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Customers still ask if you're Google Guaranteed. The honest answer changed.

Google swapped every Local Services badge for one Google Verified badge and ended the refund that came with the old one. Google describes the same checks behind it. A customer unhappy with the work can no longer ask Google to pay, so that complaint now lands on your office, your reviews and Google's complaint form.

By Lonta AIPublished Updated 15 min readHow we write

TL;DR

  • Google Guaranteed is gone. Google replaced it with a single Google Verified badge for all Local Services advertisers and discontinued the money-back guarantee that came with the old badge, effective November 7, 2025, according to Google's Guarantee page before it was retired (Internet Archive copy, January 2026). The last date in Google's reimbursement rule is December 7, 2025, so a job booked through your ad in 2026 has no Google refund behind it.
  • The vetting did not go away in Local Services. Google describes the checks behind the new badge in the same words it used for Google Guaranteed, and HVAC, plumbing and electrical get field-tech background checks on top. Once an account moves to Google Ads (select US accounts in these trades began moving in August 2026), Google says insurance and license reverification are no longer required. What the customer lost is the refund.
  • The old refund covered only complaints about the quality of the work. Those complaints now go to your office, your Local Services reviews or Google's complaint form (our reading). Google's rules already expect you to resolve disputes and list multiple verified complaints about unresolved disputes as an example of a violation.
  • Google says the badge swap did not change ad ranking. The verification checks you have completed still count toward profile quality, and if Google asks you for a follow-up review (it re-evaluates select US advertisers), ignoring it can cost you the badge or pause the ads.
  • Three things to fix: what your CSRs say to "Are you Google Guaranteed?", any "Google Guaranteed" logo on your website and trucks, and who at your company sees Google's verification requests.

What happened to Google Guaranteed?

Google's help page "About Google Verified badge" says Google is "simplifying our advertiser badging by launching a single badge for all advertisers". Read in full, the page makes four points:

  • Existing advertisers had nothing to do. Every eligible advertiser who had completed verification got the Google Verified badge automatically, and the ads kept running.
  • New advertisers earn it by passing screening, the same Local Services screening and verification process linked from that page.
  • The money-back guarantee is over. Google "will be discontinuing the Money Back Guarantee associated with the Google Guarantee badge".
  • Customers see which checks you passed. The badge shows on the Local Services profile and "may dynamically appear on other surfaces where it adds consumer value". Google's consumer page adds that profiles display the badge "along with the specific verification checks they have completed".
Google Guaranteed (before)Google Verified (now)
Checks behind it"background, business registration, insurance, and license checks, and minimum review requirements", in Google's definitionThe same list, word for word, on Google's screening page
Money back from GoogleWork-quality complaints only, up to the job invoice, $2,000 lifetime cap per customer in the USDiscontinued
Effect of the switch on LSA rankingn/aNone, Google says
After your account moves to Google Adsn/aBadge and verified status carry over if verification was complete; no insurance or license reverification, Google says

The words "Google Guaranteed" still appear on at least one live Google page, a short definition page that describes "Google Guaranteed advertisers" as providers who passed verification.

When did Google Guaranteed go away?

Google announced it on August 20, 2025, in a short post on its Ads & Commerce blog: "Starting in October", Google Verified would replace Google Guaranteed, Google Screened, License Verified by Google and the Money Back Guarantee. The exact date then moved, and Google's own help pages show each version. We read them in Internet Archive copies:

CapturedGoogle pageWhat it said
Aug 20, 2025About Google Verified badgeBadges and the Money Back Guarantee end effective October 20, 2025. Refunds only for services booked before October 20, 2025
Nov 11, 2025About Google Verified badgeRefund line still says October 20, 2025
Dec 9, 2025About Google Verified badgeRefund line now says December 7, 2025
Jan 29, 2026The Google Guarantee"Effective November 7, 2025, the Google Guarantee badge, and the associated Money Back Guarantee, have been discontinued."

Early reports carried the first date. A Product Expert post in the Google Business Profile Community on August 20, 2025, which shows a screenshot it labels as the LSA email to advertisers, and Search Engine Journal on August 21, 2025 both described an October switch. The community post adds that the green checkmark was to turn blue.

That is why agency pages disagree with Google today. Local Splash's page, published October 10, 2025, says only services booked before October 20, 2025 stayed eligible. That was Google's wording that day. Google changed its own date afterwards, and pages like that one were not updated.

Google's badge page, read on September 24, 2026, now says:

"Eligible consumers can submit the request for reimbursement for services booked through Local Services Ads before December 7, 2025."

