Google Guaranteed vs Google Screened is now a history question. In August 2025 Google announced a single Google Verified badge that replaces Google Guaranteed, Google Screened, License Verified by Google and the Money Back Guarantee, starting in October 2025.1 If your trucks, website or quote templates still say "Google Guaranteed," they're describing a program that's gone. What still matters for a contractor is passing Google's screening, keeping it current as you hire, and cleaning up the old claims. This guide sits under our Local Services Ads hub.
What the two badges were
Before the change, Local Services Ads showed different badges for different kinds of businesses. Google Guaranteed was the home services badge: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing and similar trades. It carried Google's money-back guarantee for customers who booked a provider through Local Services Ads. Google Screened was the badge for professional services; trade press reported Google rolling it out nationally for categories such as lawyers and financial planners.2 Screened businesses went through background and license checks but carried no guarantee.
For a trade contractor the practical difference was the guarantee, and it was a selling point: "backed by Google" was something CSRs and websites said out loud.
What changed, side by side
| Before October 2025 | Now: Google Verified | |
|---|---|---|
| Badge for home services | Google Guaranteed | Google Verified |
| Badge for professional services | Google Screened | Google Verified |
| Money-back guarantee | Yes, for Google Guaranteed bookings | No; ended for services booked from December 7, 2025 |
| Screening and verification | Background, license, insurance checks by category | Same kinds of checks; the profile shows which ones you passed |
Source: Google blog (Aug 2025), About Google Verified badge, Understand the Google Guarantee
Google's help center confirms the details: existing advertisers who completed verification receive the Google Verified badge automatically with no action needed, new advertisers must complete screening and verification first, and Local Services Ads ranking isn't affected by the change.3 Consumers could request reimbursement only for services booked through Local Services Ads before December 7, 2025, and had to submit within 30 days of the service completion date.4 Google's blog adds that the badge is shown alongside the specific checks the business passed, and only where Google predicts it helps people decide.1
What Google still checks
The badge changed. The work to earn it didn't go away. For U.S. Local Services Ads in applicable categories, Google's screening and verification page lists:5
| Check | Who or what | What to have ready |
|---|---|---|
| Background check | The business, every owner, and field workers who perform core services: employees, contractors and subcontractors. Office and customer support staff are excluded | Names exactly as on government ID; Google's local partners run the checks and results stay confidential |
| Business registration | The business | A D-U-N-S number (can take up to 30 days to get), or a Secretary of State registration, IRS EIN or Department of Revenue registration |
| Business representative | The person completing sign-up | Government-issued photo ID; affiliation confirmed through Dun & Bradstreet data or a document |
| Licenses | The business and its owners or managers, plus county and city licenses; every service professional must be licensed where required | License numbers that match state databases; location-level licenses for multi-location businesses |
| Insurance | The business | A certificate of insurance at your category's minimum, valid at least 14 days past submission, matching your advertised name, covering your service area |
| Google Business Profile | The matched profile | Ownership or manager access for the person completing the checks |
Google says businesses aren't charged for the background checks. A failed check means you can't participate; after a final disqualification you wait 30 days to reapply, and 180 days after a second denial. Google also re-evaluates advertisers regularly and may ask you to repeat checks, and not completing them can cost you the badge, pause your ads or suspend the account.5
One change worth knowing: as Local Services Ads move into Google Ads as a pay-per-lead campaign type, Google says verification status carries over and insurance and license reverification is no longer required.6 Background checks for new field workers are a different matter, so keep them in your hiring process.
