Google Local Services Ads guide
The LSA playbook.
Verification. Setup. Ranking.
This is the same checklist we run with every Roundhouse client entering the LSA program. Use it to get verified, configure your account correctly, and rank above every other ad type on Google. We update it as Google changes the rules — bookmark this page.
What's in this guide
- 1. Eligibility & What You Need
- 2. Getting Verified
- 3. Profile & Account Setup
- 4. How LSA Ranking Works
- 5. Budget & Bidding
- 6. Rating Leads & Getting Credits
- 7. Ongoing Management
GBP is now required — not optional. Since November 2024, a linked and verified Google Business Profile is mandatory to run LSAs at all. As of July 2025, all LSA reviews are managed through your GBP, and your GBP rating and review volume directly affect your LSA ranking. A weak GBP means a weak LSA rank. If you haven't optimized your GBP yet, start with the GBP guide first.
Eligibility & What You Need
Before Google will let you run LSAs, you have to clear a set of requirements. Most plumbers qualify — but verification can take 2–4 weeks, so start this process early.
Active Google Business Profile (required)
Since November 2024, a linked and verified GBP is mandatory — not optional — to run LSAs. Your GBP must be verified, live, and in good standing before you can apply. Suspended GBPs make you ineligible until reinstated. All your LSA reviews also live on your GBP, so its health directly affects your LSA rank.Plumbing license
Google will verify your state or local plumbing license directly. Have your license number, issue date, and the issuing authority ready. If your license has lapsed or expired, get it current before applying.General liability insurance
Google requires a valid certificate of insurance (COI) showing general liability coverage. Your insurance company can issue one quickly — call them and ask for a COI naming 'Google LSA' as a certificate holder.Background check (owner)
Google runs a background check on the business owner through a third-party provider. You'll receive a link directly from Google — this is done by you personally. We cannot complete this step for you. It typically clears in 1–5 business days.Service area defined
Know which zip codes and cities you actively serve before you start setup. You'll configure service areas during onboarding and it directly affects where your ads show.Google account access
You'll need a Google account with admin access to your GBP to link the LSA profile. Same account is recommended.
Tip: Request your COI before you start the application. The single most common delay we see is waiting on insurance documents after the background check has already cleared. Get the COI in hand first, then start the application.
Getting Verified
The verification process runs three checks simultaneously. Each has its own timeline, and your account won't go live until all three clear. Here's what to expect.
Background Check
Triggered when you start the application. Google sends a link to the owner's email. Complete it immediately — delays here push everything back. Usually clears in 1–5 business days.
License Verification
Google checks your license against state/local databases. Upload your license document and provide the license number exactly as it appears on the official record.
Insurance Verification
Upload your COI. Coverage amounts must meet Google's minimums for your state. If your coverage is borderline, call your agent and increase it before applying.
What to do while verification is in progress
- Build your review base aggressively — review count is a ranking factor the moment you go live
- Optimize your GBP completely (see the GBP guide) — LSA pulls data from it, and your GBP reviews are your LSA reviews
- Set up your service area, categories, and business hours inside the LSA dashboard — you can configure the account before verification clears
- Make sure every team member knows to respond to calls and messages within minutes — response time affects rank from day one
- Note: the LSA mobile app was retired in January 2025. All management is done through the web dashboard at ads.google.com/localservices
The Google Verified badge
Profile & Account Setup
Most plumbers skip half of this. Every field you leave empty is a ranking signal you're not sending. Work through the full list.
Business Name
Must match your GBP and your legal business name exactly. No keyword additions — 'Joe's Plumbing Best Drain Cleaning Austin' will get flagged.Primary Service Category
Set this to 'Plumber' unless you're primarily known for a specific trade. You only get one primary category — make it your highest-volume service type.Secondary Service Categories
Add every category that applies — drain cleaning, water heater installation/repair, emergency plumbing, sewer repair, etc. You can only rank for categories you've selected.Service Area — by zip code
Set your service area down to the zip code level. Do not set a radius that's larger than where you actually serve. LSA leads outside your real service area are bad leads — and they cost you money.Business Hours
Set real hours. If you offer 24/7 emergency service, set it — that's a competitive advantage in an emergency category. If you don't, don't list it. False hours damage trust and lead quality.Profile Photo
Your business logo or a clean photo of your team. Square, high-resolution. Not a stock photo.Business Description
Write a clear, keyword-natural description of your services, your service area, and what makes you different. This shows on your profile — customers read it before calling.Phone Number
Google routes calls through a tracking number — but make sure the business phone number in your profile matches your GBP and website exactly.Review Link
Add your Google review link to the LSA profile. Make requesting reviews a standard part of your post-job process — reviews feed your LSA rank directly.Link to GBP
Your LSA profile should be connected to your verified GBP. This links your review count and profile data so you're not starting from zero.
How LSA Ranking Works
Unlike Google Ads, you can't simply out-bid your way to the top. LSA ranking is a composite score — and most of the factors are things you control through your operations, not just your wallet.
The ranking factors, ranked by impact
Reviews — count and rating
The single biggest factor. Google rewards profiles with more reviews and higher average ratings. A plumber with 150 reviews at 4.8 stars will outrank a competitor with 30 reviews almost every time, even if that competitor bids more. Collect reviews aggressively. Every job is a review opportunity.
Response time
Google tracks how quickly you respond to calls and messages from the LSA platform. Slow response time is penalized in rank. Someone has to be watching for these leads and picking up fast — especially during business hours.
