Local Services Ads and Google Verified
The listing that sits above every other ad on Google.
Local Services Ads appear at the top of Google Search, above standard Google Ads and above the map pack, carrying a Google verification badge. You pay per lead rather than per click, so a click that never becomes a call costs you nothing. Available in the US and UK for eligible categories only.
Check your eligibility
Tell us your trade and your city. We confirm within a day whether your category is covered in your market, which badge applies and what Google will ask for.
Why it matters
Four things that make this different from normal paid search.
You pay per lead, not per click
A click that browses and leaves costs nothing. You are charged when someone calls, messages or books, which changes the maths entirely.
Placement above everything
Local Services Ads sit above standard Google Ads and above the map pack. On mobile that is most of the first screen.
A Google verification badge
Your listing shows that Google has checked your business. For a first time customer choosing between strangers, that badge does real work.
Bad leads are disputable
Spam, wrong number, out of area and wrong service leads can be credited back. Most businesses never claim them.
The badge
What happened to Google Guaranteed.
If you have been told you can get "Google Guaranteed" in the United States, that information is out of date. In October 2025 Google consolidated Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and License Verified into a single Google Verified badge, and the money back guarantee that previously sat behind Google Guaranteed was discontinued at the same time.
Google Verified
One badge across all categories, replacing the three that existed before. It appears on your Local Services Ad and on your Google Business Profile, alongside details of the specific checks your business passed.
- Single badge across all eligible categories
- Shows which verification checks you passed
- Requirements vary by category and location
- May include identity, background, licence and insurance checks
- Reviews route through your Google Business Profile
- No money back guarantee attached any more
Google Guaranteed and Screened
Google's UK marketing pages still display the older badges. Home services carry Google Guaranteed, legal and property carry Google Screened. UK setup documentation already references Google Verified, so the UK appears to be part way through the same transition.
- Home services show the Google Guaranteed badge
- Legal and estate agency show Google Screened
- Licence, insurance and Companies House checks required
- Third party background check required
- Far fewer eligible categories than the US
- Naming likely to change as the rollout completes
Why we are explicit about this. Most agency websites still sell "Google Guaranteed" in markets where that badge no longer exists, which tells you how recently they checked. We confirm the current badge and requirements for your specific market at the eligibility stage rather than quoting from an old page. Verified against Google's own documentation in September 2026.
Eligibility
Google decides by category and location, and the list changes.
The US covers eight category groups. The UK currently covers two. Some US categories are further restricted to particular states, so the honest answer always depends on your exact trade and area.
United States, eight groups
Home, Business, Health, Learning, Care, Wellness, Beauty, Automotive
United Kingdom, two groups
Home services and Business services only
Not exhaustive. Beauty and Automotive groups plus several US home services sub categories have had state level restrictions. Send us your trade and city and we will give you the current answer rather than a general one.
24 hour answer
Find out if your category is covered before you spend anything.
Tell us your trade and your city. We confirm whether the category exists in your market, which badge applies there, what documents Google will ask for, and roughly what a lead costs in your area. If you are not eligible we say so immediately and there is no setup fee.
- ✓ Answer in 24 hours
- ✓ Lead cost range for your area
- ✓ Full document list upfront
- ✓ No fee if ineligible
Verification
Getting you verified and live.
Verification is the part that stalls most applications, usually because documents go in wrong or incomplete and the whole thing restarts. We assemble the pack upfront and chase the process so you do not have to.
Step 1
Eligibility check
Category, service area and applicable badge confirmed for your market before you spend anything.
Step 2
Document pack
Licence, insurance certificate, business registration and identity documents assembled and submitted correctly first time.
Step 3
Screening
Background and business checks run through Google's third party provider. We chase it, you do not.
Step 4
Profile build
Services, service areas, hours, photos, booking and messaging configured, and your Business Profile brought up to standard.
Step 5
Live and managed
Budget pacing, weekly lead disputes, response time monitored, review generation kept running.
