Published September 19, 2026 · by Luis Gomez · I run a Local Services Ads account that carried the old badge and carries the new one, and I publish its numbers.
Short answer: Google Guaranteed no longer exists. Google replaced it, Google Screened and License Verified with one Google Verified badge on October 20, 2025, and the money-back guarantee ended on November 7, 2025. The badge is free, requires background, license and insurance screening, and still decides who gets the call at the top of a Google search.
If a salesperson is still promising you the Google Guaranteed badge, they’re reading old notes. Google retired it, along with Google Screened and License Verified, on October 20, 2025, and replaced all three with a single Google Verified checkmark. The money-back guarantee that gave the old badge its name ended on November 7, 2025. The screening didn’t go away; the marketing did. Here’s what’s actually true now, in plain terms.
What the badge is now
Google Verified is the checkmark on Local Services Ads, the pay-per-lead results at the very top of the Google page. It shows that the business has passed Google’s screening for its category, and the ad now lists which checks were passed (business background check, owner background check, license, insurance) instead of implying a guarantee. It appears only in Local Services Ads. It is not on your map listing and not on your website.
What changed, in one table
| Before (through Oct 2025) | Now |
|---|---|
| Three badges: Google Guaranteed (home services), Google Screened (professional services), License Verified | One badge: Google Verified, on every eligible category |
| A money-back guarantee for customers, up to a lifetime cap, backed by Google | No guarantee. The badge is trust, not insurance. |
| Manual lead disputes for junk leads (removed mid-2024) | Automated review of every charged lead within about 72 hours; you rate bad leads “Very dissatisfied” to trigger a second look; credits post within 30 days |
| A separate Local Services Ads dashboard | Migration into Google Ads as a Performance Max campaign type, rolling out from August 2026 |
What it takes to get the badge
Screening runs through Google’s verification partners and typically takes one to three weeks:
- Background checks on the business and on the owner (technicians too, in some categories). You upload identification; Google’s partner runs it.
- License verification, where your state or city requires a license for the category. No license, no badge, in licensed trades.
- Insurance: a general liability certificate with the coverage Google requires for the category.
- Reviews carry over from your Google Business Profile once linked. You can start at zero, but ranking inside the ads leans heavily on review count, score and response rate.
- A weekly budget and a payment method. The badge is free; you pay per lead once the ads run.
The usual reasons a verification stalls: the business name on the insurance certificate doesn’t match the application, an expired license, an unsigned background-check consent, or a category that doesn’t match the license you hold.
What it costs
- The badge: $0. Screening is free.
- The ads: per lead. You’re charged when a real person calls, messages or books through the ad, never per click. For a drywall repair account in the Kansas City metro I’ve published four months of billing at $36.77 to $46.66 per charged lead; how to pull Google’s own estimate for your trade and ZIP in five minutes is in Local Services Ads cost per lead by trade.
- Your time: a few hours of paperwork and a week or two of waiting.
Does the badge still get you jobs without the guarantee?
Yes, and for the same two reasons as before. Position: verified ads sit above the paid search ads and above the map pack for “plumber near me” searches. Trust: a homeowner with water on the floor is choosing between three names and a checkmark, and the checkmark wins ties. Homeowners never read the fine print of the old guarantee; they read the check. In the account I run, the ads went from 22 charged leads in April 2026 to 52 in July with the badge on both sides of the change; the whole run is in the case study.
What happened to junk leads
The dispute button disappeared in mid-2024. Now Google’s automated system reviews every charged lead within about 72 hours and credits the ones it judges invalid: spam, misdials, solicitations. Two credit categories were cut entirely, “job type not serviced” and “out of area”, which means the only filters you control are your job-type selections and your service area. Rate every bad lead “Very dissatisfied” in the Leads tab the day it lands; that rating is the signal that gets a borderline lead looked at again. Credits show on the bill within 30 days.
Which trades can get it
Google offers Local Services Ads for more than thirty home-service categories in the U.S. (plumbing, electrical, HVAC, roofing, painting, handyman, landscaping, lawn care, pest control, cleaning, garage door, appliance repair, junk removal, movers, locksmith, tree service, water damage restoration, window cleaning, pressure washing and more), plus professional, health, auto, beauty and other categories. Some trades are not categories at all; drywall is the one I know best, and it runs through a neighboring category’s job types. The full list and the side-door rules are in Local Services Ads categories.
What the Google Ads migration changes
From August 2026, Google is moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads as a Performance Max campaign type. Your verification status, reviews and lead history carry over, and the pay-per-lead billing stays; what changes is the dashboard, the bidding controls and the reporting. What to export before the old dashboard goes: the LSA migration guide.
Questions contractors ask
Is Google Guaranteed still a thing? No. The badge and the guarantee were retired in October and November 2025. The replacement is Google Verified, and any existing verified profile was switched over automatically.
How do I sign up for Google Verified? Start Local Services Ads at ads.google.com/local-services-ads, choose your trade and area, and the screening steps are part of the setup. The badge doesn’t exist outside Local Services Ads.
How long does verification take? Typically one to three weeks, mostly waiting on the background check. Mismatched paperwork is the usual cause of delays.
Can I lose the badge? Yes: a lapsed license or insurance certificate, a failed re-screening, or policy violations (improper review solicitation, letting a lead-reselling service run your account) will pause it.
Does the badge help my map listing or my website rank? No. It lives only in the ads. The map listing is ranked by your Business Profile (category, reviews, proximity); the website by ordinary SEO. All three work together, which is why I run them as one system.
Is it worth it for a one-truck company? If you answer the phone, yes. Pay-per-lead pricing scales down to a small weekly budget, and the checkmark makes a one-truck shop look as safe as a franchise on the one screen that matters.
Want the badge running without the paperwork headaches? Local Services Ads setup, screening, categories and the credit ledger are the first thing I build for every client. Here’s how the service works, or send your trade and number for a free look at what you’d pay per lead. Free audit →