Glossary

What is an LSA dispute?

By Youssef Hodaigui, Mindflow Marketing · Last reviewed November 1, 2026

An LSA dispute was the request a Local Services Ads advertiser filed to get a charged lead credited back, such as a spam call. Google now handles most of this automatically: it doesn't charge for leads it judges invalid or low quality at first contact, and it reassesses charged leads and credits poor ones without a request.

So when owners and agencies talk about "disputing leads" today, they usually mean checking that the automatic credits arrived and rating leads in Google's feedback survey. Some situations no longer get a credit at all.

Can you still dispute a Local Services Ads lead?

Not in the old sense. Google says "Charged leads get reassessed by our models over time, and may be issued credits automatically." What you can still do is rate a lead in the Lead Feedback Survey, and Google says it "may also occasionally credit leads you report as poor quality" that way.

Two reasons owners used to dispute no longer qualify. Google says it "no longer supports credits for "job type not serviced" and "geo not serviced" leads." Lead credits also aren't available for health care, tax specialists or advertisers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. For wrong-job and wrong-area leads, your settings are the fix: the job types and service areas you select decide what Google sends.

Why do some guides still describe a dispute button?

Because the button existed, and old pages stay online. Agency posts from 2021 still walk through manual disputes for "job not served" and "location not served." Even Google's own help center isn't fully consistent: one older page still says advertisers "can immediately dispute a lead," while Google's former "how to dispute charges" address now redirects to the automated credits page.

When you read advice about LSA disputes, check its date and whether it mentions automated credits. If it tells you to file for a lead outside your service area, it predates the current rules. Our Local Services Ads guide covers how leads are charged in the first place, including missed calls and repeat callers.

Which other "disputes" can an LSA advertiser file?

Three different things get called a dispute, and each has its own route inside Google's tools. Mixing them up wastes time, because the form for one won't fix either of the others. Here's the route for each, read November 1, 2026:

You want to challenge	Google's route	What to know
A charged lead	Automatic credits, plus the Lead Feedback Survey ("Rate this lead" on the Leads page)	No credit for wrong job type or wrong area
A review on your LSA profile	The "Dispute Customer Review" contact form	"Only Local Services Ads reviews may be disputed through this form"; Business Profile reviews are reported from the review's three-dot menu
A charge you don't recognize on your card	Google Ads billing: the "Unidentified Google Ads Charges Troubleshooter," then Google Ads support	For unknown or unauthorized charges, not lead quality

The review route matters more than it looks. Reviews feed your LSA ranking alongside your rating and response time, as our Google Verified entry explains, so a fake review is worth disputing through the right form.

How do you check that credits arrived?

Look at each lead's charge status, then your account balance. Google labels leads Charged, Not charged, In review or Credited, and says that "In most cases, credits will be applied to your account balance within 30 days." The original charge stays on your invoice, so the invoice alone will make you look overcharged.

A simple monthly routine works. Go through your leads, mark the ones that were spam, duplicates or never reachable, and see whether they show as Not charged or Credited after 30 days. Rate the rest in the survey. If credited leads keep piling up in one job type, tighten that setting. And compare what you paid with the jobs you booked, which is what cost per lead and call tracking help you see.

Related terms: Google Verified · Cost per lead · Call tracking · All glossary terms

Where to go next: Google Local Services Ads: how they work, what they cost and when they're worth it. When paid ads fit your market and goals, we scope Google Ads, Local Services Ads or ChatGPT ads in your proposal.

Sources

All Google pages read November 1, 2026.

Google Local Services Help, About Automated Local Services Ads lead credits
Google Local Services Help, How leads work
Google Local Services Help, Introduction (older lead-dispute page)
Google Local Services Help, How to dispute charges (now redirects to the automated credits page)
Google Local Services Help, Dispute Customer Review
Google Ads Help, How to dispute a Google Ads charge

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