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What Google actually says about Local Services Ads — not what gets repeated about it

Every row here is a sentence pulled from Google's own Local Services Ads Help Center, with the link and the date it was checked. The most consequential change on this page: Google Guaranteed and Google Screened no longer exist as separate badges — both are folded into a single Google Verified badge, and the old money-back guarantee stopped taking new claims in December 2025. If a number isn't on a Google page, it isn't in the table below — it's in the dropped section, with what actually happened when it was checked.

Collected and checked by Anton Khripko Last verified September 9, 2026 CC BY 4.0 — reuse it with a link

Last verified September 9, 2026 16 rows · 11 sources · 5 claims dropped

Local Services Ads rules, quoted from Google
Metric Value Period Source Cite
Number of countries where Local Services Ads is available If your business is outside these 11 countries, Local Services Ads is not an option yet — don't budget for it or let an agency sell you "LSA everywhere." This is the country switcher embedded in this exact help page — a dropdown with 11 options, opened and counted by hand on the access date, since Google never states the number "11" in a sentence anywhere on the page. Testing other ISO codes (Netherlands, Australia, Japan) redirects to the default United States page instead of rendering a localized one, which is why they are not counted.
Verbatim from the source
Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Checked 2026-09-09 · opened by hand — the publisher blocks scripts

11countries current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, "Getting started with Local Services Ads"
Number of distinct service categories eligible for Local Services Ads in the United States Check your exact trade against this list yourself before assuming eligibility — categories are added, restricted by state, or excluded from badging independently of each other. Google states no total here — this is the actual bulleted category list on this exact page, opened directly and counted by hand: 204 line items for the US market alone. Some entries are geo-limited, e.g. "Architect (California and Florida only)" and "Drain expert (California and Florida only)." This supersedes the often-cited "70+ categories" figure, which comes from a March 2023 Google blog post pre-dating this year's badge overhaul.
Verbatim from the source
Acai Shop, Acupuncturist, African Restaurant … Window repair services, Yoga studio

Checked 2026-09-09 · opened by hand — the publisher blocks scripts

204categories current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, "Getting started with Local Services Ads" (United States)
Who performs LSA background checks, and what they cover Budget onboarding time for every owner and every technician who touches jobs, not just the business itself, to clear a background check before the ad can go live. Google does not run the checks itself — it contracts them out to background-check partner companies, and every owner plus every worker performing the core service must individually pass one.
Verbatim from the source
Local background check partners perform background checks. Background check results remain strictly confidential between the business and background check partner. All owners of the business must complete a criminal background check. This background check involves identity and criminal history checks... like cross-checks against national sex offender, terrorist, or sanctions registries in the US.

Checked 2026-09-09

Third-party background check partners; identity + criminal history current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, "Understand the screening and verification process"
What license verification Google performs before approving an advertiser Keep every worker's license current and on file — Google checks at the worker level, not only at the business-entity level. The qualifier "to the extent practical" means the depth of the license check can vary by category and jurisdiction — it is not a uniform bar everywhere.
Verbatim from the source
Google verifies that advertisers hold applicable state, provincial and/or country-level licenses for businesses and owners or managers, to the extent practical, and confirms that all workers are appropriately licensed.

Checked 2026-09-09

State/provincial/country-level license check, to the extent practical current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, "How providers qualify for Local Services Ads"
Insurance requirement for LSA advertisers Ask your onboarding specialist for the exact coverage type and minimum for your specific category and state before you submit documents, rather than guessing from a generic "general liability" policy. Google does not publish one fixed minimum coverage amount across categories — it varies by trade and by location, so there is no single dollar figure to quote.
Verbatim from the source
Whenever applicable, each business must be insured. The insurance type and minimum amount required depend on the category and location.

Checked 2026-09-09

Certificate of insurance required where the category demands it current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, "How providers qualify for Local Services Ads"
What makes a Local Services Ads lead chargeable Log every disputed lead against these specific exclusion categories from day one — a vague "this was a bad lead" complaint will not match what Google will actually credit. The same page lists leads that are NOT charged: those received outside stated business hours, customers who were only seeking advice, canceled bookings, price-shoppers, no-shows on a callback, or requests for a service the business doesn't actually offer.
Verbatim from the source
You're charged for each valid lead you receive through your Local Services ad.

Checked 2026-09-09

Any valid contact: call, text, email, voicemail, returned missed call, or booking request current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, "How leads work"
Time window and eligibility to dispute a charged lead Review every lead within days, not weeks — waiting even a few weeks past the job can put you outside the 30-day dispute window entirely. A companion article adds the geographic and category limits: "A successfully disputed lead will be credited back to you (US and Canada only). Note that lead disputes aren't available for health care verticals." (support.google.com/localservices/answer/11444536, accessed 2026-09-09).
Verbatim from the source
Unfortunately, leads can only be disputed within 30 days.

