LSA Setup and Monitoring

SOP: LSA Setup and Monitoring

Last Updated: 2026-07-07
Owner: LSA Specialist
Status: Draft, Needs Review
Onboarding Link: Google LSA onboarding/MCC setup
Sources: Nick Looms on LSA setup, client lead access, and Tekton GBP account access cleanup

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What

This SOP covers the high-level workflow for setting up a Google Local Services Ads account for a Tekton client, connecting the correct Google Business Profile, preparing the account for verification, training the client on where leads live, and monitoring spend and lead quality after launch.

LSA setup is not finished when the account is created. The first week after launch is part of setup because budget pacing, lead quality, service area behavior, missed calls, and poor-fit leads can show up fast.

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Who owns it

Primary owner: LSA Specialist
Supporting owner: CSM
Escalation: LSA Specialist → CSM → Ops Lead → Nick

The LSA Specialist owns setup accuracy, account health, service targeting, budget monitoring, lead review, and documentation.

The CSM owns client communication, collecting missing documents, getting budget/service-area clarity, and making sure the client understands what they must do with new leads.

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Steps

1. Collect prerequisites before setup

Collect and confirm:

• Legal/business name
• Main business phone number
• Website URL
• Business owner email
• Physical address
• Business hours
• Google Business Profile access
• Confirmation that GBP has at least 3 reviews
• Primary services the client wants leads for
• Services the client does not want leads for
• Service area by city and/or ZIP code
• Explicit excluded areas
• Desired weekly/monthly budget cap
• General liability insurance document
• Trade/license documentation if required by category
• Background check contact, usually the business owner
• Real photos of work, trucks, team, or shop when available

Do not start account creation if the client’s service, budget, documents, or GBP access are unclear.

2. Clean up Google Business Profile access

Before or during setup, check GBP access from Tekton’s existing Google account.

1. Open the client GBP.
2. Go to Business Profile Settings → People and Access.
3. Check Tekton’s role.

If Tekton is only a Manager:

• Do not change access.
• Add the client to the “needs client action” list.
• Ask the client to add the preferred Tekton account.

If Tekton is an Owner:

1. Add info@tektongrowth.com.
2. Accept the invitation from the info@tektongrowth.com inbox.
3. Return to GBP access.
4. Remove old/unneeded Tekton Gmail access if allowed.
5. Confirm info@tektongrowth.com still has access.

Never remove the only owner or break access. If the access chain is unclear, stop and escalate.

3. Create the LSA account

Use the Google LSA onboarding/MCC setup link.

1. Open the LSA onboarding page.
2. Click the plus button.
3. Choose single account creation for a new advertiser.
4. Select the closest matching business category.
5. Fill out every available field, including optional fields:
   • Business name
   • Business phone
   • Website
   • Client email
   • Address
   • Business details
6. Create the account.

Critical checks:

• Business name should match GBP and legal/source documents.
• Phone number should be the client’s business phone, not Tekton’s.
• Website should be live and correct.
• Do not create a duplicate GBP during linking.

4. Set up billing

1. Add billing information during setup.
2. Create a new payments profile if required.
3. Add the client’s payment method unless Nick approves another structure.
4. Document the approved budget cap before launch.

Budget guardrail:

• Record the client’s weekly/monthly cap in Task Tracker or the LSA tracking sheet.
• Watch spend from the MCC after launch.
• If spend starts pacing beyond what the client approved, pause or reduce exposure before the client blows past budget.

5. Upload insurance, license, and background check info

Insurance:

• Upload general liability insurance.
• Do not upload workers comp as a substitute for liability insurance.
• Confirm the document is current, readable, and tied to the client’s business.

License:

• Upload trade/license documentation if Google requires it.
• If the service/category does not require a license, Google may not ask for it, but verify instead of guessing.

Background check:

1. Go through the Evident/background-check flow when prompted.
2. Sign in with the Google account tied to setup.
3. Enter the business owner’s email.
4. Usually only the owner/operator needs the background check, not every employee, unless Google says otherwise.
5. Submit and follow the prompts.

If the wrong owner email is submitted, expect a support reset and delay.

6. Connect the Google Business Profile

LSA must connect to the client’s GBP.

Requirements:

• GBP has at least 3 reviews.
• GBP name, phone, address, category, and access are clean.
• Tekton can see/manage the profile or the client has been asked to grant access.

Common issue:

• LSA may not automatically match the GBP.

If matching fails:

1. Call Google LSA support.
2. Ask them to manually connect the GBP.
3. Confirm they can see the correct profile.
4. Document the support interaction and outcome.

7. Complete profile and budget settings

After verification sections are passed or available, complete Profile and Budget.

Business bio:

• Add a real business bio.
• Keep it aligned with actual services.
• Avoid unsupported claims.

Profile highlights:

• Select up to 6 available highlights.
• Use client-specific options when known, such as warranty, emergency service, financing, free estimates, or locally owned.
• If unsure about a claim, ask the CSM/client before selecting it.

Photos:

• Add as many quality real client photos as possible.
• Prioritize real work photos, trucks, team, and shop images.
• Use stock only if no usable real photos exist.

Settings:

• Confirm the client phone number is listed.
• Confirm business hours match GBP unless there is a documented strategy reason.
• Confirm service areas and job types match the client’s actual target work.

8. Choose job types and service strategy

Pick services based on the client’s real target jobs, not every available checkbox.

