Where can you see your performance data?

Sign in with the Google account connected to your verified Business Profile. Owners and managers can access its performance information. Verification is a requirement for this reporting. Access requirements.

Use Search or the Maps app

1. Open your Business Profile in Google Search.
2. Select Performance.
3. Choose the reporting period and select Apply.
4. Alternatively, open Google Maps on your phone and tap Business.
5. Beside Performance, tap See more, choose a period and tap Apply.

These steps follow Google’s access instructions. Before copying any numbers, record the location name and date range. Make that small check part of every reporting session.

Understand the Insights label

Google’s current documentation also describes an Insights feature that provides recommendations using public information such as reviews, photos and local search trends. It may not appear for every profile. Use Performance for the metrics discussed here. Performance and Insights.

Keep recommendations in a separate note from measured results. If a suggestion looks useful, turn it into a specific task you can inspect afterwards. Avoid treating the presence of a recommendation as evidence that your current approach has failed.

What do views and interactions actually mean?

Read each metric as a particular recorded event. Views describe profile viewers; interactions summarise activity on the profile. Google defines the individual actions separately, so preserve those labels in your report. Metric definitions.

The definitions above come from Google’s metric reference; the checks are practical recommendations. Only applicable metrics appear for a business. Label a missing measure as unavailable rather than automatically entering zero.

Why views need careful reading

Google applies unique visitor rules, excludes repeated visits within a day, and allows limited counting across devices and platforms. Views cover the Business Profile, rather than every appearance of the business across Google. How views are counted.

Keep separate columns for clicks, enquiries and confirmed sales. For example, preserve the label “call button clicks” when presenting Calls to your team. Then add answered enquiries from your own records without claiming the two columns measure the same event.

What can search terms tell you about customer needs?

Use the Searches report to inspect the terms for which your profile appeared. Google updates this information at the beginning of each month, and it can take up to five days to appear. You cannot directly control the queries in the report. Searches reporting rules.

For your own review, sort relevant terms into business names, services and unclear matches. Treat these as working categories you create. Next to each useful term, write the question a customer might need answered before contacting you.

Hypothetical example: a neighbourhood repair shop

Suppose a repair shop sees phrases about laptop batteries and screen repairs. These are illustrative queries, not a real report. Ask whether the profile and linked page explain which repairs the shop accepts and how customers can request an assessment.

If an unrelated service appears, inspect your descriptions before drawing a conclusion. Do not add that service simply because it appears in the report. First establish whether you offer it and want enquiries about it.

• Highlight services you actually provide.
• Write down unclear or irrelevant matches.
• Compare useful phrases with questions staff receive.
• Choose one information gap to investigate.

For help interpreting what someone wants, use the guide to search intent. Search intent means the purpose behind a search. Keep your next task tied to that purpose rather than repeating phrases throughout the profile.

How should you compare one reporting period with another?

Choose comparable periods and record what changed around them. I recommend noting opening days, promotions, closures and advertising activity before interpreting a rise or fall. Keep the same location and metric definitions throughout the comparison.

Business Profile performance data includes views, searches and actions from both organic results and Google Ads. Organic results are unpaid search results. An increase in the combined report therefore needs context before you attribute it to unpaid visibility. What the report includes.

Use a short comparison checklist

• Are both reporting periods complete?
• Did the business operate similar hours?
• Was advertising running during either period?
• Did the website link or service offering change?
• Do your enquiry records suggest a similar pattern?

In a hypothetical florist example, compare a promotion period with care if the other period had no promotion. Write that difference next to the numbers. Do not describe the profile edit as the proven cause of an increase.

For several branches, start by reviewing each location separately. Use the same reporting columns, but keep each branch’s operating context visible. The guide to local SEO for multiple locations can help organise that broader work.

Which change should you make after reading the report?

Choose one observation and one check. The scenarios below are starting points for investigation, not diagnoses. Write the proposed change down before editing anything so the team knows what it is trying to improve.

People view the profile but take few actions

Inspect the profile as a prospective customer. Is the service clear, does the phone number work, and can someone find the next step? Ask a colleague unfamiliar with the profile to explain what they would do to contact the business.

Website clicks do not match your enquiry expectations

Open the destination page on your phone. Check whether it matches the service advertised and whether the enquiry route is easy to find. Use the conversion rate optimisation guide to structure that review; conversion means the desired next action, such as submitting an enquiry.

The offer needs a clearer explanation

In a hypothetical bakery example, customers may need to know how to request a custom cake. Draft a clear explanation of the ordering steps and check it with the person who handles orders. The guide to writing Business Profile posts provides a related next task.

Avoid changing the offer, website and contact process together unless there is an urgent practical reason. For routine improvement work, keep a record of what you changed and why. Review the relevant action alongside actual enquiries at your next reporting session.

How do you turn the data into a useful monthly routine?

Prepare a short report with an observation, an unanswered question and a named next action. Use Excel or Google Sheets as your working table. Choose a business outcome before deciding which profile metric deserves the most attention.

You can download performance data through Business Profile Manager. Select the profiles, open Actions and then Insights, choose the timeframe and select Download Report. Google also supports downloading several profiles together. Download instructions.

Give each observation an owner

Write “check the mobile enquiry form and report any obstacles” instead of “improve the website.” Assign the task to someone and agree when to review it. Keep observations separate from explanations that have not yet been checked.

• Observation: what changed in the selected metric?
• Context: what else changed during the period?
• Question: what remains uncertain?
• Action: what will someone inspect or improve?
• Review: which result will you examine next time?

Choose your main measure using the guide to small business KPIs. A KPI is a key performance indicator, the measure you select to judge progress. For this exercise, connect it to the enquiries or bookings your business actually wants.

If you need a separate plan for recognising visits from your profile’s website link, read the UTM parameter guide. Keep that implementation task separate from your first report review. First make sure everyone understands what the existing numbers mean.