Local Services Ads in the UK: what they cost and who can use them

Local Services Ads are Google adverts for service businesses where you pay per lead, such as an answered call or a message, rather than per click.

In the UK they're open to a set list of home-service trades, including plumbers, electricians and roofers, and to lawyers and estate agents in Greater London only. You pass Google's checks before the ad goes live.

They're separate from your free listing on Google Maps, and paying for them doesn't move it: Google says "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google." So before you pay per lead, it's worth knowing where you already show for free.

The free local rank checker checks one search from 25 spots around your business, with no account needed.

Most of the guides that rank for this are American, or were written before Google changed its badges. This one sticks to Google's UK pages and its own help centre, each checked on 26 October 2026, and says where they disagree.

What are Google Local Services Ads?

Local Services Ads (LSAs) are a Google ad product for local service businesses, run from a Local Services account rather than an ordinary Google Ads campaign. Google's overview says the ad "highlights the most important information for customers to choose your business".

It lists what that is: your business name, a tracking phone number and your town or city, your star rating and number of reviews, your opening hours, the Google Verified badge, and photos with a short bio.

The difference from other Google ads is what you pay for. Google's UK page puts it this way: "Only pay when potential customers get in touch through your ads on Local Services Ads." As for where they show, the overview says businesses can "appear prominently in Searches" and doesn't list every place.

Which UK trades can use Local Services Ads?

Only the categories Google lists. Its UK help page, Getting started with Local Services Ads, says "At present, Local Services Ads are available only for certain service categories," and splits them in two.

Google's UK sales page lists much the same trades, 31 home services and 17 business services, but it doesn't mention the London limit, and it still files them under the old badge names.

If you're a solicitor or estate agent outside London, go by the help page and check your eligibility on the Local Services site before you plan around it.

If your trade isn't on either list, locksmiths for example, Local Services Ads aren't open to you from these pages. Your options are the free listing and Google Maps ads, which charge per click. Our guide to local SEO for plumbers and trades covers the free side.

How much do Local Services Ads cost?

There's no fixed price. You pay for each lead, and Google's help page on how leads work says "Lead prices may vary depending on your location, the job type, the type of lead, or your bidding mode".

Google's UK pages don't publish a price list. You set a budget instead: the UK page says you choose it "based on the number of new leads you want every week", and you can change it when you need to.

The same help page says what counts as a lead:

• Charged: a call you answer, or a call back where you speak to the customer; a call you miss during your opening hours where the customer stays on the line for more than 20 seconds; a voicemail; or a text message or email from them.
• Not charged: leads Google judges "invalid or low quality", calls where the customer doesn't press a key to be put through, and follow-up calls or messages from a customer you've already paid for, as long as you're in touch within 15 days and they use the same number or email address.

Once you're live, answer the phone. Google's UK help page says "If you regularly fail to answer calls or respond to messages, your ad ranking may be affected."

Lead credits and disputes in the UK

If a lead is poor, you can tell Google in that lead's feedback survey, and Google may credit some leads automatically.

But a footnote on the same page says "Lead credits aren't available for health care verticals, tax specialists, or for advertisers in EMEA", and another line says automatic credits "are not available for accounts located in European Economic Area (EEA) countries".

The UK is in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa). As Google words it today, a UK advertiser shouldn't plan on getting money back for a bad lead, so budget as if every charged lead stays charged.

Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and the Google Verified badge

Google used to give Local Services advertisers one of several badges. Its help page, About Google Verified badge, says Google is "launching a single badge for all advertisers", and that existing advertisers who've completed verification "will automatically earn the new Google Verified badge".

The same page says "Google will be discontinuing the Money Back Guarantee associated with the Google Guarantee badge". Customers could ask for reimbursement only for services booked through Local Services Ads before 7 December 2025, within 30 days of the work first being completed.

IllustrationExample

Google's UK sales page hasn't caught up. On 26 October 2026 it still says "Displaying the Google Guaranteed, Google Screened, or License verified by Google badge earns you credibility", while its own FAQ says you go live with a Google Verified badge.

Go by the help page: it's the one that describes the change, and it adds that "Local Services Ads ranking won't be affected by this change."

The Google Verified badge is not the same as verifying your Business Profile. Verifying your profile is a separate, free step for your listing on Search and Maps, and our guide to verifying your Google Business Profile covers it. The badge belongs to Local Services Ads and comes from Google's screening for the ads.

How to set up Local Services Ads in the UK

Google's UK page gives four steps.

1. Tell Google about your business. You start on the Local Services site, check you're eligible and create a profile that Google says is "synced with your Google Business Profile". If your profile isn't verified yet, do that first.
2. Set your budget, based on how many leads you want each week.
3. Complete screening and verification. Google says it "may include background, business registration, insurance and licence checks", and that you upload your licence, your insurance certificate and your Companies House or VAT registration.
4. Go live. Your ad starts showing once you've passed.

The UK help page also describes "pre-badge" ads, which can take leads "after you've passed the preliminary checks" while you finish the rest.

What they need includes a licence or business registration, billing and a budget, and reviews, "subject to category requirements", so getting more Google reviews helps here as well as on your free listing. Google places pre-badge ads "below providers who've completed all onboarding requirements", and they aren't available for garage door services, healthcare or locksmiths.

Are Local Services Ads going away?

They're moving rather than going away. Google's help page on the move to Performance Max says Local Services Ads are "transitioning to a more integrated, self-service experience inside the Google Ads platform", and that existing campaigns "will be automatically migrated to a specialized Performance Max campaign type".

It started with selected US advertisers in August 2026. For 2027 the page says "Non-U.S. accounts, and all remaining business categories that were not migrated in 2026 will transition to Google Ads."

What carries over, on the same page: your verified status and Google Verified badge transfer automatically, and "You still only pay for valid leads (such as phone calls and messages) rather than ad clicks." What changes:

• "Manual bidding (such as setting a maximum cost-per-lead) is no longer supported in Google Ads".
• Your weekly budget is divided by 7 to make a daily one.
• Your old performance reports don't move across.
• Google emails you 14 days before your account moves.

On Google's timeline, UK accounts move in 2027.

Local Services Ads, Google Maps ads or your free listing?

They're three different things, and the picture at the top puts them side by side.

Neither kind of ad changes who's in the Google 3-pack, the box of local businesses on a normal search. Google ranks free listings on relevance, distance and popularity, and our guide to ranking higher on Google Maps goes through each.

If your trade is on Google's list, Local Services Ads suit jobs where one call is worth a lot and you can pick up quickly. They make least sense where your free listing already shows across the area you cover, because you'd be paying for customers who could have found you anyway.

And with no lead credits for UK advertisers on Google's current wording, a run of poor leads is your cost. So find out where your free listing shows first, then decide whether to pay to fill the gaps.

Kerbrank does that check every week for the searches you choose, from spots across your area, so you can see where your free listing is missing and whether a change worked. It doesn't track ads of any kind. You can start a 14-day free trial and see your first map once the first reading is done.

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