How to Get Google Screened in 2025

What is Google Screened?

Google Screened is a feature in Google Local Services Ads (LSAs) that lets local businesses show a badge on their ads, website, and Google My Business profile. When a business, such as a law firm, has the official Google Screened badge, it signals to potential clients that Google has verified their business and decided that it’s legitimate and trustworthy.

Google Screened business shows a badge appears on top of LSAs. Here’s one for personal injury lawyer Matthew Swartz.

Why Do I Need Google Screened?

Getting Google Screened improves a lawyer’s trustworthiness by showing that they have passed strict background and license checks. This badge also makes lawyers and law firms more visible in Google searches, bringing in more qualified clients.

For example: When legal consumers search for “personal injury lawyer in Oregon,” they’re more likely to click on the one with the Google Screened badge.

In this article, we’ll learn the basics of Google Screened and how to avoid running into common issues with it. We’ve our inhouse PPC specialist and Google Screened expert, Fiona James, for help.

Let’s start with the basics.

How Much Does Google Screened Cost?

The Google Screened badge is free for service providers—so is its screening process. But if you want to run Google’s Local Service Ads, you typically pay per lead. You set a weekly limit on the leads you get, and you’re only charged for prospect calls that go past 30 seconds. The number of leads you get each day might change, but you’ll never go over your weekly budget. Plus, you can dispute leads that aren’t valid and get refunds for those calls.

Is Your Business Eligible for Google Screened?

The Google Screened badge is available to companies in industries such as Law, Financial Planning, Real Estate, Child Care, Preschool, Home Services, Auto Care, Beauty, Wellness, and other businesses that offer professional services.

Industries We Can Work With

• Criminal Lawyer
• Estate Lawyer
• DUI Lawyer
• Personal Injury
• Tax Specialist
• Family Lawyer
• Contract Lawyer
• Disability Lawyer
• Real Estate Agents
• Immigrant Lawyer
• Bankruptcy
• Labor Lawyer

How Does Google Screened Differ from Google Guaranteed?

While both Google Screened and Google Guaranteed are components of the Local Services Ads platform, they differ in many aspects.

Here’s how they’re different:

Feature	Google Screened	Google Guaranteed
Industry Focus	Professional service providers (lawyers, real estate, financial planners, etc.)	Home service providers (plumbers, contractors, electricians, etc.)
Financial Guarantee	There is no assurance of financial security for customers.	Offers up to $2,000 in select countries as a form of financial security for customers who are dissatisfied with the service.
Verification Process	Verifies licenses and runs background checks	Includes license and background checks, as well as business location verification.
Purpose	To establish credibility and trust for professional service providers.	To provide assurance and financial protection to customers using home services.
Key selling point	Provide trustworthy, legitimate professional services	Protect customers from financial scams.

How To Set Up Google Screened

Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting a Google Screened badge for your business.

1. Sign up for a Local Services Ad account

Go to Google’s Local Services Ads page and click Get Started.

On the next page, click Continue.

Enter your country, state, ZIP code, and business category. Make sure to specify your specialization if applicable:

When done, click Check Eligibility.

A pop-up message shows you the benefits of signing up for LSA. Click Get Started.

Fill out all the required information on the form:

Click Next at the bottom of the page.

Specify the areas you serve on the next page:

You can also exclude service areas. Click Next when you’re done.

Select your business’s service types and click “I agree” on the license verification note at the bottom.

Check that everything is correct and click Next.

Enter your business hours on the next page and click Next when done.

A preview of your ad with the Google Screened badge will show on the next page. Tick the box to agree to the Onboarding terms and click Next.

Check that your phone number and email address are correct as these will be used when leads contact you from your ads.

Click Continue to proceed to the next step.

The next page is where Google asks for your business registration number or license number. Enter this information and click Save.

Wait for Google to verify your license, which takes up to 2 days. After this, you’ll be able to use your Google Screened badge in your GBP profile and local services ads.

6 Steps to Optimize Google Screened to Get More Leads

After successfully verifying your firm, you can leverage your Google Screened badge in your GBP listings and LSA campaigns.

Here are some effective ways to optimize your profile to get more visibility and leads:

• Incorporate relevant keywords – Make sure your ads and profile include keywords that match the services you offer. Do keyword research to find keywords that people are using to search for your firm or business.
• Target location-specific keywords – Use phrases like “near me” or “lawyer in Washington” to target potential clients within your service area.
  