What actually decides your ranking
Proximity
How close you are to the searcher. The one factor you cannot optimise, which is why service area strategy matters so much.
Reviews
Score and volume, now pulled from your Google Business Profile rather than a separate LSA review system.
Responsiveness
How fast you answer and how often you miss calls. This is an operational problem, not a marketing one.
Business hours
You will not show outside the hours you set, and emergency categories reward wider availability.
Complaints
Complaints registered against your business reduce visibility and can suspend the account entirely.
Budget pacing
Running out mid month removes you from the auction during the days you most wanted to be in it.
Two operational changes worth knowing
Missed calls become billable
Google's updated call policy makes some missed calls and qualifying follow up calls billable. Answering the phone is now a direct cost control measure as well as a ranking factor. We include call handling recommendations in every engagement because of this.
Reviews come from your Business Profile
There is no separate LSA review system any more. Your Google Business Profile reviews are your LSA reviews, which means review generation and profile management are now part of the same job rather than two.
Comparison
Local Services Ads or standard Google Ads.
Most eligible clients end up running both. LSAs capture the top of the page for the queries they serve, Search covers everything else.
| Local Services Ads | Standard Google Ads | |
|---|---|---|
| You pay for | Leads, calls and messages | Clicks |
| Position on the page | Above search ads and the map pack | Below Local Services Ads |
| Who can use it | Eligible categories only, US and UK | Any business, any market |
| Verification required | Yes, including background and licence checks | None |
| Trust badge | Google Verified, or Guaranteed and Screened in the UK | None |
| Keyword control | None, Google matches by category | Full control |
| Landing page | Your Google profile, not your site | Any page you choose |
| Bad leads | Disputable for a credit | Paid for regardless |
| Setup time | 2 to 6 weeks including verification | Days |
| Best used for | Urgent local service demand | Everything else, including non local and ecommerce |
One thing people assume wrongly: Local Services Ads appear on Google Search, not inside Google Maps. Advertising on the map itself runs through location assets and store goal campaigns, which is covered on the Google Ads page.
Pricing
Setup once, then managed monthly.
Your lead budget is paid directly to Google on your own account. We never mark it up or take commission on it.
Setup only
We get you verified and live, then hand it over for you to run yourself.
- Eligibility and category mapping
- Full document pack assembled
- Screening and verification chased
- Profile, services and service areas built
- Booking and messaging configured
- Handover call and written guide
Managed
Setup included, then run monthly with disputes filed and reviews kept coming.
- Everything in Setup only
- Budget pacing and bid management
- Weekly bad lead disputes filed
- Google Business Profile optimisation
- Review generation workflow
- Dashboard and monthly review call
Multi location
Separate accounts per market, for franchises and multi site operators.
- Separate LSA account per market
- Verification managed per location
- Service area strategy across locations
- Location level budgets and reporting
- Call handling and response monitoring
- Fortnightly review calls
Running standard Google Ads too? Take the combined retainer on the Google Ads page instead of paying for both separately. Three month minimum, then rolling with thirty days notice.
Result
Kestrel Health, nine clinics.
Verified in six markets, paying per booking instead of per click
Nine clinics, six of them in markets where the category was eligible. We ran verification for each location separately, split the service areas so they stopped competing, and rebuilt the phone handling because response time was the actual constraint on ranking.
Read the full case studyWorks well with
What we run alongside Local Services Ads.
Google Ads
Covers the queries LSAs do not serve, plus Maps and Performance Max.
Learn moreLocal SEO
Ranking in the map pack is the organic equivalent of LSAs.
Learn moreConversion rate
For the clicks that land on your site instead of your profile.
Learn moreWordPress builds
Fast, custom builds that pass Core Web Vitals.
Learn moreAnalytics
Clean attribution so you know which channel drove the sale.
Learn moreFAQ
Common questions.
Check your Local Services Ads eligibility.
Tell us your trade and your city. We confirm within a day whether your category is covered, which badge applies and what Google will ask for.