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Can You Get a Credit for a Bad Google LSA Lead? Yes, but Only Automatically

By Sharrk Team · October 25, 2026

Yes, you can still get a credit for a bad Google Local Services Ads (LSA) lead, but only automatically: Google retired manual disputes in July 2024, and its models now decide which leads are invalid and credit them, usually within 30 days. Since you can no longer argue a lead back, the money you control is the money you spend on good leads, and Sharrk answers every LSA call 24/7, so the paid calls you get turn into booked jobs instead of billed missed calls.

This guide covers how lead credits work today, what Google still credits, and what it stopped crediting. For what LSA leads cost in the first place, see our guide to Google Local Services Ads cost.

Can you still dispute a Google LSA lead?

No. Before July 2024, you could open a lead, listen to the recording and press "Dispute lead" with a reason. Google announced on June 24, 2024 that it would replace that with automated lead credits starting in July 2024, for all advertisers, with no opt-out (Search Engine Roundtable, June 25, 2024). Google's Ads Liaison, Ginny Marvin, described the new approach as: "We're proactively evaluating every lead that comes in" (quoted by Search Engine Land).

What replaced the dispute button is a Lead Feedback survey. In your account you open Leads, pick a lead, choose Rate this lead, and submit the survey. Google's help page says feedback trains its models, and that a credited lead can be credited automatically or "as a bonus for leaving feedback." Feedback can also be sent through the Google Ads API.

How do automatic LSA lead credits work?

Google's help pages (no date shown, checked October 25, 2026) describe two checkpoints:

1. At first contact. Invalid or low-quality leads, such as spam and duplicates, are filtered and never charged.
2. After the charge. Charged leads are reassessed over time. If a lead is later judged low quality, duplicate or invalid, Google may credit it automatically, typically within a 30-day assessment window. Google notes that some poor leads may still be charged and then credited within the first 24 hours.

The credit lands on your account balance. The original charge still shows on your invoice, so expect to see both lines.

Every lead in your report carries one of four statuses:

What counts as an invalid lead now?

Google's own pages name spam, duplicates and low-quality or invalid leads without publishing a full list. PPC Land's October 12, 2026 explainer summarizes the categories that are still credited as wrong numbers or sales calls, spam or bot contacts, duplicate leads, and calls meant for another business.

Two categories that used to be common dispute reasons are now off the table:

Google's advice for the last two is to review your service areas, job types and categories, and it warns that narrowing them may reduce lead volume. In practice, that means the setup screen is now your dispute tool.

Lead credits are also not available at all for health care verticals, tax specialists, or advertisers in EMEA, and automatic credits are not available in EEA countries, per Google's "How leads work" page.

Is there a time limit on LSA lead credits?

You don't file anything, so there is no filing deadline to miss. Google says credits are typically applied within 30 days. If a lead you consider junk is still marked Charged after that window, the remaining lever is the Rate this lead survey.

Does Google charge for missed LSA calls?

Yes, in many cases. Google emailed advertisers that on October 1, 2026 it would update how call leads are charged (Search Engine Roundtable, August 25, 2026). Google's "How leads work" page now says:

• A missed call is charged only if the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds during business hours.
• A voicemail or automated greeting during business hours is charged if the caller stays on more than 20 seconds, whether or not they leave a message.
• With a phone menu, the 20-second timer starts at the first key press; a caller who hangs up without pressing a key isn't charged.
• An answered call is judged on the actual conversation, not the 20-second rule.
• Repeat contacts from the same number or email within 15 days of a charged lead aren't charged again.
• Business hours come from your Google Business Profile; if your ad schedule differs, unanswered calls are charged only when both are active.

PPC Land noted on September 25, 2026 that Google has not published a dispute process for missed-call charges. Put plainly: a missed call that rings past 20 seconds during business hours is a paid lead, and nothing in the credit system is designed to refund it because you didn't pick up.

What is changing with LSA in Google Ads?

