In Episode 1: LSA Trends Podcast, Google Local Services Ads are no longer consistently at the top of search due to Google’s AI summary rollout, which has led to noticeable drops and fluctuations in lead volume. Success now comes from understanding your account’s patterns instead of relying on fixed rankings.
A Normal Morning… Until It Wasn’t
The other day, I did what I always do. I grabbed my coffee, opened my phone, and started doing a few normal Google searches. Nothing dramatic. Just the usual habit. Keyword plus city. Checking what was showing. Looking at LSA placements. Seeing who was up top. Seeing what had changed overnight, because with Google, something usually has.
At first, it felt like one of those regular check-ins I have done a thousand times.
Then I saw it. The AI summary was sitting at the top of the page!!!
Not just on desktop, where Google loves to test things first and stir the pot a little. It was showing on mobile too. And that’s the moment my stomach kind of dropped, because mobile is usually where Local Services Ads can keep doing their thing without too much disruption.
But this time it was different.
What Changed: AI Summary Pushed LSAs Down
Now it was AI summary first, then LSAs, then PPC ads, then Google Business Profiles. Everything got pushed down. And when you work in local search long enough, you know that when something gets pushed down, it usually does not come with a nice little warning label first.
It shows up later in the numbers.
That was the weird part. February had already felt off. Across a lot of accounts, lead volume had dropped. Not just one or two. Not one random vertical. A lot of them. Enough to make me stop and think, okay, something bigger is happening here.
And then once I saw the AI summary showing more aggressively, especially on mobile, it started to click.
- That drop was not just randomness.
- It was not just seasonality.
- It was not just one account having a strange month.
- Something had shifted in the search experience itself.
And I think that is the part that gets people.
Why LSA Leads Suddenly Feel Inconsistent
Because for years, LSAs have been sold, talked about, and understood as this top of page product. That was the whole thing. You show up at the top of Google. That is why people got obsessed with them. That is why agencies built services around them. That is why business owners watched those rankings like their morning weather report.
So when Google starts putting something else above them, it changes more than layout.
- It changes behavior.
- It changes clicks.
- It changes call volume.
- It changes expectations.
And honestly, it changes the emotional temperature around the account too.
Because now people are not just asking, “How are we doing?”
They are asking, “Why did this suddenly stop working the same way?”
That is what Eric Levine from LeadWise HQ and I got into on our first podcast episode, and part of the reason I was so excited to finally start this podcast in the first place.
There really is not a podcast or YouTube channel out there talking about LSA trends in a way that feels real, current, and actually true. There is a lot of guessing. A lot of recycled advice. A lot of people speaking very confidently about a platform that keeps changing under everyone’s feet.
Meanwhile, the people actually managing accounts are over here watching live search results, comparing devices, trying to explain why one phone shows one thing and another shows something completely different while sitting in the same city.
That is the real stuff.
That is the conversation I want to have.
The Real Shift: LSAs Are No Longer a “Top Spot” Product
Because this is not just about one AI summary showing up above LSAs. It is about the bigger pattern we keep seeing in marketing and performance in general.
- People get comfortable with a system.
- The system starts working.
- Habits form around that system.
- Then the platform changes.
- And suddenly everyone is trying to use old expectations to measure a new environment.
That never goes well.
And I say that knowing full well I should know better by now.
I have been doing this for 12 years. I know Google changes things constantly. I know beta tests come and go. I know the first version of almost anything Google rolls out is rarely the version that sticks.
And still, when I saw that AI summary on mobile, I was sad.
Not in some dramatic, throw myself on the floor kind of way. Just in the very specific digital marketer way where you know a layout change is going to turn into a lot of conversations, a lot of reporting context, and a lot of clients asking why February looked weird.
Because once something affects mobile, it gets real fast.
And this is what I am seeing in accounts too. Not just in theory. Not just in screenshots. In actual lead flow. In forecasting conversations. In the tension between what used to happen and what is happening now.
That is also why LSA can be such a hard product to manage emotionally.
Why LSA Feels So Frustrating Right Now
When PPC shifts, there are usually cleaner ways to explain it. More controls. More forecasting logic. More predictability. With LSA, it is often like trying to explain weather patterns while standing in the middle of a windstorm.
One month, an account feels steady.
The next month, Google starts testing something.
Then lead volume moves.
Then mobile changes.
Then rankings rotate differently.
Then clients want to know what the “goal” is supposed to be now.
And honestly, that is the right question. But I think the answer is changing.
The Smarter Shift: Stop Watching Rankings, Start Watching Patterns
For a long time, the habit was checking where you ranked. Everyone wanted to know who was number one. Who was number two. Who was always showing. Who had the edge.
Now I think the smarter habit is learning your own numbers better than ever.
Not your competitor’s numbers.
Not your assumptions.
Not what worked six months ago.
Your numbers.
- What does your normal look like?
- What does your seasonality look like?
- How does your account behave when Google starts testing something new?
- What happens on mobile versus desktop?
- What happens across different devices, even in the same market?
Because the more Google changes, the less useful it is to build your whole mindset around comparison.
That is one of the biggest takeaways I have right now.
LSA is becoming less about chasing some fixed position and more about understanding movement, patterns, and response. It is more about reading the room. Reading the market. Reading the product as it shifts.
And yes, that is frustrating.
Especially for businesses that have been in the top one or two spots for years and got used to that. Or for businesses that were already struggling and feel like the rules changed again before they ever got traction.
But that is also why this conversation matters.
Because if we pretend nothing changed, we make bad decisions.
If we overreact, we make bad decisions faster.
- What I would rather do is pay attention.
- Watch the SERP.
- Watch mobile closely.
- Stop assuming that what shows for me is what everyone else sees.
- Check accounts more intentionally.
- Review settings and features at least quarterly.
- Look for changes in patterns, not just positions.
- And keep reminding clients that Google is not static, even when we want it to be.
That is probably my biggest commitment coming out of this first episode.
What I’m Paying Attention to Now
Less obsessing over old expectations. Paying more attention to what is actually happening now. And from a practical standpoint, here is what I am focusing on:
- Check mobile search more often, not just desktop
- Compare live search results across different devices
- Watch lead trends by month instead of panicking over a few weird days
- Review account settings and available features every quarter
- Set expectations around ranges and patterns, not promises
- Pay closer attention to how Google may be spreading lead flow around instead of locking top spots for long stretches
- And maybe most importantly, keep talking about this stuff out loud.
That is really why Eric and I started this.
Because there are too many people trying to make business decisions inside a black box, and not enough honest conversation about what is changing in real time.
So that is episode one.
A coffee, a mobile search, an AI summary, and a reminder that Google is still Google.
Always changing.
Always testing.
Always giving us something new to explain.
If you are seeing weird shifts in LSAs too, I would love to hear about it. Send screenshots. Compare notes. Get nerdy with us.
That is the fun part anyway.
Talk soon,
Crystal