Checked 2026-09-09

30 days, US and Canada only, excludes health care verticalsdays current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, lead-dispute help article
Status of the Google Guarantee money-back guarantee Do not advertise a "Google-backed money-back guarantee" on your site or ads anymore — the underlying consumer guarantee this claim relied on has been wound down. As of the access date, the consumer-facing money-back guarantee tied to the old "Google Guarantee" badge no longer accepts new claims; the page does not reproduce the old lifetime dollar cap that used to apply.
Verbatim from the source
Google will be discontinuing the Money Back Guarantee associated with the Google Guarantee badge. Eligible consumers can submit the request for reimbursement for services booked through Local Services Ads before December 7, 2025. Requests must be submitted within 30 days of the initial service completion date.

Checked 2026-09-09

Discontinued; last reimbursement requests accepted before Dec 7, 2025 reimbursement deadline: 2025-12-07 Google Local Services Help, "The Google Guarantee"
Consolidation of LSA trust badges into a single Google Verified badge Update any marketing material that still says "Google Guaranteed" or "Google Screened" — the current, accurate claim is simply "Google Verified," with the specific checks named. Google no longer describes separate "Google Guaranteed" and "Google Screened" tiers on its current help pages — both terms now redirect conceptually to the single Google Verified badge, with the specific verifications completed (background check, license, insurance, etc.) called out on the profile instead of via a distinct badge name.
Verbatim from the source
Google is continuously looking to innovate and improve our advertiser and consumer experience. In that spirit, we're simplifying our advertiser badging by launching a single badge for all advertisers. ... All eligible existing advertisers who've completed verification requirements will automatically earn the new Google Verified badge and your ads will continue running as usual.

Checked 2026-09-09

One unified "Google Verified" badge replaces the old badge set current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, "About Google Verified badge"
Categories currently excluded from the Google Verified badge If you're in an auto-repair, salon, or restaurant-adjacent category, don't promise a Google Verified badge to prospects — advertise on LSA without it, or in a pre-badge capacity. See the disagreements section — a separate Google help page states the dining exclusion differently (naming Food and Beverage, Restaurants, and Dessert and Coffee specifically) and does not mention auto or beauty at all.
Verbatim from the source
Note: The Google Verified badge is currently unavailable for verticals in the auto, beauty, and dining categories.

Checked 2026-09-09

Auto, beauty, and dining verticals current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, "Getting started with Local Services Ads" (United States)
Categories excluded even from pre-badge (unverified) LSA ads In these three categories, plan your onboarding timeline as a hard gate before any lead flow starts — there's no partial "getting leads while we finish paperwork" phase. Pre-badge ads let a provider collect leads while still finishing onboarding checks; these three categories cannot run at all until every check is fully completed.
Verbatim from the source
Note: Pre-badge ads aren't available for garage door services, health care verticals, and locksmiths.

Checked 2026-09-09

Garage door services, health care verticals, and locksmiths current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, "Getting started with Local Services Ads" (United States)
Role of bid amount in Local Services Ads ranking Raising your bid is one lever, not the only one — it interacts with your profile quality and responsiveness rather than guaranteeing top placement by itself. Ranking is explicitly an auction combined with a "lead likelihood" score, not bid amount alone.
Verbatim from the source
The amount you bid is the maximum amount you're willing to pay for a lead, though you may end up paying less.

Checked 2026-09-09

Bid = maximum willingness to pay per lead, in an auction current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, "About ad rankings"
Role of responsiveness in Local Services Ads ranking Treat every missed call as a ranking cost, not just a lost lead — staff phone coverage during your stated business hours matters to visibility, not only to conversion. The companion "Getting started" page reinforces this: "If you regularly fail to answer calls or respond to messages, your ad ranking may be affected." (support.google.com/localservices/answer/6224841, accessed 2026-09-09).
Verbatim from the source
Your responsiveness to customer inquiries and requests: Missed calls may negatively affect your responsiveness.

Checked 2026-09-09

Missed calls can hurt ranking current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, "About ad rankings"
Profile-quality factors Google names for Local Services Ads ranking Reviews, response time, and photos are the levers you fully control day to day — invest there first, since bid alone won't offset a thin, slow-to-respond profile. Google bundles proximity, service relevance, time-of-search and business hours into a separate "context of the search" factor on the same page rather than listing them as profile-quality items — it does not give either factor a numeric weight.
Verbatim from the source
Your rating, number of reviews, average response time, use of high-quality images, the verification checks you have completed, and any other information about your business.

