Local Services Ads
Paid per lead, above everything else.
Local Services Ads sit at the very top of the results page, above the map pack and above search ads, and you are charged for a lead rather than a click. For licensed local businesses in an eligible category it is often the cheapest route to a ringing phone.
What are Local Services Ads and who qualifies?
Local Services Ads are a Google ad format that appears above search results and above the map pack for local service searches. Unlike search ads, you are billed per lead rather than per click, and you only hear from customers who specifically selected your business.
Eligibility depends on your category and location. Google supports over two hundred categories, including trades such as plumbing, electrical and HVAC, professional services such as lawyers and financial planners, and health services such as dentists and chiropractors. The requirements typically include business licensing or registration, insurance, background checks, and in some categories a minimum review standard.
Businesses that pass screening display the Google Verified badge. Google replaced its earlier separate badges with this single one, and it is currently unavailable in the auto, beauty and dining categories.
A different product from search ads
It looks like an advertisement and it behaves like a directory listing crossed with a lead source. There are no keywords, no ad copy to write, and very little to optimise in the usual sense. What you control is your profile, your reviews, your responsiveness and your budget.
Because billing is per lead, the maths is simpler than search advertising. You are not paying for clicks that never contact you. You are paying when someone calls or messages you directly from the ad.
The trade is control. You cannot choose which searches you appear for with any precision, you cannot write the ad, and you cannot point people at a landing page you designed. The ad is Google's format, populated with your profile information and your reviews.
For businesses whose problem is simply getting the phone to ring in their service area, that trade is usually worth making. For businesses that need to control the message, it is not enough on its own.
What getting approved actually involves
This is the part that catches businesses out, because it takes longer than setting up a search campaign and involves paperwork rather than marketing.
Check your category and area
Not every category is available in every location. Some are restricted to particular states. The first step is confirming the business is eligible at all, which takes minutes and prevents a wasted month.
Assemble the documentation
Business registration, the relevant licence for your trade or profession, and proof of general liability insurance at the level Google requires for your category. Expired or mismatched documents are the most common reason an application stalls.
- Licence in the exact business name on the application
- Insurance certificate current and at the required limit
- Business registration matching your Google Business Profile
Pass the background checks
Depending on category, checks run on the business and on owners or field staff. This is the slowest stage and it is outside anyone's control, including ours.
See the remaining steps: What getting approved actually involvesHide the remaining steps: What getting approved actually involves
Build the profile properly
Services offered, service area, hours, photographs and the business highlights. Your reviews carry across and matter here, because customers see them in the ad and Google weighs responsiveness and review signals in who gets shown.
Set a budget and start
Budgets are set weekly rather than daily, and bidding can be automatic or manual. Starting on automatic while the account has no history is usually sensible, then revisiting once there is data.
Answer the phone
This is the operational reality of the format. Responsiveness affects how often you are shown, and an unanswered lead is still a lead you may be charged for until it is disputed. A business that cannot answer consistently should not run this format.
Expect weeks rather than days from application to live, driven almost entirely by the background check stage.
What the format does to the rest of the page
BrightLocal ran a click study on local service search results. It is from 2018, which predates AI Overviews and several layout changes, so treat it as directional rather than current. It is included because it is the only public measurement of this specific question.
SourceLocal Services Ads Click Study, BrightLocal, 2018, 5,500+ users
The useful reading is not the exact percentages, which are eight years old. It is that Local Services Ads take a meaningful share of attention without eliminating the value of the map pack or organic results beneath them.
Lead disputes, and why they matter
You will be charged for leads that are not real business. Wrong numbers, people looking for a service you do not offer, spam, and customers outside your service area all come through. Google provides a dispute process and credits are issued where a lead qualifies.
This is not a minor administrative detail. In some categories disputed leads are a meaningful share of the invoice, and a business that never disputes is simply paying more than it needs to.
The practical requirement is that somebody reviews the leads regularly and disputes within the window, with a reason and evidence. Waiting a month means the opportunity has passed.
It also means the reported cost per lead in the dashboard is not your real cost per lead until disputes are settled. Any agency reporting on this format should be showing you the number after credits, not before.
Local Services Ads against search ads
They are not alternatives so much as different positions on the same page, and many businesses run both.
| Item | Local Services Ads | Google Search ads |
|---|---|---|
| You pay for | A lead | A click |
| Position | Above everything | Below LSAs, above organic |
| Control over message | No | Yes |
| Landing page | None, Google's format | Yours |
| Setup time | Weeks, screening required | Days |
| Best for | Getting the phone ringing locally | Specific services and controlled messaging |
A common and sensible structure is Local Services Ads for the broad category demand and search ads for the specific, higher value services where the message matters.
When this format is the wrong choice
We would rather tell you this before an application than after a month of disappointing leads.
- You cannot answer the phone reliably during your stated hours. Responsiveness affects how often you are shown and unanswered leads still cost money.
