Some of you have seen a drop in LSA leads in recent months. While this didn’t impact everyone, if it affected you, we now have a clear understanding of what happened.

What Changed?

Google rolled out several structural updates to Local Service Ads between late 2025 and early 2026:

  • Responsiveness signals: Missed calls or slow replies now more directly impact visibility, as Google deems these profiles “less reliable.” This has been a signal for a while, but the importance of the signal has increased.
  • LSA & GBP alignment: Reviews and ranking signals are now more tightly tied to your Google Business Profile. Review recency, Review velocity, and profile consistency matter more than ever.
  • AI-driven local search: Google is now making fewer businesses visible. Instead of the stable 3-pack structure, there are often only 1 or 2. Listings are also cycling more aggressively, meaning less consistent exposure for businesses who were dominating their LSA category.
  • Automated lead credits: With manual disputes gone, more low-quality leads can slip through the cracks, and Google is catching some of them automatically. You still absolutely need to review each lead daily and give it a rating and disposition.

How We’re Staying Ahead of the Game

As Google rolls out these changes, here’s how we’re adapting our clients’ strategies for continued digital success:

  • Auditing and aligning LSA, GBP, and website data. Maintaining consistency across platforms has been at the top of our priority list for the past year.
  • Monitoring LSA leads, spend, and revenue each month to make sure your strategy is working. We also set up daily alerts whenever there are major changes in LSA performance. This allows us to monitor phone lead responsiveness scores and LSA opportunities daily.
  • We aren’t creating set-it-and-forget-it strategies. As Google algorithms change and consumer habits adapt, we’re continuously keeping our ear to the ground and testing to find new opportunities.

What You Can Do

  • Strengthen your review strategy. Every customer needs to get a review request, and every review needs a reply. Every reply should include some keywords that tie to the service you provided and their locality, if it fits.
  • Improving response systems to protect visibility. Make sure that every call gets answered quickly, and every message gets a fast reply.

The internet is changing faster than ever. Platforms like Google are leaning harder into automation and AI, which means strategies have to evolve just as quickly.

We’re staying ahead of those changes so you don’t fall behind.

With more than two decades of wrenching under the hood of the internet, the only constant is change, and understanding how to adapt your strategy for ferociously effective marketing campaigns is what we do best.

If you’re ready to scale your business but don’t have the time to devote constant attention to your online marketing, let’s talk.

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