Google Guaranteed is gone as a name: starting in October 2025, Google replaced it with a single Google Verified badge, and the money-back promise to customers that came with it ended on November 7, 2025. A home service business earns the badge the old way, through Local Services Ads (Google ads billed per lead, shown above other results) and Google's checks for its trade.
Quick answer
A profile that carried Google Guaranteed now shows Google Verified; Google made the switch itself (Google, checked 2026-10-04). Customers can no longer claim a refund from Google, so drop any website line, quote footer or truck wrap that promises one. New advertisers start at g.co/localservices (Google, checked 2026-10-04), upload license and insurance papers and clear background checks that, for garage door and HVAC companies, include each technician. Whether it pays shows in one figure: spend after credits per completed job, from your own software.
What happened to Google Guaranteed and its refund?
On August 20, 2025, Google announced that from October one Google Verified badge would replace the Money Back Guarantee along with the Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and License Verified by Google badges (Google, checked 2026-10-04). Your profile lists the checks you passed beside it, and Google says the change leaves ranking alone (Google, checked 2026-10-04). Google's guarantee page later gave the end date: the Google Guarantee badge and its Money Back Guarantee were discontinued effective November 7, 2025 (Google, archived, checked 2026-10-04).
| Former terms (Google Guarantee) | Since the change | |
|---|---|---|
| Badge | Google Guaranteed, Google Screened or License Verified by Google | Google Verified for every eligible advertiser |
| Refund from Google | If unhappy with the quality, up to the price of the first service, with a $2,000 lifetime cap per US customer, claimed within 30 days of completion with a receipt | Discontinued; Google's help page says eligible customers could request reimbursement for services booked through Local Services Ads before December 7, 2025 |
| Never refunded | Add-on or future services, property damage, trip charges, diagnostic fees, complaints about price or responsiveness, cancellations | No Google refund of any kind |
The former terms come from Google's guarantee page as archived in August 2025, before the change (Google, archived, checked 2026-10-04). An older Google article still ranking for this search says the badge reassures customers "by offering a money-back guarantee" (Google, checked 2026-10-04). Trust the help center instead.
So the promise to the homeowner is now yours to make. Google's Local Services policies already require you to resolve or pay for damage, unfinished work and no-shows, and to disclose trip and diagnostic fees as owed whether or not work follows (Google, checked 2026-10-04). If you want a guarantee in writing, print your own workmanship warranty on the quote.
Which checks will Google run on your trade?
Google lists requirements trade by trade, and they vary by state (Google, checked 2026-10-04):
| Trade | Background checks listed | Google's notes | Ads before the badge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garage door, locksmith | Business, owner, every service professional | Urgent; Advanced Verification | Not offered |
| HVAC | Business, owner, every service professional | Urgent | Offered |
| Plumber, electrician | Business and owner, select users only | Urgent; adds service professional checks | Offered |
| Roofing, pest control, house cleaning, landscaping | Business and owner, select users only | None | Offered |
All of these also list general and professional liability insurance and state business and owner licenses where local law calls for them. The last column reflects pre-badge ads, which take leads below fully verified competitors during onboarding and are closed to garage door services and locksmiths (Google, checked 2026-10-04).
The owner check and, where listed, the service professional check cover identity and criminal history. The service professional check takes in every worker who does the core job at a customer's property, subcontractors included; office staff are exempt. The company check covers civil judgments and liens. Google says there is no credit pull and no fee. Fail, and you wait 30 days to reapply, then 180 after a second denial (Google, checked 2026-10-04).
Advanced Verification adds video interviews with Google and a look at public data and any Google Ads account. For insurance, Google asks for a signed certificate showing a policy number, in your advertised name, valid at least 14 days past upload (Google, checked 2026-10-04). Count on 3 to 4 weeks from submitted documents, Google's average (Google, checked 2026-10-04). If you skip a later review Google asks for, you may lose the badge or see the ads paused (Google, checked 2026-10-04).
What decides which company shows first?
An auction that weighs your bid, how likely your ad is to produce a lead and your profile's quality. Likelihood rests on responsiveness (missed calls can hurt), the search itself and how well your services and bio fit it; quality covers rating, review count, response time, photos and the checks you passed (Google, checked 2026-10-04). Google suggests 5 or more reviews, and some business types need 5 to show (Google, checked 2026-10-04).
When the trucks are full, pause the ad under Profile & budget rather than let calls ring out; Google says a free version of your listing may still show while the ad is off (Google, checked 2026-10-04).
Which leads will Google bill, and which can come back?
You pay for each valid lead: a call you answer, a voicemail or real use of your phone menu, a text or email, a booking request, or a missed call you return by phone, text or email. Prices vary with place, job, lead type and bid mode, and messages usually cost less than calls. The weekly budget times the average number of weeks per month caps what a month can cost (Google, checked 2026-10-04).
Search ads bill per click instead. Google Ads Keyword Planner estimates for the US, October 2026, price a click on "garage door repair near me" at $46.46 on average nationwide (local prices differ), and the person who clicks may never call.
Google skips charging for leads it judges invalid at first contact, then rechecks charged ones and credits some automatically, mostly within 30 days; the invoice still lists the first charge (Google, checked 2026-10-04). Rating a poor lead in the lead feedback survey occasionally earns a credit as well (Google, checked 2026-10-04).
