solicitors and callers who wanted something else. Google credits low quality, invalid and duplicate leads automatically, but not leads marked job type not serviced or geo not serviced, so we keep your service types and area tight and review every charged lead weekly. That is part of our standing work, not an extra.
Q.04How is the budget different from Google Ads?
You set a weekly budget and Google decides how many leads to send against it. You can spend more than that average in a given week but never more than your monthly max, so spend is less predictable than paid search. Google is moving the channel into Google Ads, where weekly budgets become daily averages. We watch it on a rolling window.
Q.05Can LSA replace SEO or my website?
No. The ads sit above the map pack and the organic results, which are the positions you should also be occupying underneath. Treating LSA as a substitute means renting a position instead of owning one, and the rent never goes down.
Q.06Which plan includes it?
Every plan includes LSA. Trailhead covers setup and ongoing monitoring; managed LSA with weekly disputes starts at Compass, $3,250 a month. If LSA is genuinely all you need, we will tell you that too, and what we would run instead of the rest.
Q.07What counts as a lead I get charged for?
A call you answer or return, a missed call where the customer stays on the line more than 20 seconds, a text, email or voicemail, or in the US and Canada a booking request. Repeat contact within 15 days is not charged again.
Q.08How much does a Local Service Ads lead cost?
It depends. Google says lead prices vary with your location, the job type, the type of lead and your bidding mode, and a higher quality profile may pay less per lead. We do not quote a figure because it would be wrong for your market.
Q.09How does Google rank Local Service Ads?
In an auction that takes your bid and your overall profile quality into account. Quality includes your rating, review count, average response time, images and completed verification checks, and missed calls can hurt your responsiveness.
Q.10Who qualifies for Local Service Ads?
Businesses in the categories Google offers that clear its screening: a verified Google Business Profile, identity and background checks, state licenses and generally liability insurance. It averages 3 to 4 weeks.
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No annual contract, ever.
You keep the profile, the reviews, and the lead history. If a month goes by where we did not earn it, leaving costs you nothing but a phone call.
See the plansPay for real calls. Dispute the rest.
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