Search for a plumber or an electrician in many parts of the UK and you may see a small block of businesses right at the top of the page, each with a star rating, a review count and a “Google Verified” tick. They aren’t normal search ads and they aren’t paying for a premium slot in the usual auction. They’re Local Services Ads, a separate Google product that charges per enquiry rather than per click.
For the trades it covers, it’s worth understanding, because the pricing and the verification process work quite differently from standard Google Ads.
How Local Services Ads differ from standard Google Ads
With a normal Google Ads campaign you choose keywords, write ads and pay each time someone clicks, whether or not they get in touch. Local Services Ads (often shortened to LSA) work the other way round:
- You pay per lead, not per click. You’re charged when a potential customer contacts you through the ad.
- There are no keywords or ad copy to write. You choose the services you offer and the areas you cover, and the ad is built from your profile and reviews.
- Your business has to pass Google’s screening before it can show with the badge.
- They sit in their own unit. Google says Local Services Ads appear at the very top of search results, and on Google Maps, for service searches, so when they show they sit above the standard search ads and the organic results.
You also need a public, verified Google Business Profile, and your reviews feed straight into the ad, so the state of that profile matters a lot. Our post on Google Business Profile mistakes is a good place to start if yours needs attention.
Google Guaranteed is now Google Verified
Older guides (including an earlier version of this one) talk about a green “Google Guaranteed” tick or a “Google Screened” badge. Those have gone. In October 2025 Google replaced Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and License Verified by Google with a single Google Verified badge, which shows on businesses that have completed the screening and verification checks for their category.
The money-back guarantee that came with Google Guaranteed was discontinued at the same time, so don’t describe it to customers as a guarantee. The badge tells people Google has checked the business, not that Google will refund them.
Which UK businesses can use it
Local Services Ads are only available for certain categories, and the list differs by country. Google’s UK getting started page currently lists 28 home service categories, including:
- plumbers, electricians, HVAC (heating or air conditioning) and appliance repair
- roofers, carpenters, handymen, general contractors, flooring, fencing and worktop services
- cleaning, carpet cleaning and window cleaning
- garage door services, window repair, water damage and foundations services
- landscaping, lawn care, tree services, pest control, junk removal and moving services
In the UK, legal services (from family and employment law to property and personal injury) and estate agents are listed as available in Greater London only.
Two cautions. Some trades you might expect aren’t on the UK list at the moment, locksmiths being one. And availability also depends on your area, so the only reliable check is to enter your business and postcode when you sign up. Google adds and changes categories, so check the current list rather than relying on any article, this one included.
What verification involves in the UK
Google’s UK screening and verification requirements for home services include:
- a business registration check
- confirmation that you hold any business licences your trade needs
- proof of public liability insurance (legal firms need professional indemnity insurance and regulator membership instead)
- identity checks on the business owner, and on the people doing the work, in some categories
- a public, verified Google Business Profile
The owner and business background checks Google runs in the US and Canada aren’t listed for the UK. Google says the process takes 3 to 4 weeks on average once you’ve submitted your documents, and advertisers are re-evaluated from time to time, so it isn’t something to start the week you need leads.
What you pay for
Lead prices vary with your location, the type of job and the type of lead, so there’s no single cost per lead we could quote honestly. A roofer in Bristol and a window cleaner in Tewkesbury will see very different figures.
In the UK, Google’s help pages say you’re charged when:
- you answer a call and speak to the customer
- the customer leaves a voicemail
- you miss a call with no voicemail, then return it and speak to them or leave a message
The same page lists charges for text message, email and booking leads as United States and Canada only, so for UK trades, calls are the main type of lead.
You set an average weekly budget, and choose how bidding works: Maximise leads (Google sets your bids to get as many leads as it can for the budget), a target cost per lead, or a maximum you’re willing to pay per lead.
Disputes and credits
This is where UK advertisers need to be careful with older advice. In the US and Canada, Google automatically credits some low-quality leads. Google’s help pages currently state that lead credits aren’t available to advertisers in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), which includes the UK. You can still report a poor lead through the feedback survey for that lead, but don’t build your budget on getting money back for wrong numbers or jobs you don’t do.
What affects where you rank
Your position within the Local Services block depends on your bid and on how likely Google thinks you are to win the customer. Google lists factors such as:
- your rating and number of reviews
- how quickly you respond, and how often you miss calls
- whether your profile has good photos
- which verification checks you’ve completed
- how relevant you are to the search and the location
In practice, the businesses that do best are the ones that answer the phone. Missed calls can hurt your ranking, and a voicemail you’re slow to return is a lead you’ve paid for that may already have gone to someone else.
Changes on the way
Google is moving Local Services Ads into the main Google Ads platform as Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals. The first US advertisers started moving in August 2026, and Google says non-US accounts will follow in 2027. Google says the ads will keep showing on Search and Maps in the same positions and you’ll still pay per lead, but budgets, bidding and lead handling will be managed inside Google Ads. If you start on LSA now, expect the setup to change within the next year or so.
Is it worth it for your trade?
Say you run a roofing firm in Stroud. Most of your work comes from people with a leak who want someone out this week. That’s exactly the kind of urgent, local, phone-first search Local Services Ads suit, and paying per call rather than per click removes a lot of the waste that puts small firms off Google Ads.
It works best alongside standard search campaigns rather than instead of them. Standard Google Ads let you control keywords, choose which pages people land on, advertise services LSA doesn’t cover, and reach people who are still comparing options. LSA also isn’t the only way for a trade business to grow: our local garage door company case study shows a firm that, twelve months into combined SEO and standard Google Ads work, is booked out 12 weeks in advance.
LSA won’t suit you if you can’t reliably answer calls during the hours your ads run, if your reviews are thin, or if your trade isn’t on the UK list yet.
If you’d like to talk through whether Local Services Ads, standard Google Ads management or a mix of both makes sense for your trade, call us on 0330 223 0847 or send us a message.
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