No credit comes back for a homeowner who cancels, asks for project advice, compares prices or ignores your callback, nor for a quote with a promised callback, a job you are too booked to take, a customer you refer elsewhere or anything after your posted hours (Google, checked 2026-10-04). Wrong job type or area no longer earns a credit (Google, checked 2026-10-04), so set categories, job types and service area to the work you take. Overflow cannot go to another company: Google's policy keeps each lead with you or your vetted technicians (Google, checked 2026-10-04).
Is it worth it once you count finished jobs?
Google's reports show charged leads, charges and credits; its Mark Booked button records a job date, a done flag, the job type and the customer's name, but no dollars (Google, checked 2026-10-04). Revenue has to come from your field service software or invoices.
Callers see a changing Google forwarding number, and lines with call forwarding or VoIP may drop the "Call from Google" announcement (Google, checked 2026-10-04). Have the dispatcher tag a job "Google LSA" whenever that announcement plays, and once a month match phone numbers on Google's lead list against your jobs.
Illustrative: the garage door company below does not exist, its month is invented from start to finish, and no figure belongs to a client.
| What you count | Where it lives | Made-up month |
|---|---|---|
| Charged leads | Local Services reports | 52 |
| Lead charges, then credits | Billing, credited leads | $3,900, then 4 leads for $300 |
| Leads someone reached | Call log | 46 |
| Booked, then completed jobs | Mark Booked, job software | 28, then 25 |
| Revenue collected | Paid invoices | $17,500 |
| Parts and technician labor | Job costing | $8,750 |
- Spend after credits: $3,900 − $300 = $3,600.
- Cost per charged lead: $3,900 ÷ 52 = $75.
- Cost per completed job: $3,600 ÷ 25 = $144.
- Gross profit per completed job: ($17,500 − $8,750) ÷ 25 = $350.
- Left for trucks, rent and the office: $8,750 − $3,600 = $5,150.
At $144 per finished job against $350 of gross profit per job, the month paid for its ads. The leaks sit between rows: 6 leads nobody reached and 3 cancellations, and Google credits neither when the homeowner ignored the callback or canceled. The same test works for every channel in a home service marketing plan.
What should you do before your account moves into Google Ads?
Google is moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads as Performance Max, its automated campaign type, with pay-per-lead goals; you still pay per lead, and the ads still appear on Search and Maps (Google, checked 2026-10-04). Google calls its phases an estimated timeline (Google, checked 2026-10-04):
- August 2026 (phase 1): select US home and storefront service providers, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, house cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control and moving among them.
- Late 2026 (phase 2): service-area businesses without a storefront, and accounts with custom bidding or booking setups.
- 2027 (phase 3): the remaining categories, among them advanced verification ones such as locksmiths and garage door pros.
The account administrator hears the real date by email two weeks ahead. Leads, messages, older call recordings, the badge and verified status move over, and insurance and license reverification end. Performance reports do not, so download or screenshot them before that date (Google, checked 2026-10-04).
Max-per-lead bidding and Better Business Bureau callouts are retired; the weekly budget becomes a daily average of one seventh of it, and a month is held to that times 30.4. One gain for dispatch: you can reroute the number leads ring to at any time (Google, checked 2026-10-04).
After the move, the Conversions column counts charged leads; if search campaigns share the account, check what each Conversions number counts before comparing.
What should you ask whoever manages the account?
- Do categories, job types and service area match the work the crews take?
- Is every technician and subcontractor on Google's background check roster?
- Who picks up the forwarding number at night, and how many charged leads did nobody answer last month?
- How many leads got a feedback rating, and how much came back as credits?
- Can the monthly report put charged leads, booked and completed jobs, and revenue from the job software side by side?
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Frequently asked questions
Is Google Guaranteed still a thing?
Not under that name. Starting in October 2025, Google folded Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and License Verified by Google into one Google Verified badge, and businesses that had already passed verification received it automatically. The money-back guarantee that came with the old badge was discontinued effective November 7, 2025.
How much does it cost to get Google Verified?
Google says businesses aren't charged for the background check; what you pay for is Local Services Ads, by the lead, for valid leads only. A valid lead is an answered call, a voicemail, a text or email, a booking request, or a missed call you return that reaches the customer or their voicemail. Google sets no single lead price: it varies with location, job type, lead type and bid mode.
Can customers still get their money back through Google?
No. Google discontinued the Money Back Guarantee effective November 7, 2025, and its help page says eligible customers could request reimbursement for services booked through Local Services Ads before December 7, 2025, within 30 days of the job being finished. Any refund or workmanship promise now has to come from your business.
Can a garage door company advertise before verification is finished?
No. Pre-badge ads let a business take leads below fully verified competitors while onboarding finishes, but Google excludes garage door services, locksmiths and health care. Both also go through Advanced Verification, which can include video interviews with Google.
Do my technicians need background checks for the Google Verified badge?
In several trades, yes. Google lists a service professional check for garage door, HVAC and locksmith companies, and its notes add one for plumbers and electricians: everyone who does the core work at a customer's property, subcontractors included, goes through identity and criminal history checks. Office and phone staff are exempt, and there is no credit pull.
Does the Google Verified badge carry over when Local Services Ads move into Google Ads?
Yes. Google says completed verification and the badge transfer to Google Ads on their own, and that insurance and license reverification are no longer required after the move. Performance reports do not transfer, so download or screenshot them before your migration date.