To see whether your Google Business Profile is working, open its Performance report and look at the actions people take: calls, website clicks, direction requests, messages and bookings. Views tell you people saw you; those actions tell you people chose you, and comparing them month over month is the simplest honest measure of whether your profile is earning its keep.
I run a wellness center in Charlottesville, so I know the feeling of posting photos and answering reviews without any idea whether it brings anyone through the door. The good news is that Google already collects most of the numbers you need. You just have to know where to look and which ones matter.
Where do I find my Google Business Profile numbers?
Search for your business name on Google while signed in, then click Performance on your profile. On the Google Maps app, tap Business, then See more next to Performance.
According to Google's Business Profile performance help page, you pick a time period at the top of the report and click Apply. Two catches: performance data is only available for verified profiles, and you have to be signed in to the Google account connected to the profile. If you cannot see the Performance button, that is usually the reason.
Which numbers actually matter?
The ones that represent a real customer decision: calls, website clicks, directions, messages and bookings. Views and searches are useful context, but they do not pay the bills on their own.
Here is what each one means in plain terms, based on Google's own definitions:
- Calls counts taps on the call button in your profile. It only works if your phone number is on the profile.
- Website clicks counts clicks on the website link in your profile.
- Directions counts direction requests. Google says it adjusts this count for repeat taps, cancelled requests and spam.
- Messages counts separate message conversations, if you have messaging turned on.
- Bookings only shows data when your bookings run through a booking provider connected to Google.
- Views counts unique people who viewed your profile on Search and Maps, and one person is only counted once a day.
- Searches shows the words people typed when your profile appeared. Google updates it at the start of each month, and it can take up to 5 days to show up.
One more detail worth knowing: Google says these numbers include both regular search results and Google Ads. If you are running ads, some of those calls and clicks came from ad spend, not free visibility.
What does a healthy profile look like?
A healthy profile shows steady or rising actions over several months, and the searches list includes the services you actually sell, not just your business name.
That second part is the real tell. If nearly every search term is your own name, people who already know you are finding you, which is fine, but new customers searching for a plumber in Crozet or a bakery near the Downtown Mall are not. That points to category, services and content work, which is the heart of local SEO for Charlottesville businesses.
Avoid comparing a single week to another single week. Seasonal businesses swing a lot, and a landscaper in Albemarle will always look slower in January. Compare this month to last month, and this month to the same month last year once you have the history.
How do I see what happens after someone clicks to my website?
Add a tracking tag to the website link on your profile so your analytics can tell Google profile visitors apart from everyone else. This takes about five minutes.
Google Analytics' guide to campaign URLs says that when you add parameters to a link you should always use utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign. A simple version for your profile link looks like this: yourwebsite.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gbp. Keep the values lowercase, because Google notes they are case sensitive.
Once that link is saved in your profile, the visits show up in the Traffic acquisition report in Google Analytics, so you can see whether profile visitors read your services page, fill out your contact form or leave right away.
What about people who find my website in regular search results?
That is a different report. Google Search Console shows how your website, not your profile, performs in regular search results.
The Search Console Performance report shows clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position, grouped by the queries people typed and the pages they landed on. It opens to the past three months by default. Google also warns that you may not see your site when you run the same search yourself, because results vary by location, device and history. So stop searching your own business every morning and let the report tell you the truth.
What can I check today in under 30 minutes?
- Open your Performance report and write down last month's calls, website clicks and direction requests.
- Read the searches list and note whether your services appear, or only your name.
- Confirm your phone number and website link are correct on the profile, since calls and clicks cannot be counted without them.
- Replace your website link with a tagged version using the utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign format above.
- Set a monthly reminder to repeat step one and keep the numbers in a simple spreadsheet.
- Ask new customers how they found you. A call counted by Google is helpful, but hearing a real person say they found you on Google Maps confirms it.
If calls are coming in but nobody picks up, the profile is doing its job and the phone is not. That is a different fix, which I cover in what to do about missed calls. If the numbers are flat, regular updates help keep the profile active; my guide to writing Google Business Profile posts is a good place to start.
Do I need to do all of this myself?
No. Plenty of owners would rather spend that half hour on the work they love, and that is a reasonable choice.
If you want a quick read on where you stand first, our free local business growth scorecard walks through the basics. And if you would rather hand it off, STANDBY sets up the tracking, watches the numbers each month and connects them to automated follow-up so the leads your profile earns do not slip through the cracks.
Common questions
Why are my profile views lower than what Google emails me?
Google says the Performance report counts unique visitors and only counts a person once a day, so it can be lower than view counts shown elsewhere, such as notification emails.
Why don't I see a Performance button on my profile?
Performance data is only available for verified profiles, and you must be signed in to the Google account that manages the profile. Check verification first.
Does Google count calls from people who dial my number by hand?
No. The calls metric counts taps on the call button in your profile. Someone who reads your number and types it in will not show up there, which is one more reason to ask new customers how they found you.
Want a second set of eyes on your numbers? Book a free 15-minute call and I will look at your profile with you and tell you plainly what I would fix first.