Google Guaranteed is now Google Verified: what changed for local service ads

Short answer: Google Guaranteed and Google Screened no longer exist as separate badges. On October 20, 2025 Google replaced them, together with the License Verified by Google badge, with one badge called Google Verified. The money-back guarantee that came with Google Guaranteed ended at the same time. If your business was already verified, Google moved you to the new badge on its own.

There is a second change coming in 2026: Local Services Ads are moving into Google Ads as Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals. Below is what both changes mean for a plumbing, HVAC, roofing or cleaning business that pays for these leads.

What the old badges meant

Customers still search for "Google Guaranteed" thousands of times a month, so it helps to know what the names meant.

If a customer asks "Are you Google Guaranteed?", the honest answer today is: "We're Google Verified. That's the badge that replaced it."

What the Google Verified badge means now

Google describes Google Verified as the badge for businesses that completed "the necessary screening and verification process", shown together with the checks a business passed. According to Google's Local Services help, the checks depend on your category and location and may include:

• Background checks on the business, its owners and, in some categories, its field workers. They cover identity and criminal history, and civil litigation at the company level. Google says they don't include a credit pull and it doesn't charge you for them.
• Business registration checks.
• Insurance: the type and minimum amount your category requires. In the US a signed certificate of insurance is preferred, and the name on it must match the name you signed up with (or you add a DBA document).
• Licenses checked against state databases. You also confirm any city or county licenses yourself.
• Reviews: some categories have a minimum number of reviews.

If a check fails, the business can't run Local Services Ads and has to wait 30 days to apply again, and 180 days after a second denial. Google also notes the badge is not available yet for some auto, beauty and dining categories.

How to get Google Verified, step by step

1. Start at Google's Local Services sign-up and pick your service categories and the ZIP codes or cities you cover. Pick only jobs you really want: Google no longer credits leads for job types or areas you don't serve.
2. Enter your business details exactly as they appear on your insurance and license. A mismatch between "Smith Plumbing LLC" and "Smith Plumbing" is the most common reason a check stalls.
3. Send owners and, where required, field workers through the background check. Google uses a partner for this and emails each person a link.
4. Upload your insurance certificate and licenses.
5. Collect reviews if your category needs a minimum. Your Google Business Profile reviews count, so ask every finished customer (our guide on how to ask for Google reviews has templates).
6. Keep documents current. An expired insurance certificate can pause your ads.

The 2026 change: Local Services Ads move into Google Ads

Google is moving every Local Services Ads campaign into Google Ads as a Performance Max campaign with pay-per-lead goals. According to Google's migration page:

• August 2026: the first group of US home and storefront service advertisers moves.
• Late 2026: broader groups, including service-area businesses and accounts with custom bidding or booking.
• 2027: accounts outside the US and the remaining categories.

The account administrator gets an email 14 days before the move and a reminder 7 days before.

What changes

What stays the same

• You still pay per valid lead (calls and messages), not per click.
• Ads still show only on Google Search and Google Maps, in the same places.
• No keywords: Google still targets by your service categories and area.
• Your verified status and Google Verified badge move over automatically. Google says you don't need to send insurance and licenses again.

Your checklist before the move

• Download your performance reports.
• Write down your current weekly budget and what you pay per lead by category.
• Decide whether different categories need their own campaigns.
• Make sure at least one person on your team gets lead notification emails.
• Prepare six short callouts (for example "Open Saturdays", "Financing available", "Licensed and insured").

How much do Local Services Ads cost?

Google doesn't publish a price list. You pay for each valid lead, and the price depends on your trade, your area, how many businesses compete and how you bid. A water heater lead in a big city costs far more than a gutter cleaning lead in a small town.

What protects you from paying for junk:

• Google checks every lead when the customer first gets in touch, and doesn't charge for leads it finds invalid.
• For 30 days after that, Google keeps checking. Leads it finds duplicate, invalid or poor quality are credited back to your balance automatically.
• Google no longer credits "job type not serviced" or "area not serviced" leads. Keep your job types and service area tight.
• In Google Ads, each lead shows a charge status: Charged, Not charged, In review or Credited. You can also rate a lead in its feedback survey.

The badge gets you the call. Speed gets you the job.

The badge gets you shown. It doesn't book the job. A customer who taps three ads calls three businesses, and the one who answers first and offers a time often gets it. Research on web leads points the same way: the odds of reaching and qualifying a lead fall sharply within the first hour (see speed to lead).

Every paid lead should get:

• A live answer when it's a call. A missed call you paid for is the most expensive call you'll get all week.
• A reply within minutes when it's a message.
• A call back right away when you missed it.
• A result: booked, lost and why. Without that you can't tell what a booked job really costs you.

How QuickVOC handles Google Local Services leads

QuickVOC connects to your Local Services Ads through your Google account and works the leads for you:

• Message leads get an AI reply with your business information, and the AI collects the customer's details.
• Phone leads get an AI callback within a few minutes. QuickVOC checks your account for new leads every 2 minutes. Leads that arrive during your quiet hours get their call when quiet hours end.
• The AI offers open times from your hours or your Housecall Pro schedule, and books only when the customer says yes.
• Every lead lands on your board tagged Google Local, with the recording, transcript and summary, so you see which leads booked.

To have the AI answer the ad calls live as well, forward your business line to your QuickVOC number. See Google Local Services leads in QuickVOC and the AI receptionist.

Sources

• Google: Google Verified makes it easier to find trusted local businesses
• Google Local Services Help: Understand the screening and verification process
• Google Ads Help: Local Services Ads transition to Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals
• Google Local Services Help: About automated Local Services Ads lead credits