If you run Google Local Services Ads (the “Google Guaranteed” or “Google Screened” listings at the top of the results), something changed on October 1, 2026. Google now charges for leads from missed calls when the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds, with a few exceptions (Whitespark, Q3 2026).
Until now, a missed LSA call cost you a customer. Now it can cost you the customer and the lead fee. For HVAC, plumbing and roofing companies, where the busiest call times are evenings, weekends and storm weeks, that adds up.
1. Find out how many LSA calls you miss
Open your Local Services Ads account and look at the leads list for the last 30 days. Missed calls are listed with the rest. Count them, and note when they happened: after 5 pm, at lunch, on Saturdays, or while the office was on another line. That pattern tells you which fix you need.
2. Make your ad schedule match the hours you really answer
LSA lets you set the hours your ads run. If nobody answers after 6 pm, running ads until 9 pm is paying Google to send calls to voicemail. Either shorten the schedule or put something in place that answers during those hours. Check your business hours on your Google Business Profile at the same time, so customers see the same hours everywhere.
3. Decide who answers after hours
There are three realistic options for a small or family-run company:
- An on-call phone. Free, but it wakes someone up for every call, including the ones that could wait until morning.
- A traditional answering service. A person takes a message. Good for emergencies, but most can't book the job, and you still call everyone back.
- An AI receptionist. Answers every call, says up front that it's an AI and that the call is recorded, books routine jobs into your calendar or field software, and sends real emergencies to your on-call phone. In Florida, the recording disclosure matters: the state requires everyone's consent to record a call.
Whichever you pick, test it: call your own number at 8 pm on a weekday and on a Saturday morning, and listen to what a customer hears.
4. Text back every missed call
Most people who reach voicemail don't leave a message; they call the next company. A text within a minute (“Sorry we missed you. Reply here or book a time at this link”) brings some of them back. Send it once, only to the number that called, and only about their request.
5. Check each missed-call charge
Google's rules on which missed calls are billed have exceptions, and they can change. Each month, compare the missed calls you were charged for with your own phone records, and use the lead-dispute option in your account where a charge doesn't look right. Keep a short note of what you disputed and what came back.
What this costs you, roughly
Take the number of missed LSA calls from step 1, multiply by your average lead fee, and add the jobs those callers would have booked. Our missed-call calculator does the second half with your own numbers; it's an estimate, not a promise.
If you want help
We're a Bradenton firm that sets up AI receptionists for Florida HVAC, plumbing and roofing companies. Our Trades Front Office includes a monthly report of LSA missed-call charges. The free audit starts with us calling your line after hours and telling you what we heard.