The same paragraph says requests had to be filed within 30 days of the service completion date. December 7 is exactly 30 days after November 7, the end date on Google's Guarantee page. Our reading: Google ended the program on November 7 and made December 7 the last day to file a claim, even though the sentence says "booked". Google doesn't spell that out. Under any reading, a job booked in 2026 is not covered.

Can a customer still get their money back from Google?

No. We checked the old links rather than rely on the text. On September 24, 2026 we requested the pages Google used to point customers to:

Old Google pageWhere it goes now
"Understand the Google Guarantee" (answer 7125526)Permanent redirect to "About Google Verified badge"
"The Google Guarantee" (answer 7549288)Permanent redirect to "About Google Verified badge"
"Submit a Google Guarantee Reimbursement Request"Permanent redirect to "Report content or provider concerns"

Google's badge page still links to the first and the third. "Learn more about Google Guarantee" leads back to the page the reader is already on, and "submit the request for reimbursement" opens the complaint form.

On that complaint form's page, Google says it "may initiate an investigation for potential violation of Local Services Ads requirements", that it "cannot guarantee any outcome", and that the report may be shared with the provider concerned. The form reports a concern about you; nothing on the page mentions reimbursement.

Where does the unhappy customer go now?

The old refund was narrow. Google's Guarantee page, in Internet Archive copies from October 2025 and January 2026, covered a customer "not satisfied with the quality of your work", up to the invoice for the initial service, with a lifetime cap of $2,000 per customer in the US. It excluded "damages to property, dissatisfaction with price or provider responsiveness, or cancellations". It did not skip you either: "Google will contact both the customer and the business to gather information before making a decision."

So what closed is one route: a customer unhappy with the quality of the work asking Google, not you, to pay. What is left inside Google is a review on your profile and the complaint form. Outside Google, it is your office.

Google's Local Services Ads requirements already describe what it expects from you. Under "Inappropriate behavior and safety": "In cases of customer disputes, you are expected to work with your customers to resolve any issues, concerns, or damages." Under "Non-fulfillment of services", you must "compensate for or otherwise resolve issues related to your work, including damage, incompleteness, or no-shows". One of Google's listed examples of a violation is having "multiple verified consumer complaints filed against you or your business for incomplete work, poor craftsmanship, and/or unresolved disputes".

Google doesn't say how many complaints it takes, how a complaint becomes "verified", or what penalty follows. Its page on how providers qualify does say that "serious or repeatedly negative customer feedback may result in lower rankings (including not showing at all)". Our reading of the pages together: some customers unhappy with the work used to stop at a Google refund, and now the Google-side options left to them are a review and a form, and both can count against you.

Our advice: call back an unhappy Local Services customer within one business day and put your warranty answer in writing. Google expects you to resolve disputes, and a resolved dispute can't become a complaint about an unresolved one.

What does the badge actually check for HVAC, plumbing and electrical?

Google's US requirements page calls all three trades "urgent" categories and says each gets "an additional level of screening", including background checks on the people who go into homes.

  • HVAC. The requirement list shows business, owner and service professional background checks, general and professional liability insurance, and state-level business and owner licenses where local law requires them.
  • Plumbing and electrical. The same insurance and license lines. The business and owner checks are marked "(Select users only)". The notes for both trades say service professional background checks apply, but that line is missing from both lists. Google's screening page says to confirm in your Local Services dashboard which checks apply to your company.

Three details from Google's screening pages that owners run into:

  • Who gets checked. Every worker who performs core services, including subcontractors and temps. Office managers, clerical staff and customer support reps do not, so your CSRs are exempt and your new tech is not. The check "doesn't involve a credit check or a credit pull."
  • What failing costs. After a final disqualification, you wait 30 days to reapply, and 180 days after a second denial.
  • How long it takes. On average 3 to 4 weeks after you submit documents, per the US requirements page. Some new advertisers get accelerated verification and the badge quickly, then have 14 days to finish the remaining steps to keep the ad serving. Our owner's manual to Local Services Ads lists the paperwork to prepare.

Google's migration page says select US advertisers, plumbing, HVAC and electrical among them, began moving to Google Ads in August 2026. There, Google describes the badge as available "after passing required business registration and representative checks" and says insurance and license reverification "are no longer required". It doesn't say whether field-tech background checks continue.

Can you lose the badge?

Yes. Google's screening page says advertisers in its risk-based verification process, which applies to select US users, "are regularly re-evaluated". When a review is requested and not completed, Google says that "may result in the loss of their badge, a pause on their ads, or account suspension". Our no-leads checklist for Local Services Ads looks for these first.

