Local Service Ads (LSA) appear above everything else in Google search, above organic results, above traditional Google Ads, even above the Local Pack. This guide covers how to qualify, set up, and optimize LSA for small businesses in 2026.
84% of local searchers click on the first result they find relevant. Local Service Ads appear before that first result. If your business qualifies for LSA and you're not using them, you're letting competitors take the top of the page while you fight for position below.
Here's what most guides skip: LSA isn't just a paid placement, it's also a trust signal. The Google Screened and Google Guaranteed badges that come with LSA tell searchers that Google has verified your business. In service categories where trust is the purchase barrier (home services, legal, healthcare), that badge converts.
Local Service Ads are Google's pay-per-lead ad format for local service businesses. Unlike traditional Google Ads (where you pay per click), you pay only when a potential customer contacts you directly, by phone call or message, through the ad.
LSAs appear at the very top of Google search results when someone searches for a local service. They show your business name, star rating, review count, hours, and the Google Guaranteed or Google Screened badge. The placement is above organic results, above the Local Pack, and above traditional paid search ads.
The ranking factors for LSA are different from Google Maps ranking. LSA ranks based on:
One important distinction: LSA is separate from your Google Business Profile. You need both for full local search coverage, LSA for top-of-page paid placement, GBP for the Local Pack.
📊 Flento Data: Based on Flento's analysis of service business campaigns, businesses using both LSA and an optimized GBP capture 40% more total local search visibility than those using either channel alone.
🛠️ Action Step: Go to ads.google.com/local-services-ads and check whether your business type and location are eligible for LSA. The qualification process has expanded significantly since 2023, many categories that weren't available before now are.
As of 2026, LSA is available for a wide range of local service categories. The main eligible categories include:
Home services: HVAC, plumbing, electricians, roofing, garage door, pest control, carpet cleaning, house cleaning, locksmith, painting, landscaping, tree service
Healthcare: Dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, physical therapists, mental health providers, dermatologists
Legal: Attorneys and law firms (limited to certain practice areas)
Financial: Tax preparers, financial planners
Education: Tutors and private educators
Pet care: Pet groomers, pet trainers, boarding
Real estate: Agents and brokers
Auto: Auto repair
The full list is updated regularly by Google. If your category isn't listed above, check the LSA setup portal, Google adds new categories periodically.
💡 Pro Tip: LSA availability varies by city. A category that's available in Dallas may not yet be available in a smaller market. Check your specific business category and location combination in the LSA portal.
Setting up an LSA profile is separate from your Google Business Profile, you create it through the Local Services Ads portal. Here's what you need:
Business information: Your official business name, address, phone number, website, and service area. Make sure this matches your GBP exactly, Google cross-references the two.
Services offered: Select every service you offer from Google's menu. Only the services you list will trigger your ads. Be specific: don't select "Plumbing" if you only do emergency plumbing and drain cleaning, select the specific services you actually want leads for.
Service area: Set your geographic coverage. You can set it by zip code, city, or radius. Be realistic, don't claim a 100-mile radius if you won't actually drive that far. Overreach in service area leads to poor-fit leads.
Business hours: Set accurate hours. LSA uses your hours to determine when to show your ads and when to mark you as "currently open", mismatched hours hurt your lead quality.
Insurance and license numbers: These are required for verification (covered in the next step). Have them ready before you start setup.
🛠️ Action Step: Start your LSA setup at ads.google.com/local-services-ads. The full setup takes 20–30 minutes. Have your business license, insurance certificate, and GBP login ready.
The Google Screened and Google Guaranteed badges, the main trust signals in LSA, require passing Google's verification process. What's required varies by business category:
For most home service businesses (Google Guaranteed):
For professional services (Google Screened):
Verification timeline: Typically 2–5 business days for straightforward verifications. More complex categories (healthcare, legal) can take 1–2 weeks.
⚠️ Common Mistake: Letting your business license or insurance expire and not updating it in the LSA portal. Google will pause your ads immediately if your verification documents lapse, and reactivation takes days. Set a calendar reminder 30 days before any verification document expires.
🛠️ Action Step: Submit your verification documents as soon as you create your LSA profile. Don't wait, verification is the bottleneck, and your ads won't show until it's complete.
LSA uses a weekly budget model. You set a maximum weekly spend, and Google distributes your budget across the week to maximize lead volume.
