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How do I know if my Google Ads agency is doing a good job?

A 10-minute check for clinic owners: account ownership, search terms, conversions, change history, invoices, benchmark numbers and red flags in your agency.

Guide · 18 Oct 2026 · Access One

Quick answer

Your Google Ads agency is doing a good job if you own the account, they report cost per booked patient (not just clicks), the search terms you pay for are relevant, and the account shows regular, meaningful changes. Benchmarks help: LocaliQ's 2026 data puts the average cost per lead at about $73 for dentists and $40 for physicians, mostly from US accounts. If your agency cannot show you how many patients the ads booked last month, that is the problem.

Last checked: 18 October 2026

The 10-minute check you can do yourself

You do not need to be an expert. You need admin access to your own Google Ads account and 10 minutes.

Do you own the account? You should be an admin, and the account should be in your name. Google lets a manager account own a client account (Google's ownership help page), but if the agency owns it and you leave, you can lose years of data. Ask for your 10-digit customer ID. Google's transparency rules for third parties require agencies to give it to you when asked.
Open Search terms. Go to Insights and reports > Search terms. Read the last 30 days. Are you paying for "dental assistant jobs", "free clinic", "DHA exam" or other cities? A few is normal. Pages of them means nobody is adding negative keywords.
Open Conversions. Go to Goals > Conversions. Check what counts as a conversion. Calls over 60 seconds, form submits, WhatsApp clicks and booked appointments are good. Page views, "time on site" or every button click are not. If junk is counted, Smart Bidding chases junk. See conversion tracking.
Open Change history. Look at the last 60 days. You want to see keyword, bid, ad and negative keyword changes most weeks. Long gaps followed by a burst just before your monthly meeting is a warning sign.
Check networks and locations. In campaign settings, see if Search Partners and Display are on. Google includes Search partners by default. Check location options: the default "Presence or interest" can show your ads to people abroad who are only researching Dubai (Google's location options page). A local clinic usually wants "Presence".
Check the invoices. Ad spend should be billed by Google directly to you, or the agency must show the exact amount Google charged and its fee separately. Google requires agencies to disclose management fees and show them on invoices.

The numbers that matter (and the ones that don't)

Metric	What it tells you	Use it to judge the agency?
Cost per booked patient	Total cost (ads + fee) divided by patients who actually booked	Yes. The main number.
Cost per lead (enquiry)	Cost per call, form or WhatsApp	Yes, if leads are tracked properly
Conversion rate	Share of clicks that become enquiries	Yes, alongside landing page quality
Search impression share	How often you showed when you were eligible	Useful context
Clicks, impressions, CTR	Activity, not results	Not on their own
Optimisation score	How many of Google's suggestions are applied	No. Many suggestions raise spend.

For context, LocaliQ's 2026 search advertising benchmarks (mostly US accounts) show:

Dentists: $8.00 CPC, 10.67% conversion rate, $72.97 cost per lead.
Physicians and surgeons: $4.76 CPC, 12.43% conversion rate, $40.04 cost per lead.
Beauty and personal care: $4.62 CPC, 10.35% conversion rate, $39.25 cost per lead.

Dubai competition for implants, aesthetics, IVF and home nursing can push costs higher. Treat benchmarks as a sanity check. If your cost per lead is three times the benchmark and the agency has no explanation, ask harder questions. Why costs run high is covered in why Google Ads is so expensive for clinics.

Red flags

Monthly reports with impressions, clicks and CTR, but no enquiries or bookings.
They will not give you admin access, or the account is in their name.
One campaign for every treatment, all sending traffic to your home page.
Frequent disapprovals for drug names like "Botox", or ads that say "best clinic in Dubai". Both break rules a healthcare specialist knows by heart. See what to do when healthcare ads are disapproved.
Remarketing lists on health services. Google's personalised advertising policy blocks them.
Ads running at 2am when nobody answers your phone.
"We guarantee first position" or "guaranteed leads".

Questions to ask at your next meeting

How many patients did the ads book last month, and what did each cost?
Which 3 keywords bring the most bookings, and which ones did you pause?
What did you change in the last 30 days, and why?
Are calls and WhatsApp tracked, and are booked appointments imported back into Google Ads?
Which bidding strategy are we on, and what is the target? (See Smart Bidding.)
What is our Quality Score on the top keywords? (See Quality Score.)

A good agency answers all six in one meeting without "we'll get back to you". Also check your side. If your front desk misses 30% of calls, no agency can fix the result. Listen to a few recorded calls before you blame the ads.

Want this done for you?

Access One, the UAE's first Healthcare Google Partner and Dubai's #1 Google Ads agency for healthcare, audits clinic accounts and tells you in plain numbers what your agency is doing well and what it is missing. Get a free ads audit.

Frequently asked questions

How long should I give a new Google Ads agency?

About 90 days. The first month is setup and learning. Judge months two and three on cost per booked patient against your baseline, adjusting for Ramadan and summer.

Does a Google Partner badge mean my agency is good?

It is a floor. Partners must keep a 70% optimisation score, spend about $10,000 over 90 days and certify half their strategists. It shows real budgets, not healthcare expertise.

Should the agency own my Google Ads account?

No. You should own it and give the agency access. If they own it and you part ways, you may lose the account history.

Is a high optimisation score a sign of good work?

No. It measures how many Google recommendations are applied. Many of them raise budgets or broaden targeting. Results are measured in booked patients.

What should a monthly Google Ads report include?

Spend, enquiries by type (calls, forms, WhatsApp), cost per enquiry, booked patients, cost per booked patient, top search terms, changes made, and the plan for next month.

Comparing agencies? Read how to choose a medical marketing agency, what a Google Ads agency costs in Dubai and agency or run it yourself.