Ad claims you can prove: writing Google Ads headlines without invented promises

The safest Google Ads headlines state things the business can prove on the day, to a customer, if asked. The Ads editor does not work that way. When you create a responsive search ad, it prefills headlines and descriptions from a scan of your site and its own suggestions, and some of them are claims nobody has checked. This post covers what we saw, how we handle it, and what happened on one account when we led with a claim that is true.

What the editor prefills

On the accounts we manage, a new ad has arrived with 15 suggested headlines and 4 descriptions. Among them, for a local appliance repair business, were:

• Free Quote
• Same Day Service
• Over 40 Years
• Fixed Price Assessment
• Genuine Parts Used
• Same-Day Service, Guaranteed

None of those was something the owner had told us. For a builder's account, the editor pre-filled five headlines from a scan of the site and three descriptions we judged unusable. Google can also add suggested sitelinks at campaign level, such as a "Visit Us" link, which we removed.

A claim in an ad is a promise made to a stranger who then calls. "Guaranteed same day" that is not delivered leads to a complaint, a bad review or a refund, and may be a legal problem too.

Our rule: overwrite every field

Each time, we replace every suggested headline and description with text taken from something the owner has confirmed, and we read every value back before saving. If you cannot point to the page, licence or document that proves a line, it is not an ad line.

Things that pass the test for a typical trade business:

• A licence or authorisation the owner holds and can show.
• The brands or services you really cover.
• The areas you really travel to.
• A fixed price proposal, if you really give one.
• Years in business, only where the owner has stated the figure.

Things that fail:

• Speed and availability promises with no rostered capacity behind them.
• Free anything, unless you read the terms back to the owner.
• A brand name you are not entitled to use, or a status you do not hold.
• Superlatives such as best or cheapest.

Two practical rules from the Ads editor itself. Phone numbers in headlines or descriptions are disallowed. The ad can still be saved and then be marked as not able to run, which we hit when a description had to be reworded after saving. The number goes in a call asset. And each ad group is limited to three enabled responsive search ads, so you need to pause one before adding another.

A true claim, tested

One appliance repair business we run ads for is an authorised repairer for every brand its site lists, and carries genuine parts for them. That is a claim the owner can prove, so on 1 October 2026 the ads were changed to say it.

The new responsive search ad led with headlines such as "Authorised Appliance Repairer", "Authorised Repairer, Major Brands", "Genuine Parts Carried" and "In & Out of Warranty Repairs". It named no brands in the ad text. We added the same lines as callouts at account level.

For the first five days of October, in the main campaign, the three responsive search ads compared like this:

Two things stand out. First, the true claim got the best click through rate, about two points higher. Second, Google's ad strength rating was Good for the new ad and Excellent for two of the older ones. Ad strength measures variety and relevance of the text, not what people do. Do not choose ads by that label.

What we do not claim

Thirty four clicks is a small sample. The new ad had cost A$124.99 and had no conversions at that point. The first older ad had 2, so we made no call on which is better at producing enquiries, and we planned to leave the ads alone until the new one reached around 100 clicks. A higher click rate is a sign people liked the message. It is not a lead.

A checklist for your own ads

1. List every headline and description and write beside each one how you could prove it.
2. Delete any line you cannot support.
3. Remove suggested sitelinks and assets you did not write.
4. Keep phone numbers out of ad text.
5. Read the saved ad back in the Ads preview.
6. Judge ads on click rate and conversions over enough clicks, not on ad strength.
7. Recheck claims whenever your offer changes.

Where this fits

Ad copy is one of the things we review on accounts under our Ads management add-on, at $549 a month in AUD, month to month. You keep your own Google Ads account and pay Google directly for clicks. For the search side of the same job, see search terms and negative keywords for a local service. Details are on the pricing page, or you can get started.