--- title: Local Services Ads (LSA) — definition and how they bill | Siite description: "Local Services Ads explained: how pay-per-lead billing works, what Google Guaranteed requires, and how LSAs differ from standard Google Ads." url: "https://siite.co/dictionary/local-services-ads" type: static generatedAt: "2026-10-22T08:21:10.799Z" --- Paid Media # Local Services Ads Google's pay-per-lead ad format for local service businesses, shown above the Local Pack with a Google Guaranteed badge, where you are billed per lead rather than per click. Also goes by LSA, Google Guaranteed ads [![Siite](/images/layout/logo.svg)Written by Siite](/about/)Updated September 8, 2026 ## Entry contents [All Terms A to Z←Browse the full dictionary](/dictionary/) Local Services Ads sit at the very top of the results page for service searches, above both the [Local Pack](/dictionary/local-pack/) and standard search ads. Each one shows a business name, a rating, hours and a [Google Guarantee](/dictionary/google-guarantee/) or Google Screened badge. You are billed per lead — a call or a message — rather than per click. > **Briefly explained** > > - The top block on the page, above everything else. > - You pay per lead, not per click. > - Getting in requires license, insurance and background checks. > - Ranking leans on reviews, proximity and how fast you answer. ## How do you get in? Through paperwork rather than bidding. Google verifies your license and insurance, and for most categories runs background checks on the business and sometimes on staff. That barrier keeps the auction smaller than standard search, which is the good news. The bad news is that onboarding takes weeks, and an expired certificate of insurance pauses the ads without much warning. ## How does the ranking work? Google names the inputs, and they are not the ones that drive search ads. - **Review score and count.** See [review velocity](/dictionary/review-velocity/). - **Responsiveness.** Unanswered calls and ignored messages push you down. - **Proximity** to the person searching. - **Business hours**, and whether you are open when they search. - **Budget**, which sets how often you are eligible to appear. Notice what is missing: keywords, ad copy, landing pages. There is very little to optimize, and a great deal to operate well. ## How does the billing work? Per lead, at a rate Google sets by category and area. Two things follow. - **A lead is not a job.** The same wrong-number and out-of-area calls that waste your time are billable until you dispute them. - **Disputes are routine.** Leads outside the job types or areas you selected can be credited. Filing them weekly is part of running the channel, not an exception. ## Where do they fit next to everything else? Three surfaces share one results page, and they are worth planning together. - **LSAs** buy the top slot and bill per lead - **[Search ads](/dictionary/google-ads/)** cover the queries and landing pages LSAs cannot target - **Local Pack and organic** are the part you keep when the budget stops A sensible split uses LSAs for the urgent calls, search for everything that needs a page to explain it, and local SEO as the asset underneath both. ## What do the terms mean? - **Google Guarantee:** The badge for home-service categories, backed by a limited Google-funded guarantee. - **Google Screened:** What professional-services categories get instead. - **Job type:** The category of work you have opted into. - **Lead dispute:** Asking to be refunded for a lead you should never have been charged for. - **Responsiveness:** How quickly and how often you answer. A ranking input here, unlike anywhere else in Google Ads. Owner questions ## What owners ask us about Local Services Ads ### How do LSAs differ from ordinary search ads? +LSAs bill per lead and require license, insurance and background checks. Standard search ads bill per click and let you control keywords and landing pages. They occupy different slots on the same results page. ### Can I get a refund for a bad lead? +Leads outside the job types or service areas you selected can be disputed for credit. Disputing them promptly is part of running the channel, not an edge case. ### Does my review score affect LSA ranking? +Yes. Google lists review score and count among the ranking inputs, alongside proximity, responsiveness, business hours and budget. Missed calls push you down. ### How long does approval take? +It depends on how fast license and insurance verification and the background check clear. Plan for weeks rather than days, and start the paperwork before you need the leads. ### Can I choose which jobs I get? +Only roughly. You pick job types and service areas, and that is the extent of the targeting. There are no keywords and no landing pages, which is the trade-off for the position.Put this to work ## Guides that use this Step-by-step playbooks from the team, written for owners doing the work themselves. No sign-up and no email required. [### LSAs vs Google Ads for Austin plumbers: when each one wins Local Service Ads pay per lead, Google Ads pay per click. The right answer for a plumber depends on the season. The math from $6.7M in observed spend. Read the guide→](/articles/lsa-vs-google-ads-austin-plumbers/)4.9191 reviewsWhere this turns into work ## The top slot, run properly Verification handled, job types and areas set to the work you want, disputes filed every week, and the whole channel measured against your search campaigns. [See the service→](/services/google-ads/)[Ask us about it](/contact/) ![Mikkel Friis, Marketing Manager at Siite](/images/team/panel/mikkel-friis.webp) *Our marketing manager* ## Related entries - [### Quality Score Google Ads' 1-10 diagnostic estimating how relevant your keyword, ad and landing page are to a searcher — better relevance generally means a lower cost per click.](/dictionary/quality-score/) - [### Cost Per Lead What you spend to generate one inquiry — total marketing cost for a channel divided by the number of leads it produced in the same period.](/dictionary/cost-per-lead/) - [### Review Velocity The rate at which a business earns new reviews over time — a steady, recent flow, rather than a large total collected years ago.](/dictionary/review-velocity/) - [### Local Pack The block of three local businesses Google shows above the organic results for searches with local intent, pulled from Google Business Profile data rather than from your website.](/dictionary/local-pack/) [All terms A to Z Browse every term A to Z Open the dictionary→](/dictionary/)