evidence
Real findings from real audits
Every line below is a real finding from a real audit. Same shape clients receive, same anonymization standard, same logic. Names are replaced with placeholders; numbers and reasoning stay intact.
Tracking + measurement
The highest-leverage findings. If you're paying for clicks with broken measurement, every optimization downstream is guessing.
Paying for ads. Not telling Google which ones turned into customers
Their ads are running, so the spend is real. But none of the main pages on the site are firing a Google Ads conversion tag. Every click is being paid for unmeasured. If the ad account is set to bid based on conversions (the default for most accounts these days), Google's bidder...
Running Google Ads with zero conversion tracking installed
an HVAC contractor in our audit set is observed in sponsored slots across the audit's reporting window. confirmed actively spending on Google Ads. But the homepage and contact pages show NO Google Ads conversion tag (AW-*), no GA4, no GTM container. Every click they're paying...
Running Google Ads with no conversion action installed
Acme's account has spent $14k over the trailing 90 days with zero conversion actions wired up. The bidding strategy can't optimize toward real outcomes. It's effectively bidding on clicks. Install at least a form-submit and a phone-click conversion before any other change.
No Google Ads, GA4, or GTM tag loads on the site
Their homepage and contact page dont load a Google Ads conversion tag, a GA4 property, or a Google Tag Manager container. If any paid search is running, every dollar of it is unmeasured: theres no way to know which clicks turn into customers, so automated bidding has nothing to...
Targeting + match types
Where is the budget actually going? Broad-match leaks, anti-service bleed, geography mismatches, invisibility on queries the prospect thinks they're winning.
Not in a single local pack across 80 service searches
Across the audit window we captured 80 service-query SERPs in Peabody where Google rendered a local 3-pack. On 80 of them, an HVAC contractor in our audit set wasn't in the pack. The most-observed pack dominators on those searches were Spencer Home Services, Northshore Comfort...
AI Overview cites competitors on 52 of 52 service searches, not the audited contractor
AI Overviews sit at the very top of the SERP and answer the query before the user scrolls. The sites cited in the overview become the trusted sources in the user's mental model. Whoever's cited there gets the implicit endorsement, and whatever attention remains falls to the...
Addario's bought a sponsored slot on 19 of the contractor's service searches
Sponsored local-pack slots are a Google Ads placement tied to a business's GBP profile. Pay-per-click, renders inside the regular local pack wrapper, visually identical to an organic pack entry. On 19 of the 19 captured service searches where any sponsored slot rendered, a...
Addario's bought a sponsored slot on 17 of the contractor's service searches
Sponsored local-pack slots are a Google Ads placement tied to a business's GBP profile. Pay-per-click, renders inside the regular local pack wrapper, visually identical to an organic pack entry. On 17 of the 19 captured service searches where any sponsored slot rendered, a...
Ad copy + creative
What the ad actually says vs. what it should say. Missing location insertion, on-site offers never echoed, call extensions never rendered.
On-site promos never appear in ad copy (5 promos on site, none echoed in ads)
Their site prominently shows promos; the headline offer captured was "Advanced Plan Annual System Assurance Discount No surcharge on emergency call". But across 6 captured ads, none of the promo tokens (specific dollar amounts, % off, "free estimate," "same-day," "0% financing")...
On-site promos never appear in ad copy (12 promos on site, none echoed in ads)
an HVAC contractor in our audit set prominently shows promos on their site. the headline offer captured was 'Instant Mass Savings Rebates 0% Financing Options Industry Leading Warranty'. but across 6 captured ads, none of the promo tokens (specific dollar amounts, % off, 'free...
Ad copy never mentions any of the 1 captured geos (missing dynamic location insertion)
Across 3 captured ads on geo-targeted searches in peabody, their ad copy never mentions any of those town names. Dynamic location insertion (DLI) or simple per-campaign location tokens is one of the cheapest CTR wins for local services. Searcher types "AC repair Salem," sees "AC...
On-site promos never appear in ad copy (7 promos on site, none echoed in ads)
an HVAC contractor in our audit set prominently shows promos on their site. the headline offer captured was 'Same Day Service We guarantee reliable same-day service for your urgent needs, e'. but across 21 captured ads, none of the promo tokens (specific dollar amounts, % off,...
Position + auction pressure
Brand defense, money-keyword position, competitor encroachment. Often the cheapest clicks in the account. And the most frequently undefended.
Competitors are bidding on searches for their business name
Someone typing 'an HVAC contractor in our audit set' into Google is as qualified a click as any advertiser gets. They know the brand, they're in buy-mode, they just need the link. When a competitor has a text ad on that search, they intercept the conversion before it lands on...
Missing from the local 3-pack on 5 of 5 service searches
On 5 of 5 captured service searches in the contractor's service area, the local 3-pack rendered and the contractor wasn't in it. Pack-dominating competitors: Northshore Comfort Control (4x), Air Conditioning & Heating Peabody, MA (3x), DL Services HVAC, Inc. (3x). Sample...
Competitor an HVAC contractor in our audit set & Gas Heating dominates the local pack on an HVAC contractor in our audit set's brand searches
On searches for your own brand name, an HVAC contractor in our audit set & Gas Heating appears in the local 3-pack 2 times. Other pack competitors on brand: an HVAC contractor in our audit set & Gas Heating (2x), an HVAC contractor in our audit set & Gas Heating Inc. (2x),...
Competitors are bidding on every captured search for their business name
Someone typing 'an HVAC contractor in our audit set' into Google is as qualified a click as any advertiser gets. They know the brand, they're in buy-mode, they just need the link. When a competitor has a text ad on that search, they intercept the conversion before it lands on...
Reputation + GBP
Upstream of the ad account but critical. Rating, review velocity, profile claim status.
Thin GBP review count (2 reviews)
an HVAC contractor in our audit set has only 2 Google reviews (current rating 5.0 stars). In a competitive local-services market, the review count itself is a trust signal. a searcher comparing three local-pack listings reads it as 'how busy is this business' and 'how many...
Thin GBP review count (6 reviews)
an HVAC contractor in our audit set has only 6 Google reviews (current rating 5.0 stars). In a competitive local-services market, the review count itself is a trust signal. a searcher comparing three local-pack listings reads it as 'how busy is this business' and 'how many...
Thin GBP review count (10 reviews)
The contractor has 10 Google reviews (current rating 4.6 stars). In a competitive local-services market, the review count itself is a trust signal, a searcher comparing three local-pack listings reads it as "how busy is this business" and "how many people validate them."...
Thin GBP review count (9 reviews)
The contractor has 9 Google reviews (current rating 4.1 stars). In a competitive local-services market, the review count itself is a trust signal, a searcher comparing three local-pack listings reads it as "how busy is this business" and "how many people validate them."...
About anonymization
- Business name is replaced with a generic placeholder.
- Phone numbers and emails are stripped.
- License numbers and other identifying sequences are removed.
- Findings that cannot be safely anonymized are dropped entirely.
What gets redacted before anything ships: business name, phone, license number, specific dollar figures, review counts with identifying context, and any detail that would let another reader triangulate the account. The structural lesson stays; the identifying detail goes.
See what this surfaces on your account
The audit is free. Send me your domain and I will run the same kind of review against your account, with your specific findings and your specific evidence.
Get the audit