Local Services Ads in the UK: Google Guaranteed, Screened and Verified Explained

Local Services Ads are Google's pay-per-lead adverts for local trades and services. Instead of paying for every click, you pay when a customer contacts you through the ad, usually by phone. They're available in the UK for plumbers, electricians, roofers, heating and air conditioning engineers, general builders and more than 20 other home service categories. The big change most UK guides haven't caught up with yet: the separate "Google Guaranteed" and "Google Screened" badges have gone. Since late 2025 there's one badge, Google Verified, and the Google money-back guarantee has been discontinued.

I set up and manage Local Services Ads for UK clients alongside their normal Google Ads, so this guide is based on what the current Google help pages say and on what I see in real accounts. I've checked every policy detail against Google's own Local Services help centre as of September 2026. It's part of my small business guide to Google Ads and my guide to marketing for tradespeople.

What are Local Services Ads?

Local Services Ads (often shortened to LSAs) show a short profile of your business in a separate block on Google Search: your business name, star rating and number of reviews, your area, your opening hours and the verification badge. Google's ad overview says the phone number shown is a Google tracking number that forwards to your own. When someone taps your listing they see your full profile and can call or message you.

Google describes the Local Services unit as being "shown prominently" in search results. When they appear for a trade search, in my experience they usually sit right at the top of the page, above the standard text ads. That position, plus the badge and the stars, is why they get attention.

You don't write ads or choose keywords. You choose your business category, the job types you do and your service areas, and Google decides which searches to show you for.

Are Local Services Ads available in the UK?

Yes. Google's UK getting started page lists these home service categories:

There's also a set of legal categories and estate agents, which Google says are currently available in Greater London only. For trades, availability can still vary by area, so use Google's eligibility checker for your postcode and category before you plan anything around it.

One thing to notice: there's no separate "gas engineer" or "boiler" category. Heating engineers generally come under HVAC, and plumbers under Plumbers. Choosing the right job types inside the category matters more than people expect, which I'll come back to.

Google Guaranteed vs Google Screened: what changed

If you've read older articles, you'll have seen that trades got a "Google Guaranteed" badge (backed by a money-back guarantee for the customer), while professional services such as solicitors got "Google Screened". That's no longer how it works.

In August 2025 Google announced that "Google Verified will replace other LSA badges and programs, like Google Guaranteed, Google Screened, License Verified by Google and the Money Back Guarantee". Google's Google Verified help page, viewed with the UK settings, confirms:

• There is now one badge for all advertisers. Existing advertisers who had completed verification moved to Google Verified automatically. New advertisers get it once they pass screening.
• The money-back guarantee has been discontinued. Customers could only claim for services booked before 7 December 2025.
• Ranking isn't affected by the change itself. Verified profiles now show which checks the business has passed.

So if someone is selling you "Google Guaranteed status" in 2026, they're working from an out-of-date playbook. Some of Google's own UK marketing pages still mention the old badge names, which doesn't help, but the help centre is the version Google enforces.

What checks UK businesses go through

Google's screening and verification page says the process "varies by business category and location". For a UK trade business, the practical checklist is:

• Business registration. For the UK, Google accepts a VAT number or your Companies House registration number (CRN).
• Insurance. For categories that need it, you upload your public liability or professional indemnity document showing the cover amount, business or owner name and address. Google says employer's liability insurance isn't accepted, and if your policy rolls on without an expiry date you'll need proof of payment for the last year.
• Licences, where your category and country require them. Verified licences are shown on your profile.
• Google Business Profile. The person setting up the ad must be an owner or manager of the matching Business Profile, and the profile must be linked.
• Reviews, subject to category requirements. Google's performance tips page recommends five or more, and says some business types need five to show at all.

What about background checks? Many guides say every LSA advertiser is background checked. Google's current page says criminal background checks of owners and field workers are "required for selected users in the US and Canada". They're not part of the standard UK process as described. Insurance checks, on the other hand, apply to selected users in the US, Canada and EMEA, which includes the UK.

Sole traders without a limited company or VAT number should check the options in their dashboard before starting, because the UK registration documents Google lists are a VAT number and a CRN. Your name, trading name, insurance document and Business Profile all need to match, or verification stalls. Google may also ask you to repeat checks later to keep the badge.

Google also offers "pre-badge" ads, which let you start receiving leads after preliminary checks while you finish the rest. They're placed below fully verified providers, and Google says they aren't available for garage door services or locksmiths.

How pay per lead works

Google's How leads work page sets out the model:

• You set an average weekly budget. You can spend more than that in a busy week, but never more than your monthly maximum (weekly budget multiplied by the average number of weeks in a month). Once you hit it, your ad stops until the next month.
• You choose a bidding mode. "Maximise leads" lets Google set bids to get the most leads for your budget. "Max per lead" lets you cap what you'll pay. Google recommends Maximise leads.
• You pay for valid leads. A lead is valid when, for example, you answer a call and speak to the customer, the customer leaves a voicemail, or you return a missed call and reach them or leave a message.
• Lead prices vary by location, job type, type of lead and bidding mode. Google doesn't publish a UK price list, and higher-quality profiles may pay less per lead.
• Billing runs through Google Ads. Google says any suspension in your Google Ads account also suspends your Local Services Ads, so the account has to be in good standing. If you've had trouble there, read my guide to what to do if your Google Ads account is suspended.

Disputing bad leads in the UK

This is the part UK advertisers get wrong most often, because most of what's written about it is American. Google filters out leads it judges invalid before charging. In the US and Canada it also re-checks charged leads and credits poor ones automatically. But Google's lead credits page states that lead credits "aren't available for healthcare verticals, tax specialists or advertisers in EMEA". The UK is in EMEA.

