Google Ads has added a Local customer optimization setting to Performance Max campaigns for store goals. It is designed to put more emphasis on people who are close to, or interested in, a business area and appear ready to visit or make contact.
For shops, hospitality venues, attractions and other location-based businesses in Bath and across the South West, that sounds immediately useful. The important detail is that this is a specialist option for offline goals, not a general switch that every Performance Max advertiser should turn on.
What the new setting does
Google says Local customer optimization can reach people while they are navigating, planning a trip or searching for a service in a particular area. Ads may appear through Google Maps, Waze and local formats on Google Search.
The setting is available in Performance Max campaigns that optimise only for offline outcomes. Eligible goals include store visits, store sales, calls or contacts hosted by Google, and requests for directions. A business can select locations from its linked Google Business Profile or from location assets.
The idea is to direct more of the campaign budget towards people showing immediate local intent. Someone looking for a nearby restaurant, planning a route to a showroom or searching for a service while already in the area may be more valuable to a physical business than a person making a broad enquiry from much farther away.
Why it could matter around Bath
Local demand in this region is rarely neat. A Bath business might want to reach residents, commuters and visitors approaching from Bristol, Wiltshire or Somerset. A traditional radius around the premises does not always capture the difference between somebody who happens to be nearby and somebody who is actively considering a visit.
Google’s new option attempts to recognise that stronger signal. This could be relevant to independent retailers, visitor attractions, hotels, restaurants, clinics, garages and other organisations where a call, directions request or in-person visit has real value.
It also makes the accuracy of location information more important. Before increasing spend, check that opening hours, telephone numbers, addresses and map pins are correct in Google Business Profile. Paid local visibility cannot compensate for a listing that sends potential customers to the wrong entrance or says a venue is open when it is closed.
There are important limits
Local customer optimization is not compatible with online campaign goals. Google also says it cannot be used with Performance Max campaigns advertising products from a Merchant Center account. Retailers should pay particular attention to that restriction before changing an existing campaign.
If an advertiser later wants to add an online conversion goal, the local optimization toggle must first be turned off. This means the choice should follow the campaign’s real commercial purpose. A campaign intended to generate ecommerce sales, online bookings and shop visits together may need a different structure from one focused purely on footfall and direct local contact.
Nor does the feature remove the need for sound measurement. Store visits are modelled and are not available to every account. Calls and direction requests can be useful signals, but neither automatically proves that revenue followed. Businesses should decide in advance which offline action matters and how it will be checked against bookings, till data, customer records or another dependable source.
What advertisers should check before testing it
First, confirm that the campaign really has a store goal. If its main job is to collect website enquiries or online purchases, this setting is not designed for it.
Second, review the conversion goals attached to the campaign. Remove secondary actions that could muddy the bidding signal, and make sure calls, directions or visits are being treated in a way that reflects their actual value. Our page on Google Ads in Bath explains the broader importance of connecting campaign settings to useful business outcomes.
Third, check the locations being supplied through Business Profile or location assets. Multi-location organisations should confirm that the right branches are included and that closed, duplicated or outdated listings have not slipped into the account.
Finally, plan a controlled test. Record the current budget, location actions, calls and other meaningful outcomes before enabling the setting. Allow enough time for normal weekly variation, but watch for spend moving towards low-value actions. Performance Max still requires commercial judgement; a new optimization option is a reason to test carefully, not to surrender oversight.
A useful option for the right kind of business
This update is narrower than its name may suggest, but that is not a weakness. Businesses with physical premises have often had to balance broad automated campaigns with a very local objective. Giving them a way to prioritise people who appear ready to act nearby could make that balance more practical.
For Bath and South West advertisers, the sensible next step is to check eligibility, clean up location information and decide how an offline result will be measured. If those foundations are sound, Local customer optimization may be worth a structured trial as part of a wider search marketing plan.
Sources: Google Ads Help, “About Local customer optimization within Performance Max campaign for store goals”; Search Engine Land, 12 August 2026.
