Are Local Services Ads Available in Australia? The Truth

You’ve probably seen it: a green “Google Guaranteed” badge sitting above the normal search results, right next to a tradie’s name, rating and phone number. It looks like exactly what you want for your business. So you go looking for how to sign up, and here’s the honest answer before you spend a single dollar chasing it: Local Services Ads aren’t available in Australia yet. Not for electricians, not for plumbers, not for anyone. Here’s the proof, why the confusion happens, and what actually works for Aussie tradies right now.

What Local Services Ads and Google Guaranteed actually are

Local Services Ads (LSAs) sit at the very top of Google’s results, above the normal search ads and above the map pack. Instead of paying per click, the business pays per lead, an actual call or message from someone chasing that trade. Every listing carries the green “Google Guaranteed” badge, which tells the customer Google has vetted the business and backs the job with a support net if something goes wrong.

It’s a genuinely strong format. In the countries where it runs, it’s one of the fastest ways for a trade business to turn “near me” searches into booked jobs. Which is exactly why so many Australian tradies go looking for it.

The truth: LSAs aren’t in Australia (yet)

Here’s the proof, straight from Google. When you check the official Local Services sign-up flow, the eligible countries listed are Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US. Australia isn’t on it. There’s no Australian trade category, no “select cities” workaround, and currently no legitimate way to run a Google Guaranteed Local Services Ad for an Australian business.

It’s not a rumour, either. There’s an active thread on Google’s own Ads Community forum literally titled “When will Local Services Ads be available in Australia?” It’s been open a while, and Google hasn’t given a date. Google does run a separate “Local Services Ads Equivalency” programme, but that’s US-only and reserved for enterprises with 10+ locations and $50 million-plus in revenue, so it’s no help to a local sparky or plumber either.

If anyone offers to “set up your Google Guaranteed badge” or “get you into Local Services Ads” for an Australian business today, that’s not a service that exists yet. Worth knowing before you hand over a deposit.

Why the confusion happens

Two reasons. First, most of what you find searching this topic is written for the US, UK or Canadian market, where LSAs have been running for years, and it rarely bothers to caveat “this doesn’t apply in Australia.” Second, Google genuinely is rolling LSAs out country by country, so it’s reasonable to assume Australia’s turn has come, or is close. It hasn’t, and there’s no public timeline for when it will. We’ll update this piece the moment that changes. Until then, treat any Australian guide that talks about LSAs like they’re already live here with a healthy dose of scepticism.

What actually works for Australian tradies right now

The good news: the two jobs LSAs would do for you, pay-per-lead visibility and a trust signal, are both already available in Australia. You just get them through two separate tools instead of one badge.

Google Ads (search)

This is the real, working equivalent of paying for top placement. Set up properly, a Google Ads campaign puts your business in front of people actively searching “electrician near me” or “emergency plumber [suburb]” in your service area, right now, no waitlist required. You control the budget, the suburbs, and which searches trigger your ad, and you only pay when someone clicks through.

The trade-off against LSAs is that you’re paying per click rather than per lead, so a properly built landing page and a fast-answering phone matter more. That’s exactly why we manage it end to end, targeting your real service area, keeping the ad spend pointed at jobs you actually want, and reporting back in plain English, not agency jargon.

Local SEO and Google Business Profile

This is your free, long-term answer to the trust badge. A fully optimised Google Business Profile, backed by genuine reviews, real photos of your work, and consistent business details, is what gets you into the Google Maps pack, the block of local businesses with stars and a map pin that shows up for almost every “[trade] near me” search. It doesn’t carry a green tick, but a business with 40 five-star reviews and a fast reply time earns the same trust a badge would, and it keeps earning it without a per-lead bill attached.

Run Google Ads and local SEO together and you’ve effectively rebuilt what LSAs offer overseas: paid visibility at the top, plus an organic trust asset in the maps pack, both live in Australia today. For the full picture on how all three pieces of tradie marketing fit together, have a read of our guide to marketing for tradies.

Which one should you start with?

If you need calls this week, start with Google Ads, it’s the fastest lever you can pull. If you’re building for the next few years and want an asset that keeps paying off without ongoing spend, local SEO is where the value compounds. Most established tradies end up running both, for exactly the reason LSAs combine paid and trust signals overseas. We’ve broken down the trade-offs properly in SEO vs Google Ads for tradies if you want to weigh it up for your own business.

How we run it for you

We manage Google Ads for Aussie tradies from $650 a month plus ad spend, and your ad spend goes straight to Google, never marked up. No lock-in contracts, billed weekly, and Chris (who ran the tools as a Pipefitter and Boilermaker before running ad campaigns) keeps an eye on it so you’re not paying for tyre-kickers.

On the SEO side, our local SEO rectification starts at $950 one-time (or $500 if you bundle it with a new site), covering your Google Business Profile setup, local directory listings, and the on-page fixes that get you found for “near me” searches.

Neither of these involves waiting on a badge that isn’t live here yet. Both start working for you now.

The bottom line

Local Services Ads and the Google Guaranteed badge are a great format, in the countries where Google actually runs them. Australia isn’t one of them, and if Google flips that switch, we’ll be the first to let our clients know so they’re in early. Until then, don’t pay anyone claiming otherwise, and put that budget into Google Ads and local SEO instead, both of which are doing exactly this job for Australian tradies today.

Want a straight answer on whether Google Ads, local SEO, or both make sense for your trade and your patch? Get in touch and we’ll tell you honestly, badge or no badge.