How-to · Updated October 11, 2026
Add your phone number to your Google ads the right way
Updated October 11, 2026
15 minutes
Add your number as a call asset: open Campaigns, then Assets, click the plus icon and choose Call, at the Account level. Never type it into a headline or description. Then look for older call assets on campaigns and ad groups, because the most specific one shows instead, whatever number it holds.
Before you start
- Edit access to the Google Ads account. Adding an asset and changing account settings are edits.
- The number callers should reach. If it is a call tracking number, decide that now.
- That number on your website as text. Google verifies the number against the site in the ad. A number shown only inside an image cannot be verified.
Decide whether Google shows its own forwarding number
Call reporting decides which number the searcher sees. With it on, the ad shows a Google forwarding number that rings through to the number in your asset, and Google can count those calls as conversions. With it off, the ad shows your number and Google cannot count calls from ads.
- Click the Admin icon, then Account settings.
- Under Call reporting, select On if you want Google to count calls from the ad, or Off if you want your own number, or a call tracking number, to show as it is.
- Click Save. Google says the change can take up to 24 hours to reach live ads.
Create the call asset at account level
- Click the Campaigns icon, then Assets, then the plus icon, and choose Call.
- Choose Account.
- Select Create new and enter the number. If the number already exists as an asset, select Use existing and pick it from the list instead.
- If you track calls as conversions, leave the option to count them on. Google creates an action called Calls from ads for this.
- Under Advanced options, set an asset schedule if nobody answers outside business hours, so the number only shows when someone can pick up.
- Click Save.
Clear out older call assets that override it
Google uses the most specific call asset: one on an ad group shows instead of the campaign's, and one on a campaign shows instead of the account's. An old number added to one campaign years ago keeps serving there after you add a new one at account level.
- In Assets, choose Association from the Table view drop-down, then select Call from the asset types above the table.
- Read every row: the number, the level it is attached to, and its status.
- Where a campaign or ad group holds an old number, tick it and click Remove, or edit it to the number you want. A paused call asset does not serve, so do not rely on a paused one to carry your intended number: enable it, or remove it so the account-level asset is the one that applies.
- If you also use location assets, know that ads showing a location may send calls to the number tied to that location, not to the call asset.
Keep the number out of headlines, descriptions and every other text field. A number typed into ad text can get the ad disapproved under the Phone number in ad text policy.
Check it worked
Return to Assets, choose Call, and read the status of the new asset. Google says a re-review after an edit typically takes 24 to 48 hours. A disapproval for Unverified phone number means Google could not match the number to your website.
After a few days of traffic, open Campaigns, click the Columns icon, choose Call details, and add Phone Impr. and Phone calls. Rising phone impressions show the number is serving. This column only counts ads shown with a Google forwarding number, so it stays at zero when call reporting is off.
Getting a call tracking number verified
A tracking number that a script swaps onto the site for ad visitors cannot be found by Google's crawler, so the asset is disapproved as an unverified phone number. Changing how the number is formatted in the code does not fix it.
Prove you own the site instead. Google recommends linking Google Search Console to Google Ads for every domain the ad serves on, which can take up to 24 hours to register. The other route is the Google tag placed directly in the page's HTML; Google's call asset page says a tag added through Google Tag Manager cannot verify the domain. Then edit and save the asset so it is reviewed again.
Will the call button show on every ad?
No. Google decides per auction whether to show a call asset, and calls it normal for it to appear on only part of your impressions. If it is approved and still never shows, work through the call button fix.