TECHNICAL · SEO GLOSSARY
Google Guaranteed / Google Screened
Google\'s trust badges for Local Services Ads (LSA) — Google Guaranteed for home service businesses (plumbers, electricians, cleaners) and Google Screened for licensed professionals (attorneys, financial advisors, real estate agents). Require background checks, license verification, and insurance validation. Appear as paid placements above the organic local pack with the badge and business name.
Definition
Google Guaranteed and Google Screened are trust badge programmes associated with Local Services Ads (LSA) — Google\'s pay-per-lead advertising format for local service businesses. **Google Guaranteed**: for home service categories (plumbing, HVAC, cleaning, landscaping, general contracting, locksmithing, and others). Requires a background check for the business owner and employees, business license verification, and liability insurance. The green "Google Guaranteed" badge signals to searchers that Google has verified the business. If a customer is dissatisfied with work paid for through LSA, Google offers a satisfaction guarantee up to a limit. **Google Screened**: for licensed professional service categories including attorneys, financial advisors, real estate agents, tax specialists, and mortgage brokers. Requires professional license verification and background check. The "Google Screened" badge signals professional credential verification without the satisfaction guarantee. LSA appears: above the organic local pack results, above standard Google Ads text ads (for covered categories), with the trust badge and an "Ad" label. LSA ranking factors: proximity to searcher, bid amount, business rating (number and quality of reviews), response rate and time, business hours. LSA is not the same as standard Google Ads — it is a separate campaign type with different management interfaces, billing (pay-per-lead rather than pay-per-click), and eligibility requirements.
Why it matters for SEO
Google Guaranteed/Screened appears above both the organic local pack and standard Google Ads for covered categories — the most prominent SERP position available. For attorneys, real estate agents, and other licensed professionals in LSA-eligible categories, LSA can deliver high-intent leads at potentially lower cost-per-acquisition than standard Google Ads (pay-per-lead vs pay-per-click, and higher conversion rate from the trust badge). Organic local pack ranking and LSA are independent — a business can pursue both simultaneously, appearing in the paid LSA position above the local pack and in the organic local pack below it for the same query.
How DeepSEOAnalysis checks this
DeepSEOAnalysis does not audit LSA campaigns (managed in Google\'s LSA interface). However, the audit validates the technical SEO foundation that supports local pack ranking alongside LSA: GBP-linked structured data (`Attorney`, `LocalBusiness`), `aggregateRating` presence (reviews feed both LSA ranking and organic local pack), `areaServed` for geographic coverage, and website Core Web Vitals (a slow website that LSA links to creates post-click friction even if the ad gets clicks).
Useful tools and resources
GLOSSARY
Related terms
technical
Legal SEO
SEO practice applied to law firms, attorneys, and legal service providers — characterised by YMYL content standards, jurisdiction-specific keyword targeting, Attorney/LegalService schema, intense aggregator competition (Avvo, FindLaw, Martindale), and Local Services Ads (Google Screened) for local legal query visibility.
Read definition →technical
Local SEO Ranking Factors
The three primary signals Google uses to rank businesses in local search results (the local pack / map pack): proximity (how close the business is to the searcher), relevance (how well the business matches the query), and prominence (how well-known and trusted the business is — based on reviews, citations, and website authority).
Read definition →technical
Local Services Ads (LSA)
Google\'s pay-per-lead advertising format for local service businesses — appearing above the organic local pack and standard Google Ads for covered service categories. Unlike Google Ads (pay-per-click), LSA charges per qualified lead (phone call or message). Eligibility requires Google Guaranteed or Google Screened badge verification depending on category.
Read definition →technical
GBP Optimisation (Google Business Profile)
The ongoing management and improvement of a Google Business Profile listing to maximise visibility in local pack and Google Maps results — covering category selection, business information completeness, review management, photo updates, GBP posts, service listings, and Q&A management.
Read definition →structured data
Attorney Schema
The schema.org type for law firms and individual attorneys — Attorney, a subtype of LegalService → LocalBusiness — with properties including address, geo, openingHoursSpecification, areaServed (jurisdiction coverage), knowsAbout (practice areas), and aggregateRating. Enables knowledge panel features for legal service queries and jurisdiction-specific local search relevance.
Read definition →See how your site scores on Google Guaranteed / Google Screened.
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