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Google Local Service Ads: the application playbook for UK trades

8 min readFor: UK trades considering LSA: plumbers, electricians, roofers, locksmiths, garage doors, HVAC.

Local Service Ads (LSA) are the green-badged listings that sit above search results on Google for queries like "emergency plumber Glasgow". You pay per lead, not per click. For high-intent UK trades, LSA delivers some of the cheapest qualified phone calls in any channel.

The catch: Google runs a background-check on you, your business, and every named tradesperson on file. The application takes a week at the fast end, six weeks at the slow end. This is the actual document list and the order to do them in.

The eligibility check before you apply

LSA is open to specific categories: plumbing, electrical, HVAC, locksmith, garage door, water damage restoration, appliance repair, house cleaning, lawn care, tree care, pest control. Hair, beauty, automotive, restaurants are not eligible.

You need a UK business registered at Companies House (Ltd) or HMRC-registered as a sole trader. You also need a service-area set: list the postcodes you cover, not a single shop address. Google verifies the service-area against your business profile.

Documents Google asks for

Business licence (for plumbing this is a Gas Safe certificate; for electrical, an NICEIC or NAPIT badge). If you are a multi-trade, supply the certificate for the highest-regulation discipline.

Public liability insurance, minimum £2 million. Google verifies the policy number against the insurer. If you only have £1m, increase before applying — re-submission resets the queue.

Photo ID for every named tradesperson on file. Passport or driving licence. Google runs DBS-style checks via Pinkerton on each name. Add to your day one: pick which crew members go through verification.

How long it actually takes

Best case: 7 days from document submission to live LSA. This requires complete docs, no name mismatches across HMRC / insurer / Companies House, and a service-area inside Google's LSA-covered metros (Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool, Cardiff, Belfast all covered).

Realistic case: 14-21 days. Background checks queue. Pinkerton emails each named person separately and they must respond within 72 hours, or the check restarts.

Worst case: 4-6 weeks. Triggered by name mismatches (insurance in a slightly different company name than Companies House) or queries on the address (PO box, virtual office, residential addresses).

What it costs once live

Cost-per-lead in the UK is £15-£45 for trades, depending on category and competition. Locksmiths and emergency plumbers tend to be highest. Less-saturated trades like HVAC repair can land at £18-£25.

You set a weekly budget. Google paces leads against it. Average lead-to-job conversion for trades is 35-55%, so a £30 LSA lead at 40% conversion is a £75 acquired customer. For a £400 average job that is a 5.3x return — competitive with Meta and faster cash flow.

Disputing junk leads

Google allows lead disputes. If a lead is unreachable, asks for an unrelated service, or is spam, file the dispute inside 14 days from the LSA dashboard. Approved disputes refund the cost.

Disputes are also a quality signal Google watches. An LSA business with high dispute rates gets reviewed — both for fraud (paying clients to spam your competitors' LSAs is detected) and for category fit. Use disputes honestly, file them when warranted.

Where :Impact fits

LSA delivers the call to your phone. :Impact answers the calls you miss (via Twilio + missed-call text-back) and books the warm ones via the AI Receptionist if you cannot pick up. LSA + :Impact Growth is a stack that works without a human receptionist.

Wire LSA into your inbox

When LSA leads land as calls, every missed one becomes a missed job. :Impact Growth answers your phone 24/7 — qualifies the lead, books a slot, and transfers hot calls to you. Pair it with LSA from day one.

Start with Growth

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