Checked 2026-09-09

Rating, review count, response time, photos, completed verification checks current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, "About ad rankings"
How Google calculates the monthly spend cap from a weekly LSA budget Use this exact formula to back into a target weekly budget from a monthly ad-spend cap you've already set, instead of guessing and checking. The same page states you will never exceed this monthly max, and that once it's hit, the ad stops appearing for the rest of the month unless the budget is raised.
Verbatim from the source
The exact formula for the monthly max is average weekly budget x 30.4 ÷ 7.

Checked 2026-09-09

weekly budget × 30.4 ÷ 7formula current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, "How to edit your budget"
LSA charging trigger relative to ad impressions/clicks Don't budget LSA the way you budget search-ads CPC — the unit of cost is a qualifying lead, not a click, so compare cost-per-lead against your close rate, not against impression volume. This distinguishes LSA's pay-per-lead model from standard Google Ads' pay-per-click model; the specific per-lead price still varies by bidding mode, location, and category (see the monthly-max row for the spend ceiling).
Verbatim from the source
You'll have an opportunity to appear prominently in Searches and connect with customers in your area, and only pay when a customer gets in touch from your ad.

Checked 2026-09-09

Pay only when a customer makes contact, not per click or impression current policy, accessed 2026-09-09 Google Local Services Help, "Local Services Ads overview"

Showing 16 of 16 rows

Where the sources disagree

We do not pick the “right” number for you. Where two honest sources count differently, both are here, along with the reason they differ.

Which categories are excluded from the Google Verified badge

Both are live Google Local Services Help pages fetched the same day, but one names three broad verticals (auto, beauty, dining) while the other names only dining, broken into three narrower sub-categories, and explicitly says all other verticals are unaffected. This reads as two help pages updated on different schedules after the Google Verified badge rollout rather than a real policy conflict — Google has not reconciled the wording across both articles as of the access date.

What did not survive checking

These are claims we went looking for and could not confirm at the source. They are not in the table — and they are listed here so you do not spend time on them either.

Exact effective date (day/month/year) when Google Guaranteed, Google Screened, and License Verified by Google were discontinued in favor of Google Verified
Only found in secondary sources reached via web search (AI-generated summaries), which gave conflicting dates — October 20, 2025 in one summary, November 7, 2025 in another. The only date confirmed by opening a Google page directly was the December 7, 2025 deadline for consumer reimbursement requests, so that is the only date used in the dataset.
Lifetime dollar cap on Google Guarantee reimbursement per customer
The dedicated definitional page (support.google.com/localservices/answer/12778341) now only states a general one-sentence definition of the discontinued badge; it no longer reproduces the dollar figure or lifetime-limit table that used to accompany it, and no other current Google page opened restates the cap.
Current total category count for Local Services Ads across all 11 countries combined
Google's own pages only publish per-country category lists, and the only aggregate figure available ("more than 70 types of service area and storefront businesses") comes from a Google blog post dated March 7, 2023, which pre-dates this year's badge and category changes and is very likely stale — the US list alone now runs to 204 categories.
Netherlands and Australia as supported Local Services Ads markets
A web-search AI summary claimed Netherlands availability, but navigating support.google.com's own country-code URL for Netherlands (co=GENIE.CountryCode:NL) and for Australia (AU) both silently redirected to the default United States page rather than rendering a localized page — the same fallback behavior confirmed for Japan, a country known not to be supported. Treated as not supported.
Exact per-lead dollar price or price range for a Local Services Ads lead
Google's own help pages explicitly decline to publish a number, stating lead price "varies by location, job type, and bidding mode" — no figure to quote.

Methodology

Every row comes from Google's own Local Services Ads Help Center (support.google.com/localservices), opened directly with WebFetch or the browser tool in this session — never from a search-result snippet alone. Pages covered: getting started and eligibility, screening and verification, ad rankings, lead handling and disputes, budget mechanics, and the new Google Verified badge.

The country count and the US category count are the two rows in this dataset where Google states no number in a sentence — they come from counting entries in an on-page selector and an on-page category list. Both were reopened and recounted by hand for this publication: the country switcher is an 11-option dropdown embedded in the "Getting started" page (other ISO codes tested — Netherlands, Australia, Japan — redirect to the US default rather than rendering their own page), and the US category list runs to 204 line items, several of them state-restricted. Both rows are marked verification: manual for that reason.

Rows about the discontinued Google Guarantee / Google Screened badges and their replacement by the single Google Verified badge were kept deliberately narrow, since Google's current help pages describe the new unified system far more than the retired one. Any number that could not be personally verified on a live Google page — an exact discontinuation date, a lifetime dollar cap, an aggregate cross-country category count — was moved to the dropped section rather than estimated.

Sources

How to cite this page

Husky Digital. Local Services Ads rules, quoted from Google. Last verified September 9, 2026. https://husky-digital.com/research/local-services-ads-rules/

The same dataset, machine-readable, without the interface: CSV · JSON

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