- Your category is not eligible in your area, which is a simple check and worth doing first.
- Your licence or insurance is not current, or is held in a different name from the business.
- Your service is high value and considered, where a customer needs a real explanation before contacting anyone. The format gives you no space to provide one.
- You have very few reviews. Reviews appear in the ad and in some categories are part of eligibility, so a profile with two reviews will struggle regardless of budget.
See the full checklist: When this format is the wrong choiceHide the full checklist: When this format is the wrong choice
- You need to target a narrow service within a broad category. The format does not offer that precision.
- You want to control the landing experience. There is not one.
- Nobody will review and dispute bad leads, in which case your real cost per lead will be higher than it needs to be.
None of these make it a bad product. They make it the wrong product for some businesses, which is a different thing.
How to judge it
Cost per lead after credits, not before. Then cost per booked job, which requires you to record which leads turned into work.
Lead quality by source within the format, because message leads and call leads behave differently and one is often substantially better than the other for a given business.
Read the full breakdown: How to judge itHide the full breakdown: How to judge it
Dispute rate, which tells you both how much junk the format is sending and whether anybody is actually managing it.
Response time, because it is one of the few levers you have and it directly affects both how often you are shown and how many leads convert.
What not to do is compare the reported cost per lead here against the reported cost per lead in a search campaign without checking that both are measuring the same thing. Search cost per lead usually counts form fills. This format counts direct contacts, which are typically more qualified.
We do not publish a price for this piece of work on its own, because the right scope depends on what already exists. What is published is the bundle pricing: 2,400, 3,600 or 4,800 dollars a month depending on which channels are running. You can read the full breakdown on the pricing page, and you will get an exact number in writing before anything starts.
How this connects to the rest
Local Services Ads sit at the top of the same results page as your map pack listing and your organic pages, which means they complement local SEO rather than replacing it. Winning all three positions is the strongest available outcome.
Your Google Business Profile and your reviews feed the ad directly, so review management work improves this channel as well as the map pack.
Google Ads search campaigns are the natural companion, covering the specific services and the messaging this format cannot carry.
Call tracking needs care here, because the format supplies its own call recording and reporting. Adding another layer can complicate attribution rather than clarifying it.
If you are weighing this against other channels, the paid advertising hub sets out the full comparison.
Check whether you qualify before anything else.
Eligibility depends on your category, your area and your paperwork, and it takes minutes to establish. We will tell you before you spend anything on an application that cannot succeed.
Straight answers.
What happened to the Google Guaranteed and Google Screened badges?
Google replaced them. Its Local Services help now describes a single Google Verified badge for every advertiser, earned by completing the same screening and verification process, and advertisers who had already met the verification requirements carried across to it without doing anything.
The money back guarantee that went with the Google Guarantee badge is being discontinued alongside it. Google's page limits reimbursement to services booked through Local Services Ads before 7 December 2025, claimed within 30 days of the service being completed. Anyone still selling you a Google Guarantee is describing something Google no longer offers.
What has not changed is the screening behind the badge. Licence, insurance and background verification are still what earns it, and Google notes the badge is currently unavailable for verticals in the auto, beauty and dining categories.
How much does a lead cost?
It varies by category and area and is set by competition, and we will not quote you a figure we cannot source. What we will do on a call is show you the current range in your category and area from your own account setup.
The number that matters is cost per booked job, not cost per lead, and that depends on how well you convert enquiries.
Can I dispute leads that were not real?
Yes, and you should. Wrong numbers, out of area enquiries, spam and requests for services you do not offer can all be disputed, and credits are issued where the dispute qualifies.
It has to be done promptly and with a reason. Businesses that never dispute pay more than they need to.
Do I need a Google Business Profile as well?
Yes, and it should be complete and accurate. Your reviews and your business information feed the ad, and the map pack listing underneath the ads is a separate opportunity you do not want to give up.
Can I run these and Google Ads at the same time?
Yes, and many businesses should. They occupy different positions on the page and answer different needs: this format for broad local demand, search campaigns for specific services where the message matters.
Watch the combined cost per booked job rather than each channel's cost per lead in isolation.
How long does approval take?
Weeks rather than days in most cases, driven by the background check stage, which is outside anybody's control.
The things that speed it up are having current licence and insurance documents in the exact business name before applying.
Where this comes from.
Primary documentation and published research behind the guidance on this page.
- About Local Services Ads, Google (opens in a new tab)
- Google Local Services Help: about the Google Verified badge (opens in a new tab)The single badge that replaced the earlier ones, and the end of the money back guarantee.
- Google Ads policies (opens in a new tab)
- Guidelines for representing your business on Google (opens in a new tab)
- How Google improves local ranking results (opens in a new tab)
- FTC truth in advertising (opens in a new tab)
Talk to the team
A short call, a look at how the business currently shows up, and a straight answer on what we would do first.