Build verification into hiring, not just sign-up
The most common way contractors drift out of compliance is growth. You pass screening with six technicians, then hire three more and bring on a subcontractor for the summer. Google's checks cover field workers who perform core services, including contractors and subcontractors.5
New field worker checklist (Local Services Ads)
- Before the first solo job: start the Google background check for the new tech or subcontractor
- Confirm the name on their government ID matches the name you submit
- Confirm they hold any license the work requires in your state, county and city
- Add them to your certificate of insurance if your policy names workers or subs
- Don't dispatch them on LSA-booked jobs until the check clears
- Log the date the check cleared on their employee record
Audit the old claims
The FTC's guidance for small businesses is short: advertising must be truthful and not deceptive, and advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims before the ad runs.7 A truck that still says "Google Guaranteed" describes a program and a money-back promise that no longer exist. Customers do ask about it, and a CSR who says "yes, Google backs us" is now making a promise nobody will keep.
| Where old claims hide | What to change it to |
|---|---|
| Truck wraps and magnets | Remove the Google Guaranteed mark, or replace it with your own guarantee in your own words. If you're reprinting, add a phone number you can track to the truck |
| Website header, footer and badges | Remove the badge image and any "money-back guarantee from Google" copy |
| Quote and estimate templates | Remove guarantee language that refers to Google; keep your own warranty terms |
| CSR phone scripts | Replace "we're Google Guaranteed" with what's true: you passed Google's background, license and insurance checks |
| Google Business Profile description, social bios, email signatures | Same: remove the old badge name |
| Yard signs, door hangers, print and radio | Update on the next run; note which pieces still carry the old wording |
If you're reprinting truck graphics anyway, put a dedicated phone number on them. With a tracked number per truck or per vehicle wrap, calls and the jobs they book count against the truck that rang the phone, which turns a one-time printing cost into a channel you can measure. TradesWork phones lets each line carry a campaign for exactly this.
Does the badge still matter?
Google says the badge is shown dynamically, where it predicts the badge will help people decide, along with which checks you passed.1 Ranking in Local Services Ads still comes from your bid, how likely your ad is to produce a lead, and profile quality, which includes completed verification checks alongside rating, reviews, reply speed and photos.8 So the badge is a requirement to compete, not an edge on its own. Reviews and response speed are where shops pull ahead. Our guide on getting more Google reviews from every completed job covers the first; the Local Services Ads guide for HVAC companies covers the second.
How to measure it from your jobs
You can't measure the badge directly, but you can measure the two things around it that you control: whether your team stays verified, and whether LSA leads turn into jobs.
Metric
Verified field coverage
The share of technicians and subcontractors dispatched on jobs who have a cleared Google background check. Anything under 100% is a risk to the account.
field workers with a cleared check ÷ field workers dispatched this month
Where the numbers come from: Employee and subcontractor records, with the date each check cleared; dispatch history
Metric
LSA lead to completed job rate
How many Local Services Ads leads became finished jobs. The number the badge, reviews and response speed all feed into.
completed jobs from LSA leads ÷ LSA leads received
Where the numbers come from: Leads tagged with the LSA campaign; completed jobs carrying that campaign
Metric
Old-claim cleanup
A one-time checklist score for the audit above, re-checked twice a year.
placements updated ÷ placements that carried Google Guaranteed wording
Where the numbers come from: Your own list of trucks, templates, web pages and print pieces
For the mechanics of lead charging, credits and the move into Google Ads, our Field Notes post on how Local Services Ads pay-per-lead works goes deeper, and the glossary entry for Google Local Services Ads has the short definition.
General information, not legal advice.
Footnotes
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Google Verified makes it easier to find trusted local businesses advertising on Google, Google, August 20, 2025. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Google rolling out LSAs and 'Google Screened' to select professional services nationally, Search Engine Land (third-party trade press), accessed October 15, 2026. ↩
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About Google Verified badge, Local Services Help, Google, accessed October 15, 2026. ↩
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Understand the Google Guarantee, Local Services Help, Google, accessed October 15, 2026. ↩
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Understand the screening and verification process, Local Services Help, Google, accessed October 15, 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Local Services Ads transition to Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals, Google Ads Help, accessed October 15, 2026. ↩
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Advertising FAQ's: A Guide for Small Business, Federal Trade Commission, accessed October 15, 2026. ↩
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About ad rankings, Local Services Help, Google, accessed October 15, 2026. ↩