Use one of two strategies:

Narrow services + larger service area

Use when the client only wants specific work types and can service a wider geography.

Broader services + tighter service area

Use when the client wants more lead volume but only in a defined local area.

Before launch, document:

• Target services
• Excluded services
• Target areas
• Excluded areas
• Budget cap
• Expected lead-quality tradeoff

9. Set bidding and budget deliberately

The Loom setup references manual bidding and high custom bids based on prior guidance. Treat this as a strategy setting, not a default to blindly copy.

Default internal rule:

• Do not launch aggressive/manual bidding unless the budget cap is documented.
• Track spend daily during the first week.
• If spend ramps too fast, pause or adjust before the client exceeds the approved cap.

Any change to budget, bidding, job types, or active categories must be logged with:

• What changed
• Old setting
• New setting
• Reason
• Approval/source
• Next review date

10. Build service areas by ZIP/city

Preferred method:

• Use ZIP codes for tighter map coverage.

Use city names when:

• The client wants named-market coverage.
• ZIP targeting creates unnecessary gaps.
• The map needs both city and ZIP coverage to fill the intended area.

Process:

1. Start with the client’s desired cities.
2. Zoom into the map.
3. Look for gaps between selected areas.
4. Add ZIP codes to fill those gaps.
5. Avoid areas the client explicitly does not want.
6. Tell the client Google may still produce occasional nearby/outside-area leads because the platform is imperfect.

11. Train the client on lead access

Clients should know where leads live and how they are notified.

Client instructions:

1. Sign into the Google account used for LSA/background check.
2. Search Google for “Google Local Service Ads.”
3. Open Local Services Ads by Google.
4. Go to Leads.
5. Use this section to view new leads, charged/not-charged status, calls, messages, and customer details.

Tell the client:

• They should also receive text and email alerts.
• They can reply from those alerts.
• They should not change Profile and Budget settings themselves.
• If they want changes, they should ask Tekton so we can preserve the targeting, budget, and account strategy.

12. Monitor the first week after launch

Check daily during the first week:

• Account status
• Verification status
• Spend vs approved budget
• Charged leads
• Lead volume
• Lead type
• Service/category match
• Service area match
• Missed calls
• Call/message quality
• Any client questions or complaints

If the account is spending but not producing useful leads, do not wait until month-end. Review services, areas, photos, bid/budget, and call handling immediately.

13. Review leads with evidence

Inside LSA, go to Leads.

For each lead, review:

• Was it charged?
• What service/category was it tied to?
• Was it a phone call or message?
• Was there real customer intent?
• Was it inside the service area?
• Was it a service the client actually wants?
• Did the client answer?
• Was there a voicemail, dead air, spam, wrong number, or wrong trade?

For calls, listen to the call recording when needed. Do not judge lead quality only from duration, category, or gut feel.

Classify each lead in three layers:

1. Google charge validity — was Google justified charging it?
2. Client-fit quality — was it a good lead for this client?
3. Recapture value — do we want more of this lead type?

14. Handle feedback, disputes, and refund candidates carefully

Strong bad-lead candidates:

• Spam
• Sales/vendor calls
• Wrong number
• No customer intent
• Duplicate lead
• Wrong service
• Outside service area
• Voicemail/system prompt only
• Dead air
• Full mailbox or carrier loop
• Customer needed a different trade

Before submitting feedback or refund-related action:

1. Build a short evidence packet.
2. Include lead ID/date/status.
3. Include call/message evidence.
4. Recommend the feedback action.
5. Get Nick/Rico approval.

Do not submit lead feedback, refund requests, or spend-affecting changes without approval.

15. Continue weekly monitoring

After the first week, review weekly:

• Spend vs budget
• Charged vs not charged leads
• Lead quality
• Wrong-service leads
• Wrong-area leads
• Duplicate/spam leads
• Missed calls
• Client feedback
• Needed service/category/area changes

Any meaningful setting change should be logged and tied to client feedback, lead evidence, or spend control.

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Definition of done

An LSA setup is complete when:

• GBP access has been checked and cleaned up where possible
• Preferred Tekton account access is attached where possible
• Client info is collected and documented
• LSA account is created
• Billing/payment profile is added
• General liability insurance is uploaded
• License documentation is uploaded if required
• Background check is submitted
• GBP is connected or support escalation is documented
• GBP has at least 3 reviews
• Business bio is completed
• Profile highlights are selected where available
• Real photos are added where available
• Job types match the target services
• Service areas are added by city/ZIP
• Excluded areas are documented
• Client phone number is verified
• Business hours are verified against GBP
• Budget cap is documented
• Bidding strategy is documented
• Client lead-access instructions are sent
• First-week monitoring is completed or scheduled
• Lead review process is started

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Open standardization decisions

These still need Tekton leadership to standardize:

1. Default bidding rule: always manual/high custom bids, or approved case-by-case?
2. Budget guardrail: weekly budget only, or an additional internal spend alert/check?
3. Service strategy: narrow services + wider geo, broader services + tighter geo, or client-by-client?
4. Photo standard: minimum real-photo count before launch?
5. Access standard: should info@tektongrowth.com be the required long-term GBP/LSA access account?
6. Monitoring cadence: daily for first 7 days, then weekly, or daily until spend/lead quality stabilizes?

Related SOPs

• LSA Setup
• LSA Management
• Lead Management