• Manage reviews – Create a system to monitor all your reviews and respond to all of them as soon as possible. This practice improves your online reputation and can boost your overall review ranking in Google Maps. Our inhouse experience mirrors:

• Leverage Local Services Ads – You can get faster results by running local services ads for your business.
  • Setting a budget – Be generous with your budget in the beginning, and adjust as you get more data on what budget your ads perform best.
  • Targeting specific areas – Display ads only to the areas where you provide services. This guarantees that you are reaching out to potential clients who are more likely to hire you, and saves you from spending money on unproductive leads.
  • Monitoring bids – Watch your bids to make sure you get the best return on your investment. Even though LSAs work a bit differently from regular Google Ads, you should still follow key metrics and practices. These include:
    • Lead volume: How many leads are you getting?
    • Cost per lead: How much are you paying per lead?
    • Booking rate: How many leads are converting into bookings?
    • Impression metrics: How often are your ads being shown?

In our team’s experience, fine-tuning the budget and bidding strategy, and prioritizing high-performing services and target areas can seriously help you get more leads.

Understanding these metrics helps you manage your ads and tweak them to improve their performance.

• Display badge on website – Showing your Google Screened badge on your website is beneficial for many reasons:
  • Builds trust – A Google Screened badge shows your visitors that Google has verified your business, which makes them confident to do business with you.
  • Improved engagement – People are more likely to stay and explore your site with a Google Screened badge.
  • Competitive advantage – Your badge sets you apart from the competition, which can be crucial in winning more leads and clients.
• Link your Google Local Service profile on the website – Linking to your local service profile helps:
  • Improve local SEO
  • Show social proof from your Google reviews
  • Show your business’s location and contact info

How to Manage and Measure ROI From Google Screened Local Service Ads

To get a clear idea of how your ads are doing and if you’re getting a positive return on investment (ROI), you need to track key metrics.

• How to track your leads from Google Screened – You can track leads from your LSAs using several methods:
  • LSA Lead Inbox – Your LSA account has an inbox of all your leads, including calls and messages
  • Call recordings – You can listen to recordings of phone calls received from your ads
  • Emails and SMS – If you have them turned on, you should get emails and text messages every time a new lead comes in.
• Get conversion rate and ROI metrics
  • Track your conversion rate by doing the following:
    • Define what merits a conversion – For your business, a conversion could mean a booked appointment, a completed service, or a signed contract
    • Track Leads and Bookings – Use the LSA platform to track leads and mark them as booked in the LSA interface for accurate tracking
    • Track when a booking becomes a completed job for the best conversion data
    • Calculate Conversion Rate: Use this formula: Number of Conversions / Number of Leads x 100 = Conversion Rate (%).For example: 100 leads and 20 booked appointments equal a 20% conversion rate.
• To get data for calculating ROI, find out:
  • Revenue conversion: The average revenue generated from each conversion
  • Total Revenue – Multiply the number of conversions by the average revenue per conversion
  • Total LSA costs – Everything you spent on LSAs
  • Use this formula to calculate your ROI: (Total Revenue – Total LSA Costs) / Total LSA Costs) x 100 = ROI (%). For example, if you made $2000 in revenue from your ads, and you spent $1000 on ads, your ROI is 100%

Troubleshooting: How to Handle Flagged Issues and Reapply for Google Screened?

Google may flag your business for these reasons:

• Issues during the background check
• Unable to verify business license
• Unable to verify insurance
• Customer complaints or negative reviews
• Misrepresentation of services
• Inaccurate information about the business

Fiona throws light on

When this happens, you’ll get an email that lets you know why your business is flagged. It’s important to carefully read through the email and follow instructions to resolve the status.

Here are some best practices to lift your flagged status:

• Proofread your profile and business information for errors
• Get the documents required before reapplying
• Ensure that all your ads match the services you offer
• Resolve customer complaints or negative reviews

Taking these measures will help your chances of getting cleared when you reapply for Google Screened.

If you don’t know how to start, you can ask a digital marketing agency for help. They have experience helping businesses get leads using Google Screened.

Is Google Screened Worth it?

Google Screened shows that your business is trustworthy. It sets you apart from other businesses and brings in customers who want verified professionals. In our experience it can drive higher quality leads for your business.

So the screening process takes some effort, but the benefits of more trust and growth make it worthwhile for serious business owners.

Excited to get the verification badge?

Let Fiona and the On The Map Marketing team help you earn a Google Screened badge.