For years, Local Services Ads (LSA) kept their own review system. Customers left a rating tied to your LSA listing, and that rating sat somewhat apart from the reviews on your Google Business Profile (GBP). If you managed both, you were effectively juggling two reputations for the same business.
That split is gone. Since roughly July 2025, Google manages all LSA reviews through Google Business Profile. The rating and review count that appear under your LSA listing are now the same reviews that live on your Business Profile. For most home-service businesses this is a simplification, but it changes how you request reviews, where you respond to them, and how a single bad experience can ripple across both surfaces at once.
What actually changed
The practical effect is consolidation. Before the change, a plumber might have had a 4.9 rating from 60 LSA reviews and, separately, a 4.6 from 210 Business Profile reviews. A prospect comparing providers could see two different numbers depending on where they looked. After the change, there is one review corpus feeding both places.
This built on an earlier move: since November 2024, Google has required LSA accounts to be linked to a Google Business Profile. The linkage requirement laid the groundwork, and the July 2025 change completed it by routing reviews through that single profile. If your LSA account is properly linked, your reviews now flow one way.
Concretely, that means:
- New reviews you earn on your Business Profile can count toward the star rating shown on your LSA listing.
- Responding to a review is done once, in your Business Profile, not in two separate places.
- A cluster of negative reviews affects your organic map presence and your paid LSA presence together.
Why this matters for ranking and lead flow
LSAs appear at the very top of Google for local service searches, above the map pack and organic results, and advertisers pay per lead rather than per click. Because the ad unit prominently displays your star rating and review count, the reviews are not decoration; they are part of what makes a searcher tap your listing instead of the one below it.
Review velocity, responsiveness and speed-to-lead, budget pacing, and Google Verified status are all widely understood to influence how LSA listings perform. With reviews now unified under GBP, the reputation half of that equation is concentrated in one place. A steady stream of recent, genuine reviews on your Business Profile is doing double duty: helping your map pack presence and reinforcing the listing a searcher sees before they ever scroll.
One reputation, two surfaces
| Aspect | Before ~July 2025 | After ~July 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Where reviews live | Separate LSA review pool | Google Business Profile |
| Where you respond | LSA interface | Business Profile |
| Rating shown on LSA | LSA-specific rating | Reflects GBP reviews |
| Impact of a bad review | Contained to one surface | Felt across paid + organic |
What to do differently now
1. Confirm your profile is linked
None of this works if your LSA account and Business Profile are not correctly connected. Since linkage has been mandatory since November 2024, most active accounts are connected, but link status can break after ownership transfers, address changes, or profile merges. Verify the connection before you assume reviews are flowing.
2. Request reviews from every customer, not just the happy ones
The FTC's rule on fake and deceptive reviews (16 CFR 465), effective October 2024, makes review-gating — soliciting reviews only from customers you expect to be positive — legally risky. A compliant program asks every customer for a review through the same neutral process. With reviews now centralized in GBP, a gating habit is not just a compliance problem; it distorts the single rating that both your paid and organic presence depend on.
3. Respond in one place, consistently
Because responses now happen in the Business Profile, you can build one response habit instead of two. Fast, specific, professional replies — especially to critical reviews — signal an engaged business to both prospects and Google.
4. Watch velocity, not just the total
A high lifetime review count with nothing new in six months reads differently than a business earning a few genuine reviews every week. Recent activity signals that you are currently busy and responsive. Aim for a sustainable, honest cadence rather than a one-time push.
Common mistakes after the change
- Assuming old LSA reviews carried over cleanly. If your profiles were not linked at the time, reconcile your review history rather than assume the numbers match.
- Still trying to manage two review inboxes. Consolidate your response workflow into the Business Profile.
- Gating requests through a "were you happy?" pre-screen. This is exactly the pattern the FTC rule targets. Ask everyone.
- Letting negative reviews sit unanswered. With one unified reputation, silence is more visible than it used to be.
The bottom line
The July 2025 consolidation makes LSA reputation simpler to manage and harder to fake. One review pool, one response inbox, one rating driving both your paid listing and your organic map presence. The businesses that benefit are the ones that already do reputation the honest way: ask every customer, respond quickly, and keep the reviews coming at a steady, genuine pace.
Frequently asked questions
When did LSA reviews move into Google Business Profile?
Since around July 2025 Google manages all LSA reviews through Google Business Profile, so the rating and review count under your LSA listing are the same reviews that live on your Business Profile.
Do I still respond to LSA reviews separately?
No. Because reviews are unified under the Business Profile, you respond once in GBP rather than in two places, and a cluster of negative reviews now affects your paid LSA and organic map presence together.
Did my old separate LSA reviews carry over?
If your LSA account and Business Profile were correctly linked, your reviews now flow as one corpus, but if they were not linked at the time you should reconcile your review history rather than assume the numbers match.