Proximity to searcher
If a customer searches from 2 miles away, you'll rank higher than a competitor who's 15 miles out — all else being equal. This is why defining your service area tightly and accurately matters. Don't list zip codes you can't serve fast.
Bid / Budget
Your bid is a tie-breaker, not a trump card. Set your budget at a level where you can capture leads consistently — but don't assume spending more automatically lifts your rank if the other factors are weak.
Profile completeness
Google rewards profiles that fill every field. Categories, hours, photos, description — every piece of information you provide is a signal that your business is real and relevant.
Business history
Newer LSA accounts rank lower while Google builds a track record of your response rate, booking rate, and review velocity. Consistency in the first 60–90 days matters more than any single week.
The one thing most plumbers miss
Budget & Bidding
LSAs charge per lead, not per click. That's the core advantage — but only if you're managing your budget intelligently.
Setting your weekly budget
Google will ask for a weekly budget. Set it based on how many leads you can realistically handle in a week, not on how much you want to spend. An overloaded plumber who misses calls is throwing money away.
Cost per lead — what to expect
In most plumbing markets, leads run $25–$80 per lead. Emergency and specialty services (water heater replacement, sewer line repair) run higher. Drain cleaning and minor repairs run lower. Your actual CPL depends on your market, bid level, and ranking position.
The math that matters
If your average ticket is $450 and you close 60% of leads, a $60 CPL means you're paying $100 to acquire a $450 job. Most plumbing markets pencil out comfortably. Run your own numbers before setting a budget.
Bidding strategy
- Start conservative — set a budget you're comfortable with for the first 30 days while Google's algorithm calibrates your account
- Increase budget when you're consistently hitting your weekly cap and converting leads well
- Consider bid-by-category if you offer high-ticket services — water heater replacement leads are worth more than drain cleaning leads
- Never pause your account entirely — even a few days of inactivity can reset your rank position and take weeks to recover
On pausing vs. lowering budget: If leads are slow, lower your weekly budget rather than pausing the account. Google treats paused accounts as inactive and reduces rank. Lowering budget keeps you in the auction at a sustainable rate.
Rating Leads & Getting Credits
Google removed the manual lead dispute option in mid-2024. In its place is a two-part system: automated AI credits for clear-cut bad leads, and a lead rating tool you use to flag quality issues. Understanding how both work keeps money from slipping through the cracks.
Part 1 — Automated credits
Google's system automatically reviews charged leads within 72 hours and issues credits for leads it determines are invalid — primarily spam calls and robocalls. You don't have to do anything for these. The credit shows up in your account balance automatically.
Important change: Google no longer issues credits for leads that are the wrong job type or outside your service area. If a customer in a city you don't serve calls and you answer, you'll be charged. This makes accurate service area and category configuration critical — it's your first line of defense against bad lead spend.
Part 2 — Rating leads
For leads that slip through the automated system, you can rate them directly in the dashboard. A negative rating signals to Google that the lead wasn't valid and can trigger a manual credit review — though it's not guaranteed.
Step 1 — Open the lead in your LSA dashboard
Step 2 — Click 'Rate this lead'
Step 3 — Be consistent
What still gets credited vs. what doesn't
- ✓ Usually credited automatically: Spam calls, robocalls, clearly fraudulent contacts
- ✓ May be credited after rating: Calls where the customer had already hired someone, wrong-number calls, leads where no real job existed
- ✗ No longer credited: Wrong job type, outside your service area — configure these correctly upfront to avoid paying for them
Ongoing Management
LSAs don't need daily management the way Google Ads do — but they do need consistent attention on the factors that move rank over time.
Review collection — every week
Review velocity matters. A business getting 5 new reviews a week will rank above one that gets 5 reviews a month, even if they started at the same level. Text the review link within 30 minutes of every completed job.Respond to every review
Google tracks review response rate. Respond to every review — good and bad — within 24 hours. Your public response to a bad review is the message future customers see.Check lead inbox daily
Every lead that sits unanswered is a response time hit. Someone needs to check the inbox at the start and end of every business day and respond to messages immediately.Rate leads weekly
Set a recurring Monday reminder. Pull up the lead inbox at ads.google.com/localservices, review the past week's leads, and rate every one. Negative ratings on bad leads can trigger credits — and your rating history influences how Google evaluates your account over time.Review your budget monthly
If you're hitting your weekly cap consistently and converting leads well, consider a budget increase. If you're not hitting the cap, investigate lead quality first — not budget.Keep GBP optimized
Your LSA rank depends on your GBP health. New photos, new posts, updated hours, and active messaging all feed your LSA ranking. Treat GBP maintenance as part of your LSA strategy, not a separate task. See the GBP recurring maintenance checklist.Watch for category or service area changes
If you add a new service or expand your territory, update your LSA profile the same day. Every day you're not listed for a service is a day you can't rank for it.Check verification status annually
Google will eventually re-verify your license and insurance. When they notify you, respond immediately — expired verification pauses your account and kills rank while it's down.
The difference between a plumber spending $2,000/month on LSAs and getting 40 leads vs. 18 leads: Almost always reviews, response time, and lead disputes. The bid matters less than the operational habits.
Need help getting into the LSA box in your area?
Not sure if you qualify? Getting rejected on verification? Want to know what the lead cost looks like in your market before you commit? Book a free 10-minute call — we'll pull up the current LSA box for your zip codes and tell you exactly what it would take to rank.