Google says the swap itself left the auction alone. The badge page says "Local Services Ads ranking won't be affected by this change." Google's ad ranking page does list "the verification checks you have completed" as part of profile quality, and says higher quality profiles "may rank higher". Our reading: the name on the badge doesn't matter for ranking, while finishing a pending check may help.

When your account moves into Google Ads, the migration page says your verified status and badge transfer automatically if you had completed business verification, and any further business-level checks will show as a notification in your Google Ads account. From migration day, the Local Services dashboard no longer opens and redirects to Google Ads. What else changes in that move is covered separately.

A notification inside Google Ads only helps if someone at your company opens Google Ads. If your agency holds the only login, check who owns the account before a verification request sits unread.

What should your CSRs say to "Are you Google Guaranteed?"

This is our suggested answer, not Google's wording. Fill in the brackets from your own profile and warranty:

"Google doesn't use the name Google Guaranteed anymore. We're Google Verified, which means Google checked our [license, insurance and background checks on our techs]. Google ended its money-back guarantee in late 2025, so the warranty on this job is ours: [your workmanship warranty]."

Two reasons to be exact here. First, Google's "Misleading representation" rule bars "erroneous information" about your qualifications, licenses and insurance, and bars "saying or implying" that you work for Google. Google doesn't say whether an old "Google Guaranteed" logo on your website counts. Second, and this is our reading: a promise that Google will refund the customer describes a program that no longer exists. A customer who hires you on that promise and later finds nothing behind it already has a complaint to file.

What this doesn't cover

  • Showing the Google Verified badge on your own website, trucks or print. None of the Google pages we read covers it. Replacing old "Google Guaranteed" logos is our advice, not a Google rule.
  • Whether the new badge changed how many people call. None of the Google pages we read gives a figure. The switch hit every advertiser at once, so the accounts we run have no comparison group to measure it against.
  • Background checks on techs after the move to Google Ads. Google's migration page neither confirms nor drops them, so we can't tell you whether they continue.

Do this in your account

  1. Read your own profile the way a customer does. Note which checks it lists. If your account is still in the Local Services dashboard and it shows a check as pending, finish it; if it has moved, check Google Ads notifications.
  2. Give your CSRs the answer above and put it next to the phone.
  3. Search your website for "Guaranteed" and the green badge. Then check truck wraps, yard signs, estimate and invoice templates and email signatures. Remove any wording that says Google will pay the customer back.
  4. Write down your own warranty in one or two sentences, so the CSR and the tech say the same thing.
  5. Keep a new tech off Local Services jobs until Google's background-check partner clears them. You give the partner your list of service professionals, and the partner runs the check. A check you run yourself counts only if Google has approved background check equivalency for your company. Google's HVAC requirements list this check; for plumbing and electrical, confirm in your Local Services dashboard or, after the move, with Google's migration support line. Office staff and CSRs are exempt.
  6. Make sure Google's verification requests reach you, in the Local Services dashboard until your account moves (select US HVAC, plumbing and electrical accounts began moving in August 2026) and in Google Ads after that.
  7. Log every unhappy Local Services customer and how you resolved it. Google's requirements expect you to resolve disputes, and multiple verified complaints about unresolved disputes are one of its listed examples of a violation.

FAQ

Is Google Guaranteed still a thing? No. Google replaced it with one Google Verified badge for all Local Services advertisers and discontinued the money-back guarantee. Businesses that were already verified got the new badge automatically.

What is the difference between Google Guaranteed and Google Verified? Google Verified has no money-back guarantee behind it. The old guarantee paid only for work-quality complaints, within a $2,000 lifetime cap per customer in the US. Google describes the checks behind both badges in the same words: background, business registration, insurance and license checks, plus minimum reviews. Google Verified also shows customers which of those checks you completed.

Can a customer still get a refund from Google? Not for a job booked in 2026. Google's Guarantee page gave November 7, 2025 as the end of the money-back guarantee, and its badge page gives December 7, 2025 as the last date in the reimbursement rule. That is November 7 plus the 30-day filing window, which we read as the last day to file. The old claim link now redirects to a general complaint form.

Do I have to do anything to get the Google Verified badge? Not if you were already verified. It was applied automatically. A new advertiser gets it after passing Local Services screening, which Google says takes 3 to 4 weeks on average once documents are in.

Did losing Google Guaranteed hurt my ranking? Google says the badge change did not affect Local Services Ads ranking. The verification checks you have completed are still part of profile quality.

Do I keep the badge when my account moves to Google Ads? Yes, if you had already completed business verification. Google says your verified status and the Google Verified badge transfer automatically, and insurance and license reverification are no longer required after the move.

Sources

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