Starting budget recommendation: Start with $150–$300 per week depending on your category. Home services categories (HVAC, plumbing) have higher cost-per-lead than softer categories (pet grooming, tutoring). Your first month is about calibrating lead quality and volume, don't start with your maximum budget.
Understanding cost-per-lead: You pay when a customer contacts you through the ad. Typical cost-per-lead ranges by category:
Disputing leads: If you receive a lead that doesn't match your services or service area, you can dispute it within the LSA dashboard. Google reviews disputes and refunds credits for invalid leads. Dispute every clearly invalid lead, this directly affects your ROI.
💡 Pro Tip: Track which services generate your highest-quality leads, not just highest volume. A plumber might get 30 leads for drain cleaning and 5 for water heater installation, but the water heater jobs have 5x the ticket value. Adjust your service selections based on job value, not just lead volume.
🛠️ Action Step: Set your starting budget at the low end of the range for your category. Review your lead quality weekly for the first month. Adjust up once you have confirmation that leads are converting to customers.
Once your LSA is live, your ranking within the placement depends on factors you can control:
Review count and rating: LSA pulls your reviews from your GBP. More reviews and a higher average rating improve your LSA ranking. This is the most impactful controllable factor. If you're not actively building reviews, start now.
Responsiveness: Google tracks how quickly you respond to leads. Businesses that respond within 15 minutes rank better than those that respond in hours. Set up instant notifications for new LSA leads.
Job types: If you only want high-value jobs, be selective about which services you list. Every service you list is a service you'll pay to receive leads for.
Photos: Add real photos to your LSA profile, team photos, work photos, your vehicle or equipment. These appear in your ad card and build trust before a customer calls.
🔥 Quick Win: Turn on instant notifications for LSA leads in the Google Local Services app (available on iOS and Android). The businesses with the best responsiveness scores are the ones who respond to every lead within minutes, not hours.
🛠️ Action Step: Download the Google Local Services app and turn on push notifications. Respond to every new lead within 15 minutes for the first 30 days to establish a strong responsiveness signal.
You don't have to choose, all three serve different parts of the local search funnel. But if you're prioritizing:
Start with LSA if: You're in an eligible service category, you want leads fast, and your GBP has at least 10+ reviews. LSA gets you leads within days of going live.
Add Google Ads if: You want to capture broader keywords beyond what LSA covers, or your category isn't eligible for LSA.
Prioritize GBP for the Local Pack: The Local Pack drives free organic traffic that compounds over time. LSA and Google Ads stop working the moment you stop paying. GBP and local SEO keep working.
The optimal setup for most local service businesses: an optimized GBP generating free Local Pack traffic, plus LSA generating paid leads for immediate revenue. Together, they cover the top of the search results page comprehensively.
LSA rankings are driven in part by your Google review profile, the same reviews that appear on your GBP. Flento's Google Review Management Software helps you build review velocity consistently, which improves both your LSA ranking and your Local Pack ranking simultaneously.
Flento's Google Business Profile Optimizer ensures your GBP is fully optimized, because Google cross-references your GBP when evaluating your LSA profile. An incomplete or inconsistent GBP can affect your LSA verification and ranking.
✅ Done? Grow your Google review profile to improve your LSA ranking → Try Flento free
Is LSA worth it for small businesses? Yes, for eligible categories, particularly home services, healthcare, and legal. The pay-per-lead model means you only pay when someone actually contacts you, and the Google Guaranteed badge improves conversion rates significantly. The main variable is your local market's cost-per-lead.
Can I run LSA and regular Google Ads at the same time? Yes. They're separate campaigns. LSA appears at the top of the page as a distinct placement; Google Ads appear below in the sponsored results section. Running both maximizes your paid search coverage.
What happens if I get a fake lead through LSA? Dispute it within the LSA dashboard. Google's team reviews disputes and issues credits for invalid leads, wrong service area, spam calls, existing customers (if you've opted out of that), and calls that weren't related to your listed services. Keep a record of disputed leads.
Do LSA reviews transfer to my Google Business Profile? Yes, LSA uses reviews from your Google Business Profile. Building your GBP review count improves your LSA ranking. They're the same pool of reviews.
What's the minimum review count to compete in LSA? Technically, you can run LSA with zero reviews, but you'll rank below competitors with more. In most categories, 15–25 reviews puts you in a competitive position. In highly competitive markets, you may need 50+.
