Law Firm Agents
Google AdsProposed workflow

Investigate a drop in Local Services Ads leads

Compare equivalent reporting periods and separate a measured lead decline from possible causes.

Tools for the documented steps

These products support separate steps. Their presence does not imply a tested connection or endorsement.

Practice relevance

Cross-practice idea · A general operational method. Review the stated tool and jurisdiction limits before use.

The problem

Compare equivalent reporting periods and separate a measured lead decline from possible causes.

Why it matters: A sudden lead decline does not by itself explain what changed. Equal-period reports and configuration evidence help the firm investigate before increasing spend or assuming a particular cause.

Sources & evidence

Proposed / not tested. The public source describes the problem. Documentation supports only the stated method components; no result from this recipe has been verified.

What’s been verified

Source methods and reported problems have been reviewed. We have not run the adapted workflow. The sample below describes expected behavior on synthetic data, not a customer result.

What to measure: In a synthetic pilot, count correctly found exceptions, false alarms, and unresolved inputs. No time or cost saving is assumed.

Source checked: October 15, 2026. Pain accounts are self-reported. Documentation supports components; this adapted recipe and prompt have not been tested. We wrote these prompts. The adapted workflow hasn’t been tested.

Suggested approach

Start when: Weekly report or firm-set decline threshold

  1. compare equal-length periods, lead types, credit statuses and available configuration/change evidence
  2. Keep source references and report unknowns instead of filling gaps.
  3. The responsible reviewer checks the report before any separately approved action.

Limits and review

The assistant drafts or reports only. Check source records and review the output before a human performs any separately approved send or change. No automatic legal decision, money movement, account connection or publication is included.

Who reviews it: No automatic budget increases, account appeals or support submissions. Volume is not lead quality, and unobserved platform changes cannot be diagnosed with certainty.

What you need

Your firm-approved AI assistant · prepared files

  • Existing authorized access to the correct source account and records; no new login, credentials, installation or permission grant is included.
  • Responsible lawyer/operations reviewer approves scope, definitions and any later action.
  • AI optional; use only approved minimized data and retain originals separately.
  • Use synthetic inputs first. Keep real data in firm-approved accounts and processing, with appropriate access, confidentiality and retention controls. Aliases alone do not anonymize records. Never paste credentials, API keys or unnecessary client details.

How to use

Documentation-checked component path; proposed workflow, not tested

Before you start
  • Legacy Reports is documented as a view, not a universal CSV export. Migrated pay-per-lead UI/export schema was not verified here.
Check access and setup
  • The live account, entitlement, exact headers, records and field coverage have not been observed.

  1. Identify the account’s reporting version first

    Local Services Ads / Google Ads · Existing LSA inbox banner or redirect; account migration notice

    Read the current account notice and preserve the observed interface/version. Legacy and migrated reports must not be silently combined. If migrated, obtain the actual current reporting menu and historical evidence from the account owner.

    Expected output
    Legacy/migrated status and historical coverage note.
    Next step
    Use the legacy capture below only while that inbox exists; otherwise retain a current-UI verification blocker.
    Check before continuing
    Migration is phased. Google says historical LSA performance reports will not migrate, advises screenshots if needed now, and describes a historical download as forthcoming. No assumed downloadable archive.
    Step documentation 1 ↗

  2. Capture the actual legacy report and status evidence

    Local Services Ads · Lead inbox > menu > Reports; menu > Profile & Budget; Google Ads > Campaigns > Change history

    For two equal-length comparable periods, manually preserve report totals, displayed lead types, charges/credits, dates and screenshots. Read ad status, schedule, hours, service areas and budget indicators without editing. Expand relevant existing change-history entries manually.