What you can still do is rate leads in your Local Services inbox, which Google says helps it send you more of the leads you want. The practical protection is in your settings: only tick the job types you actually do, keep service areas to where you'll genuinely travel, and set opening hours you can honour. Google lists "a valid lead was received outside of your opening hours" and "you listed a general service type on your profile, but you don't do a specific type of service" as examples of leads that won't be credited, even where credits exist.

How Local Services Ads are ranked

According to Google's ad rankings page, listings are ordered by an auction that weighs your bid against how likely your ad is to produce a lead. The factors Google names:

• Your bid, the maximum you're willing to pay for a lead, though you may pay less.
• Responsiveness. Google says missed calls may count against you. This is where a lot of busy one-person trade businesses lose out.
• What the customer is searching for, including the job, the time of the search and their location, and how relevant your services and business bio are.
• Profile quality: your rating, number of reviews, average response time, high-quality photos and the verification checks you've completed.

Your opening hours matter too. They're shown on your ad, and Google's leads page lists a lead received outside your opening hours as one that won't be credited. Google also says it balances the auction for "the overall health and diversity" of the platform, so even strong profiles won't win every search. If you run several locations covering the same area, only your highest-ranking one shows for a search.

A word on service areas. Google's own performance tips suggest setting them broadly, for example a whole county rather than specific postcodes. That will get you more leads. It won't necessarily get you more profitable jobs. On standard Search campaigns I target tightly around where a client is based, because shorter travel means more jobs a day. With LSAs I start closer to that approach and widen only if the leads are coming in at a price that works and the client is happy to travel.

Local Services Ads vs standard Google Search ads for trades

They aren't either/or. For most of my trade clients who qualify, I run both. LSAs pick up people who want someone now and trust the badge and stars. Search campaigns let me go after the specific, higher-value work the client actually wants, like boiler installations or rewires, and exclude the rest with negative keywords, which you can't do in LSAs. If you're weighing up whether paid ads make sense at all, I've written an honest answer to whether Google Ads are worth it for a small business, and a breakdown of how much Google Ads cost in the UK.

Are Local Services Ads worth it for your trade?

They're usually worth trying if:

• You're in an eligible category and area, with a claimed and active Google Business Profile.
• You already have a decent number of good reviews. Stars sit right next to your competitors' in the LSA block.
• Someone reliably answers the phone during the hours you advertise.
• Your paperwork (registration, insurance) is in order and in the same name as your Business Profile.

They're harder to make pay if you can't answer calls during the day, you only want one narrow type of job, or you have few reviews. Because UK advertisers don't get automated credits, every irrelevant call that counts as a valid lead is money gone. Tight job types and honest hours are your main defence.

Having spent 16 years running a plumbers' merchants, I've seen plenty of good tradespeople lose work simply because the phone rang out while they were on a job. With LSAs, that doesn't just lose the job, it can lower your ranking too. If that's you, either use a call answering service or limit your ad hours to when someone can pick up.

How I set up Local Services Ads for UK clients

1. Check eligibility and paperwork first. Category, area, company or VAT details, and an insurance document that matches the business name exactly.
2. Tidy the Google Business Profile. Correct name, categories, hours and photos, and make sure the right person has owner or manager access.
3. Choose job types carefully. Only work the client genuinely wants and can do.
4. Set service areas around the base, then widen only if leads are affordable and the client is happy to travel.
5. Set honest opening hours that match when calls will actually be answered.
6. Start with a modest weekly budget, watch lead quality and cost per lead, and rate every lead in the inbox.
7. Report leads alongside Search campaigns. I report total leads by source and type, spend and cost per lead, so you can see which channel is actually winning work.

For the wider picture on running paid search as a tradesperson, see my practical guide to Google Ads for trades. If you're a plumber looking at all your options, my guide to plumbing lead generation covers the channels that don't involve paying Google at all.

FAQ

Is Google Guaranteed still available in the UK?

No. Google replaced Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and Licence Verified by Google with a single Google Verified badge, and discontinued the money-back guarantee. Customers could only claim for services booked before 7 December 2025. Businesses that were already verified moved to the new badge automatically.

How much do Local Services Ads cost in the UK?

You pay per valid lead rather than per click, within a weekly budget you set. Google doesn't publish UK lead prices. They vary by location, job type, type of lead and bidding mode, and Google says higher-quality profiles may pay less per lead.

Can I get refunded for bad Local Services leads in the UK?

Not through automated credits. Google's help centre says lead credits aren't available to advertisers in EMEA, which includes the UK. You can still rate leads so Google learns what you want, and you should tighten job types, service areas and hours to reduce unwanted calls.

Do I need a background check for Local Services Ads in the UK?

According to Google's current help pages, criminal background checks are required for selected users in the US and Canada. UK checks focus on business registration (VAT number or Companies House number), insurance, licences where relevant, your Google Business Profile and reviews. Check your own dashboard, because requirements vary by category.

Do Local Services Ads replace normal Google Ads?

No. They run from the same Google Ads billing but work differently, and they appear in a separate block. Most trades that qualify do best running both: LSAs for urgent jobs and trust, Search campaigns for the specific, higher-value work they want more of.

Want a hand with Local Services Ads?

Local Services Ads can be one of the best-value lead sources for a UK trade business, as long as the settings are tight and someone answers the phone. The verification is fiddly, the UK rules differ from the American guides you'll find online, and there's no safety net of automatic credits, so it pays to get the set-up right.

I set up and manage Local Services Ads alongside Search campaigns for UK tradespeople, and you deal with me directly. If you're already running them and the leads aren't paying, I'm happy to take a look. Find out more about my Google Ads management service, see my wider PPC services, or get in touch and tell me about your business.