How to track phone calls from Google Ads

Option 1: call assets (calls straight from the ad)

A call asset adds your number to the ad itself, so mobile searchers can tap to call without visiting the site. Google can count these calls as conversions when you use a Google forwarding number and set a minimum call length. It is free and takes minutes. It sees nothing about calls from people who clicked through to your site first.

Option 2: website call conversions

Google Ads can swap the number on your website for a Google forwarding number, but only for visitors who arrived from an ad click. You add a snippet through the Google tag and set a conversion action of type "calls from a website". It is also free. Its limits:

• Only Google Ads visitors see a tracked number, so you learn nothing about organic, social, email or Microsoft Ads callers.
• No call recording or transcripts, so you cannot tell a sales enquiry from a supplier or a wrong number.
• The only quality filter is call duration, so a long complaint call counts as a conversion.

Option 3: a call tracking platform

A platform such as CallRail or WhatConverts assigns a tracking number from a pool to every visitor, whatever their source, and ties each call to that session's campaign and keyword. Calls are recorded and transcribed if you enable it. You can then mark calls as qualified (by hand, by rule or with the platform's AI scoring) and send only those to Google Ads as conversions. That gives Smart Bidding a much better signal than "any call over 60 seconds".

Setup checklist for option 3

1. Count your number pool: roughly one number per concurrent visitor at peak, so the platform can attribute each call to one session. Your vendor will recommend a size.
2. Install the platform's script on every page, or through Google Tag Manager.
3. Keep your real number in the page source and on your Google Business Profile. The swap should happen in the browser only, so citations and local SEO are untouched.
4. Turn on auto-tagging in Google Ads so the GCLID is captured with each call.
5. Connect the platform to Google Ads and choose which calls to send: all calls, first-time callers, or calls you mark as qualified.
6. In Google Ads, set the imported call conversion as primary and demote the duration-based one, so calls are not counted twice.
7. Tell reception. Recorded calls need a disclosure, and some US states require consent from every party on the call.

What you can expect to learn

Within a few weeks you should be able to answer: which campaigns and keywords produce booked calls, what share of calls are sales enquiries, and which hours go unanswered. For many local service businesses the last one is the cheapest win, because missed calls during paid hours are paid clicks wasted.

If calls are only part of your lead flow, see how to track form submissions and leads, and compare the two main platforms in CallRail vs WhatConverts.