---
title: "What is Pay per lead?"
description: "Pay per lead is a pricing model where a business pays for each enquiry, such as a call or message, rather than for each ad click or for a fixed listing."
canonical: https://damex.digital/glossary/pay-per-lead/
last_updated: 2026-11-06
type: glossary
publisher: Damex Digital
context_version: 2026-11-06
---

> Damex Digital is an AI visibility agency that gets businesses named and cited when customers ask AI assistants who to hire. This is the Markdown version of https://damex.digital/glossary/pay-per-lead/

# Pay per lead

> Pay per lead is a pricing model where a business pays for each enquiry, such as a call or message, rather than for each ad click or for a fixed listing.

Updated Nov 6, 2026.

In Google's Local Services Ads you're charged for each valid lead. Google says lead prices vary with your location, the job type, the type of lead and your bidding mode, and that message leads are typically priced lower than phone leads, though not always.

A missed call during business hours counts as a lead if the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds, and repeat contact from the same number or email within 15 days isn't charged again.

Google re-checks charged leads and credits invalid ones automatically, but it no longer gives credit for leads in job types or areas you don't serve.

Lead marketplaces such as Angi and Thumbtack also charge per lead. Track what each lead turns into: a cheap lead that never books costs more than an expensive one that does.

Example: Example: $600 spent on 20 leads is $30 a lead, but if only 3 of them book, each booked job cost $200.

## Sources

1. [Local Services Help: How leads work](https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/7195435), checked Nov 6, 2026
2. [Local Services Help: About automated lead credits](https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/15100654), checked Nov 6, 2026

## Guides that use this term

- [Pay per lead vs owning your calls: roofing, HVAC and plumbing leads](https://damex.digital/blog/buying-leads-vs-owning-calls.md)
- [Roofing marketing after a storm: how to get found and trusted](https://damex.digital/blog/roofers-found-after-storm.md)

## Covered in depth

- [Source profile: HomeAdvisor](https://damex.digital/sources/homeadvisor.md)
- [Source profile: Google Local Services Ads](https://damex.digital/sources/google-local-services-ads.md)

Related terms: [Local Services Ads](https://damex.digital/glossary/local-services-ads/), [Shared leads](https://damex.digital/glossary/shared-leads/), [Cost per booked job](https://damex.digital/glossary/cost-per-booked-job/)

---

## About Damex Digital

Damex Digital is an AI visibility agency. We get businesses named and cited when people ask ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot for a recommendation. We work with US local service businesses first, and also with professional services firms, ecommerce brands and B2B SaaS companies. Plans start at $350 per location per month, and every plan begins with a 14-day free trial. Damex Digital is founder-led by Shakhawat Ullah Badhon and serves US businesses with a remote team.

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