Google Guaranteed, LSA and Angi leads: which lead source really pays?

Key facts

• Google replaced the Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and License Verified badges with one Google Verified badge, rolling out from October 2025. Source: Search Engine Journal: Google confirms new Google Verified badge for Local Services Ads
• Google moved Local Services Ads to automated lead credits, ending manual disputes. Source: Search Engine Land: Google automates lead credits for Local Services Ads
• Published planning ranges for LSA cost per lead run roughly $40 to $75 for plumbing and $25 to $80 for HVAC, with wide swings by market. Use your own dashboard numbers in the calculator. Source: Home Service Direct: Google Local Services Ads cost by industry
• Cost per lead hides the real cost. A cheap lead that books one time in five can cost more per job than an expensive lead that books every other time.
• Example inputs and verdict thresholds in this tool are placeholders and rules of thumb, not benchmarks. Replace them with your numbers.

How to use the Lead Source Reality Check

1. Pick a period. Three months is a good start. Use the same months for every source.
2. Enter your gross margin. Your average gross margin on jobs after parts and labor. It is your number, so use your books.
3. Fill in each source. Spend from invoices, leads and booked jobs from your call log or field service software, and average ticket per booked job.
4. Read the verdicts. Each source gets Scale it, Keep and tune, Fix booking first, Cut or renegotiate, or Not enough data. Edit the rules if yours differ.
5. Check the owned share. See how much of your work comes from sources that keep working when you stop paying.
6. Run the LSA checkup. Tick off the six account settings that most often waste Local Services Ads budget.

Is Google Guaranteed still a thing in 2026?

Not under that name. The green check that said Google Guaranteed was replaced by a single Google Verified badge that also covers what used to be Google Screened and License Verified. The homeowner money-back guarantee that sat behind the old badge was retired at the same time.

What did not change: you still need to pass Google's business checks to run Local Services Ads, you still pay per lead rather than per click, and your reviews and responsiveness still matter for where you show.

Google Verified vs Google Guaranteed: what changed for contractors

• One badge instead of three. Simpler for homeowners, less of a standout for you if every competitor in the box has it too.
• No guarantee to sell. If your sales pitch leaned on "backed by Google", update it.
• Automated credits. You cannot dispute a bad lead by hand any more. Tight job types and service areas matter more because you have less recourse after the fact.

The badge gets you into the box. Your booking rate decides whether the box makes you money.

How much do Google Local Services Ads cost for plumbers and HVAC companies?

You set a weekly budget and pay for each lead Google counts as valid. Published planning ranges put plumbing roughly between $40 and $75 a lead and HVAC roughly between $25 and $80, and big metros can run higher. Those are starting points for a budget, not what you will pay.

The number that matters is cost per booked job: lead cost divided by your booking rate. At $60 a lead and a 40% booking rate, each job costs you $150 to win. At a 20% booking rate, the same lead costs $300 per job. The calculator does this math for every source.

Are Angi leads worth it for contractors?

It depends almost entirely on your speed and your booking rate. Many Angi and HomeAdvisor leads are shared, which means several companies may get the same homeowner. The first one to call usually wins. Owners who answer in minutes often do fine. Owners who call back after lunch often feel ripped off.

Angi sets lead prices by job type and market, so check your own invoices rather than anyone's average. Then run your real numbers above. If the verdict says Fix booking first, the problem is speed to lead, not the platform. If it says Cut or renegotiate and your booking rate is already solid, the leads cost more than the jobs are worth to you.

Cost per lead vs cost per booked job

Cost per lead is what platforms like to show you. It is useful for budgeting and useless for deciding where to spend. Two sources at the same cost per lead can be miles apart once you add booking rate and ticket size. A referral that books 70% of the time and an emergency lead from a shared platform are not the same lead.

Rented leads vs owned leads

Paid platforms are rented. The day you stop paying, the phone stops ringing from that source. SEO, your Google Business Profile, reviews and referrals are owned: they take longer to build, but they keep working and usually get cheaper per job over time.

Most healthy shops run both. Rented sources fill the schedule while the owned ones grow. The owned share bar shows where you stand today. If almost all your booked jobs are rented, one price change from a platform can wreck a month.

How to lower your cost per booked job

• Answer faster. Live answers during your set hours, and call web leads back within minutes.
• Trim job types and areas. Turn off work you do not want and zip codes you turn down.
• Track every call by source. Without it, the numbers above are guesses.
• Mark and rate leads. Keep your LSA dashboard tidy so you can see booking rate by job type.
• Grow reviews. They help in the LSA box, in the map pack and in AI answers.
• Shift budget slowly. Move money in steps of 20 to 25% and re-check after a month.

Field notes from our team

• Use the same months for every source. Mixing a busy summer with a slow spring skews everything.
• Count a lead once, even if the homeowner called twice.
• Give referrals a small spend line for gifts, cards or member perks so they are compared fairly.
• If one source shows Not enough data, run it longer before you judge it.
• Re-run the check every quarter. Platform prices and your booking rate both move.

Lead sources at a glance

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Search Engine Journal: Google confirms new Google Verified badge for Local Services Ads
• Search Engine Land: Google automates lead credits for Local Services Ads
• Home Service Direct: Google Local Services Ads cost by industry

More free tools for plumbing and HVAC owners

Also from Digital Success