How-to · Updated October 11, 2026
Improve your Local Services Ads ranking
Updated October 11, 2026
30 minutes, then two to four weeks
First confirm the ad is actually running: a paused ad, closed business hours or a spent monthly maximum looks like poor ranking. Then work on what Google ranks: answer every call in your ad hours, reply to messages quickly, get at least five reviews, add real photos, and leave automated bidding two weeks to settle.
Before you start
- Access to the Local Services Ads account, or to Google Ads if your account has moved there. Google began moving these ads into Google Ads, as Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals, in August 2026 for some US advertisers.
- The hours someone can answer the phone, written down per day. They decide your ad schedule.
- Your review link and a list of recent customers to ask for a review.
Rule out an ad that is not running
Start by ruling out the settings that stop the ad outright, as Google's own troubleshooting does, since each one looks like a ranking problem from the outside.
- In the Local Services Ads account, select Profile & budget from the menu and confirm the ad is toggled On. After a move to Google Ads, open Campaigns, then the Settings tab, and confirm the campaign status is Enabled.
- On the Business Hours card, confirm you are listed as open and taking customers. Google says outside business hours, or when listed as not taking customers, the ad will not show in searches with a badge.
- On the Ad schedule card, confirm the ad is scheduled for the days and times you expect.
- Select Reports from the menu and read the Budget spent card. In the old account, once the monthly maximum is reached, the ad stops for the rest of the month unless the budget is raised.
- After a move to Google Ads, the old dashboard closes. Hours sync from your Business Profile, the ad schedule is in Campaigns, then the Settings tab, and the budget becomes a daily average: Google says monthly spend will not exceed 30.4 times it.
Answer faster and strengthen the profile
Google names responsiveness and profile quality as ranking factors beside the bid, and this part works on both.
- Answer calls during your ad hours and return missed calls at once. Google says missed calls may hurt your responsiveness, and a missed call during your business hours and ad schedule is still charged once the caller stays on the line more than 20 seconds.
- If nobody can answer at certain times, set the Ad schedule to Custom hours that match when someone can. Google suggests running the ad when you can respond to calls in a timely manner.
- Google's newer guidance says to turn on message leads only if someone can reply within 24 hours. Google also says message leads typically cost less than phone leads, and an estimated response time can appear on your ad after 2 or more message leads in 90 days.
- Ask recent customers for a review using the link under Business Verifications, then the Google Business Profile tab. Google recommends 5 or more reviews and says some business types need 5 to show at all.
- Add photos of your team, work or equipment, and select every job type you actually perform.
Let the bid and the service area work
The bid is the remaining ranking factor, and Google recommends handing it to automated bidding rather than capping it by hand.
- In the old account, open Profile & budget, select the edit icon on the Budget section and choose Maximize leads. After the move, campaigns default to Maximize Conversions, and manual bidding is no longer offered.
- Leave a target cost per lead off unless the campaign consistently gets more than 15 leads a month and the cost per lead is higher than you want. That is Google's rule for the new Google Ads campaigns, and a sensible limit in the old account too. Google says a target set too low may stop the ads serving.
- Set service areas broadly, such as a whole county rather than single postal codes, but only within reach. Google's newer guidance says to keep them within about a two-hour drive, since slow response from far away can lower your ranking.
- Leave the bid setting alone for about two weeks after changing it. Google says that is how long the bidding model takes to adjust.
Check it worked
Compare leads per week in Reports (or the campaign's Conversions column after a move to Google Ads) for the two to four weeks before and after the changes, at the same budget. More leads for the same spend is the sign the changes are working. Do the comparison inside one home: if the account is about to move, save or screenshot the Reports page first, because old reports do not carry over.
Check responsiveness directly: count the missed calls in your phone history for the ad hours. Each one is a lead you may lose and, during business hours and your ad schedule, can still be charged.
Why a second location in the same area does not double your exposure
Google says that when a business has several locations serving the same area, Local Services shows only the highest-ranking ad for a search. Two listings compete with each other rather than adding up.
What ranking cannot fix
Google says ranking also weighs what the customer searched for, when and where, and that it balances the overall health and diversity of the ads shown. A strong profile raises your chances; it does not guarantee the top spot for every search.