Google is moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads as Performance Max campaigns built for pay-per-lead goals. The migration started in August 2026 with a limited group of US advertisers, with other US advertisers later in 2026 and non-US accounts in 2027 (Search Engine Journal, July 20, 2026). The standalone LSA dashboard goes away after migration, lead histories transfer, and historical performance reports do not, so download the reports you need before your account moves. PPC Land reported in October 2026 that Google's transition page did not mention lead credits.

How do you protect your LSA budget when you can't dispute?

With disputes gone and missed calls billable, the practical moves are on your side of the phone:

1. Tighten job types and service areas. Wrong-service and out-of-area leads are no longer credited, so remove anything you don't want to pay for.
2. Rate bad leads. Use Rate this lead on every junk contact so Google's models learn your business and you stay eligible for any feedback bonus.
3. Answer every call during business hours. An answered call is judged on the conversation; an unanswered one past 20 seconds is simply charged.
4. Reply to message leads fast. Message leads are paid leads too; a slow reply is money spent on a lead a faster competitor books.
5. Keep your own records. A transcript and recording of each call shows you exactly which leads were real, which is useful when you rate leads and when you decide which job types to cut.

The same logic applies on other pay-per-lead platforms; our guide to Angi lead credits covers how that process works.

How Sharrk keeps LSA leads from going to waste

LSA routes calls through a Google tracking number that forwards to your business number. Forward your business number at your carrier to your Sharrk number, and a Sharrk AI voice agent answers every call 24/7, in 35 languages, in your chosen voice or a clone of your own. It qualifies the caller, books onto Sharrk's calendar, Calendly, Cal.com or ServiceTitan with real arrival windows, and live-transfers to a person when the call needs one, cold or warm with a whisper brief. Every call is logged with a transcript, recording and captured fields, so you always know what a charged lead actually said.

For leads that arrive in other systems, such as web forms or a custom webhook, Sharrk replies by text, call or email in under 30 seconds and can start a Strike: automatic follow-up across AI calls, texts, emails and ringless voicemail that stops when the lead replies or has a real conversation.

Mako, Sharrk's AI assistant, builds all of this from plain English. Tell it "answer my roofing calls, book inspections Monday to Saturday, and transfer storm emergencies to my on-call tech" and it sets up the agent, the calendar and the transfer rule, showing every change on an Apply card. Nothing changes until you press OK, and Undo puts it back.

You can build and test your whole setup on Sharrk Free, with 2,500 one-time credits and no card, or book a demo to see it answer a live call. More on how it works on our AI answering service page.

Related on Sharrk: AI Answering Service · Google Local Services Ads Cost · Angi Lead Credit

Sources

• Google Local Services Help, "About Automated Local Services Ads lead credits" (no date shown): https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/7435486 (checked October 25, 2026)
• Google Local Services Help, "How leads work" (no date shown): https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/7195435?hl=en (checked October 25, 2026)
• Google Local Services Help, "Troubleshooting invalid leads" (no date shown): https://support.google.com/localservices/troubleshooter/11390630 (checked October 25, 2026)
• Search Engine Roundtable, "Google Automated Local Services Ads Lead Credits Coming" (June 25, 2024): https://www.seroundtable.com/google-automate-local-services-ads-lead-credits-37617.html (checked October 25, 2026)
• Search Engine Land, "Google automates lead credits for Local Services Ads" (no date shown; covers the July 2024 rollout): https://searchengineland.com/google-automates-lead-credits-local-services-ads-443468 (checked October 25, 2026)
• Search Engine Roundtable, "Google To Charge For Missed & Subsequent Calls On LSAs" (August 25, 2026, updated August 26, 2026): https://seroundtable.com/google-lsa-missed-subsequent-calls-41940.html (checked October 25, 2026)
• PPC Land, "Google LSA advertisers face missed-call charges from October 1" (September 25, 2026): https://ppc.land/google-lsa-advertisers-face-missed-call-charges-from-october-1/ (checked October 25, 2026)
• PPC Land, "Explaining autocrediting" (October 12, 2026): https://ppc.land/autocrediting/ (checked October 25, 2026)
• Search Engine Journal, "Google Is Bringing Local Services Ads Into Google Ads" (July 20, 2026): https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-is-bringing-local-service-ads-into-google-ads/582816/ (checked October 25, 2026)

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