If you are looking for the old Dispute button in Google Local Services Ads, it may no longer be there. For many advertisers, Google has replaced the manual-dispute workflow with automatic credit reviews and a Rate this lead survey. Google decides whether a lead should be charged, reviewed, or credited; your job is to rate the lead accurately and monitor the result.
That may sound like a worse deal. It is actually a reason to stop treating credits as the main goal.
An LSA credit is a useful, one-time reduction in spend. Consistent lead ratings give Google feedback about which inquiries suit your business and give your team the data to improve targeting, intake, and cost per qualified lead. Google may also issue a credit after feedback, but the credit is the side effect—not the strategy.
The practical rule: Rate every eligible lead based on what actually happened. Track credits, but optimize the account for more qualified opportunities at a sustainable cost.
Google LSA credits at a glance
- Google assesses leads when the customer first makes contact.
- Leads Google identifies as invalid or low quality may never be charged.
- Charged leads can be reassessed and credited automatically later.
- Advertisers can submit feedback with Rate this lead, but this is not a guaranteed refund request.
- A credited lead reduces net spend; an accurate rating can also help Google understand which leads fit the business.
- Credit availability depends on the advertiser’s market and category.
Google documents this process in its current guide to automated Local Services Ads lead credits.
Can you still dispute Google Guaranteed leads?
For advertisers using Google’s automated LSA credit system, the old routine of manually disputing each charged lead has largely been replaced by automatic review and lead feedback. You may still find older Google help pages and tutorials that refer to a Dispute button, but the controls visible in the individual account are what matter.
The current workflow is:
- Open the lead in the Local Services Ads inbox.
- Select Rate this lead.
- Open the Lead Feedback Survey.
- Submit an accurate rating and reason.
- Check the lead report later for Google’s actual credit status.
Submitting negative feedback does not mean Google owes the account a credit. Google makes the credit decision, and the result may come from automatic reassessment or what Google describes as a bonus credit for leaving feedback.
This distinction matters when reporting to a client. Say “feedback submitted” until the account shows Credited. Do not report a requested, expected, or internally approved credit as money returned.
How automatic LSA lead credits work
Google’s lead report can show four different states:
| Lead status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Not charged | Google did not bill the lead initially, sometimes because it detected low quality or a duplicate |
| Charged | Google billed the lead as valid |
| In review | Google is reassessing the charged lead |
| Credited | Google returned a previous lead charge to the account balance |
Google says most credits are applied within 30 days. The original charge can remain on the invoice, so reconcile the credit amount rather than expecting the original line item to disappear. The account’s Local Services Ads reports show charged leads, spend, and received credits.
What kinds of leads may receive credits?
Obvious spam, solicitation, duplicate contacts, wrong numbers, and inquiries with no genuine service intent are the clearest examples of leads that may be filtered or reassessed. They are not guaranteed credit categories; Google still makes the decision.
A real prospect who does not book is different. Price objections, unavailable appointment times, missed calls, poor intake, and choosing a competitor do not automatically make the original lead invalid.
Google also says job types and locations a business does not service are no longer supported reasons for automated credits. If those inquiries recur, correct the job types, service areas, or categories in the profile. Submit truthful feedback, but fix a preventable mismatch at the source instead of depending on credits.
Why rating LSA leads matters more than the credit
Google calls feedback in its Lead Feedback Survey “crucial” to understanding advertiser preferences so it can try to send leads better suited to the business. That is the long-term value.
One credit improves one billing period. A disciplined rating process creates a continuous feedback loop:
- Google receives clearer signals about which inquiries fit the business.
- Your team sees why leads qualify, fail to qualify, or fail to book.
- Repeated problems point to a profile, routing, or sales-process change.
- A higher share of qualified leads can lower cost per qualified lead.
- Better unit economics make it safer to support more lead volume.
Google does not say that rating a lead directly increases LSA rank, guarantees more volume, or guarantees a lower price. Its LSA ranking documentation names bid, responsiveness, search relevance, and profile quality among the auction factors. Treat lead feedback as an important quality input, not a secret ranking switch.
Credits improve the numerator; lead quality improves the denominator
The metric that matters is not the raw cost per lead shown in the platform. It is the net cost per qualified lead:
Net cost per qualified lead = (gross LSA spend - credits) / qualified leads
Suppose an account spends $4,000 and produces 20 qualified leads. Its cost per qualified lead is $200. Recovering $200 in credits lowers that figure to $190—a welcome quick win.
If better feedback, cleaner settings, and stronger intake help the same spend produce 25 qualified leads, the cost falls to $152 after those credits. The credit helped once. Improving the qualified-lead rate changed the economics of the account.
That is why chasing the highest possible credit rate is the wrong objective. A high credit rate can simply mean the account is attracting a large amount of junk.
Lead rating is not the same as a customer review
These are easy to confuse:
| Signal | Who submits it | Primary purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Lead rating or Lead Feedback Survey | The advertiser | Tell Google how well an inquiry fit the business |
| Customer star rating or review | The customer | Describe their experience with the provider |
Customer reviews and review count are documented LSA profile-quality and ranking factors. Advertiser lead ratings are feedback about incoming leads. Do not tell a client that rating leads is the same as earning five-star reviews or that it has the same confirmed ranking effect.
