Google LSA now charges for missed calls. Here's what to change.

Since October 1, 2026, a Local Services Ads call that rings past 20 seconds with nobody picking up can cost you a full lead. Here's what changed, what was already charged, and three ways to set up your phone, so you can pick the one that fits how you work.

By Drew Koch, owner of Gladiators Painting and founder of AI Front Desk Helper · Updated October 1, 2026

What changed on October 1, 2026

Google told Local Services Ads advertisers by email in August. Here's the change, in Google's words where we have them (PPC Land published the email; Search Engine Roundtable has Google's follow-up):

• Missed calls can be charged. A missed call placed during business hours is charged when the caller "stays on the line for more than 20 seconds."
• Follow-up calls can be charged. "If an initial call does not qualify as a charged lead, any follow-up calls between the business and the same user that meet the valid lead criteria will be charged." Google's Ads Liaison added that you're charged once for follow-up calls you make to that customer within 15 days of the first contact.
• A keypress menu changes the timer. If your phone system asks callers to press a key, the 20 seconds start when they press it, and there's no charge if they never press one.
• Spam. Google says it's adding "new safeguards" against robot calls and spam, without saying what they are.

What was already a charged lead

The new rule only covers calls nobody picks up. Google's own help page on how leads work already counted these as valid, charged leads:

• You answer and talk to the customer.
• The customer leaves you a voicemail.
• The customer "uses an automated system to meaningfully engage with your business." An AI receptionist answering the call fits that description.

Put the old and new rules together and here's where you land:

So the question isn't how to avoid the charge. It's how to get the job.

Answering with an AI doesn't make an LSA call free. Nothing does, short of the caller hanging up early. What changes is what you get for the money. A call that ends in a voicemail or a callback is a lead you paid for and still have to chase, and LSA shoppers tend to call the next pro on the list. A call that ends with an estimate on the calendar is the lead you paid for, already working.

That's the real point of the October change: an unanswered call used to be a lost lead. Now it's a lost lead you can still be billed for.

Should I use a separate phone number for LSA?

No, and this is the part I'd get wrong if I were guessing. Most contractors run Local Services Ads, their Google Business Profile and their website on one number, and that's what Google expects:

• Google says your LSA business number "must not be a tracking number" (Google's help page). A number you set up only to catch LSA calls is a tracking number. Changing the number on LSA also goes through Google support, with verification documents.
• Google already tracks LSA calls for you. The number on your ad is a Google forwarding number that sends the call to your real number. Google records those calls in the US and Canada, and plays "Call from Google" to whoever answers (Google's help page). Your LSA dashboard lists every lead, so you can already see which calls came from the ad.
• Even advertisers with a separate number haven't been able to count on it. Since September, some have seen their LSA ads show the Google Business Profile number instead (Search Engine Roundtable).

So keep one number and set it up the way you want every call answered. On a shared number you can't tell an LSA call from any other call when it rings, so pick a setup that works for all of them.

Three ways to answer LSA calls on one number

1. AI answers instantly

The safest setup and the one with the best odds of a booking, because no caller ever sits through ringing. The tradeoff: customers who'd rather talk to the owner first get the AI first. A good AI receptionist puts them through to you when they ask.

2. Your phone rings first for 10 seconds or less

For owners who want to grab the calls they can. Keep the ring short. Google hasn't said whether its 20 seconds start at the first ring or when the call connects, and a few seconds go to connecting the call before your phone even rings, so a 20-second ring can put callers past the line. Ten seconds leaves room. One more thing to check: if your cell phone sends unanswered calls to its own voicemail quickly, the call can land there before the AI ever gets it. Set the ring time shorter than that.

3. You answer every call yourself

Fine if someone is always at the phone during the hours your LSA profile shows. On a job site, it's the setup the October rule was written for. Any call that rings out past 20 seconds during business hours can be charged, and a voicemail is charged anyway.

What about a "press 1" menu?

Google's keypress exception means a caller who never presses a key isn't charged. I wouldn't use it. It adds a step for the real customers you're paying to reach, and anyone who presses the key starts the same 20-second clock anyway.

How to set each one in AI Front Desk Helper

All three are in Settings → AI Control, and they apply to every call on the line, whether it came from LSA, your Google profile or your website.

• Setup 1: AI on, ring-first off. This is how my own painting company's line is set: Alex answers every call.
• Setup 2: AI on, ring-first on, with your cell number and a ring timeout of 10 seconds (anything from 5 to 60 is allowed). If you don't pick up, Alex takes the call.
• Setup 3: AI off, ring-first on. Then choose what happens when nobody answers: our voicemail, which logs the message and starts follow-up, or your own phone's voicemail.

When Alex answers, it works from your setup: it answers questions about your services and area, and on Pro and up offers real open times from your Google Calendar and books the estimate. Callers who ask for you get put through. Plans run $297 to $997 a month.

What Google hasn't said yet

• Exactly when the 20 seconds start. Google's email doesn't say whether it's from the first ring or from when the call connects (PPC Land flagged this too). Shorter is safer.
• What the spam safeguards are. Google hasn't explained them. If a robocall gets charged, Google has a process for lead credits.
• Anything specific about AI answering. Google's help page already treats an automated system that meaningfully engages the caller as a valid lead, so expect AI-answered calls to be charged like any answered call.

A straight answer about our own testing: no Local Services Ads call has come through AI Front Desk Helper yet, so we haven't heard how Alex handles Google's "Call from Google" message at the start of a call. If you run LSA and try it, I'd like to hear how it goes.

Questions contractors ask

Related: after-hours emergency calls, what a missed call costs, missed-call text-back, and Angi leads.