    Expected output
    Report/settings evidence packet with captured values and source images; not a fabricated CSV.
    Next step
    Transcribe reviewed aggregate figures into Periods and observed changes into Changes.
    Check before continuing
    A point-in-time setting does not prove historical state. An ad failing to appear in one personal search does not prove non-delivery.
    Step documentation 1 ↗Step documentation 2 ↗Step documentation 3 ↗Step documentation 4 ↗

  3. Make the checked, minimized handoff

    Excel / source-record reviewer · Restricted original workbook > separate analysis workbook > Scope worksheet

    Create period rows only from captured figures; keep charged leads, all leads and credited leads distinct. Include migration, timezone, current-period incompleteness and missing historical settings in Scope. Keep untouched original exports/screenshots and the identifying source map in restricted firm storage. Build a separate minimized analysis file; do not hide raw client data on another tab. Include the complete Scope/coverage note in the AI-visible workbook or prompt. Use aliases and administrative metadata only. Unknown is not zero, false, completed or absent.

    Expected output
    Periods(period_alias,start,end,lead_metric,lead_count,spend,credits,currency,source_ref); Changes(change_at,setting,old_value,new_value,source_ref)
    Next step
    Format each approved range as a named table. Carry source-row references and coverage into the analysis workbook.
    Check before continuing
    Every field has an observed source or an explicit missing reason; staff assignments are marked editorial, not native.
    Step documentation 1 ↗Step documentation 2 ↗

  4. Ask AI to inspect the checked inputs

    Excel Copilot, optional · Analysis workbook > Copilot icon at lower right > Chat only

    Open the minimized workbook containing the named tables and Scope. Paste the exact prompt; if unavailable, perform the same rule checks manually.

    Expected output
    Factual anomaly brief with discriminating checks and coverage blockers.
    Next step
    Copy checked results into a new Review sheet, retaining source references and unresolved blockers.
    Check before continuing
    A spend or budget association is not causal proof; no fabricated historical series.
    Step documentation 1 ↗

  5. Human review and final action

    Final human review

    Responsible firm reviewer · Internal Review worksheet / review document

    Marketer verifies the arithmetic and checks documented alerts/changes. Save the brief and decide which further account evidence is needed.

    Expected output
    Reviewed explanation hypotheses and next checks.
    Next step
    Any appeal, support message, budget, bid or targeting change requires separate approval.
    Check before continuing
    Migrated-account reporting remains blocked until actual current menus/schema are verified.
    Step documentation 1 ↗Step documentation 2 ↗

What you’ll get

lead-decline-review.csv: period, observed_metric, comparator, difference, coverage, possible_explanation, next_evidence_check

Inputs and a sample test Synthetic example · not a measured result

Input files

  • lsa-periods.csv: period_start, period_end, lead_id, lead_type, charged_amount, credit_status, currency
  • changes.csv: change_id, changed_at, setting, old_value, new_value; scope.txt: timezone, reporting coverage, account migration status

Synthetic example

P1/P2: equal periods with lower lead volume
P3: partial reporting period
C1: setting changed near the decline

Expected output

P1/P2: observed difference with denominators
P3: incomplete comparison
C1: possible explanation, not a proven cause

Test a failure

No automatic budget increases, account appeals or support submissions. Volume is not lead quality, and unobserved platform changes cannot be diagnosed with certainty.

Try with the sample files

Follow the tool steps above and use the inputs named in each step. Where provided, native-* files are blank scaffolds and NATIVE-INPUT-MAPPING explains their fields. Original examples and the optional full review prompt use a separate prepared-input schema. Keep them separate unless the mapping explicitly connects them. Downloading a kit does not connect accounts or prove the workflow works.

Download inputs and checklist 17 files

Instructions, blank templates and separate synthetic examples; these files do not install an automation. Blank templates still need verified source data.

Optional full review prompt for prepared inputs

Prepared-input review prompt with Your firm-approved AI assistant · prepared files

Proposed / not tested · editorial prompt. This prompt uses the original prepared-input schema shown in the sample test. Step prompts may use different tables. Follow NATIVE-INPUT-MAPPING where supplied; do not mix the original examples with native-step inputs without mapping and checking every field.

Read original method Read pain evidence

Published by Law Firm Agents. These are source-linked editorial adaptations; no end-to-end execution is claimed. Read the plain-text version.