How to rate leads consistently
A rating is only useful when the standard stays the same across employees, locations, and months. Start by separating lead quality from sales outcome.
A qualified lead
A practical definition is a real prospective customer requesting a service the business offers in a location it can serve, subject to legitimate business-specific acceptance criteria.
The lead can qualify even if it does not book. For example, the customer may decline the price or need an appointment time that is unavailable.
A poor-fit or invalid lead
Common reasons include:
- Spam, robocalls, or vendor solicitations
- Duplicate inquiries
- Wrong numbers or no service intent
- A service the business genuinely does not provide
- A location the business genuinely cannot serve
- An existing-customer support call rather than a new opportunity
Use the closest accurate option offered in the survey. Do not mark every unbooked call as poor quality to seek a credit; that contaminates the feedback and hides conversion problems.
For a fuller diagnostic process, use the 50-lead audit for low-quality Google LSA leads.
A simple weekly LSA rating workflow
1. Review the conversation, not the outcome note
Use the call recording, transcript, or message thread when available. “Bad lead” is not enough evidence to understand why the lead failed.
2. Apply one qualification standard
Use the same definition across every lead. Record both the lead’s qualification status and the downstream outcome, such as booked, qualified but not booked, existing customer, or invalid.
3. Submit the LSA lead rating
Rate the lead while the evidence is fresh. If the account manages enough volume that manual review becomes inconsistent, LeadUp’s Google LSA integration can analyze supported calls, apply one qualification framework, automatically submit eligible lead ratings when complete automation is enabled, and report credits and cost per qualified lead across connected accounts.
4. Reconcile actual credits
Check leads marked In review and record the date and value of credits Google applies. Keep this separate from the internal lead rating.
5. Fix repeated causes
Ratings should lead to action:
| Pattern | Best next step |
|---|---|
| Repeated wrong-service leads | Review enabled job types and categories |
| Repeated out-of-area leads | Review service-area settings |
| Missed calls | Repair routing and staffing coverage |
| Slow message replies | Improve notification coverage and response time |
| Qualified leads not booking | Review intake, availability, pricing, and follow-up |
Rating cannot recover a qualified lead your team failed to answer. For message-heavy accounts, an LSA autoresponder can handle initial intake and follow-up while preserving human handoff.
What to measure besides Google LSA credits
Use credits as one line in a broader scorecard:
| Metric | Formula or definition | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Feedback coverage | Rated eligible leads / eligible leads | Shows whether the process is consistent |
| Qualified-lead rate | Qualified leads / all leads | Measures the share of real opportunities |
| Credit rate | Credited leads / charged leads | Tracks money returned, not overall quality |
| Net LSA spend | Gross lead charges - credits | Captures actual media cost |
| Net cost per qualified lead | Net LSA spend / qualified leads | Measures account economics |
| Booking rate from qualified leads | Booked leads / qualified leads | Separates media quality from conversion performance |
If credit rate rises while qualified-lead rate falls, the account is not improving. If credits remain modest but qualified opportunities and bookings grow at a sustainable cost, the account is moving in the right direction.
LSA credit limitations to know
Google currently says automated lead credits are unavailable for health care verticals, tax specialists, and advertisers in EMEA. Features can also differ by country, category, and account experience.
Because Google changes LSA interfaces and policies, check the current help documentation and the controls shown in the specific account before promising a client a dispute or credit process.
Frequently asked questions
Does rating a bad Google LSA lead guarantee a credit?
No. Rating submits feedback; Google decides whether to issue a credit. A charged lead may be credited through automated reassessment or, in some cases, as a bonus for leaving feedback.
How long do Google LSA credits take?
Google says most credits are applied to the account balance within 30 days. Some poor-quality leads may be identified before billing or processed through automatic credits much sooner.
Where can I see Local Services Ads credits?
Open the Local Services Ads lead inbox and go to Reports. The report includes charged leads, total lead spend, and received lead credits.
Does rating LSA leads improve ranking?
Google says feedback helps it understand which leads best suit the business, but it does not confirm lead ratings as a direct ranking factor. Responsiveness, relevance, bid, reviews, and other profile-quality inputs are part of Google’s documented ranking system.
Should I rate every Local Services Ads lead?
Rate every eligible lead you can assess accurately. Consistent coverage is more useful than only rating obvious bad leads because it gives both Google and your team a more complete picture of lead quality.
Bottom line
Google LSA lead credits are worth collecting, but they are not the main prize. The old manual-dispute mindset focuses on recovering the cost of yesterday’s bad lead. A consistent rating process focuses on improving tomorrow’s lead mix and understanding the real cost of qualified opportunities.
Rate leads accurately, verify credits instead of assuming them, and act on the patterns the ratings reveal. Credits are the quick win. Better qualified-lead economics are what make an LSA account easier to grow.