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Overview
Google Business Profile Insights (now called "Performance" in the dashboard) is where you see how homeowners are finding your business and what they're doing when they get there. It tracks calls, direction requests, website clicks, search queries, and how people discovered your listing. If you've ever heard the term "Google My Business Insights," that's the old name for the same data.
Most home services businesses never look at this dashboard. That's a problem because the data tells you exactly what's working, what's not, and where to focus your time. A plumber who sees 1,000 profile views but only 10 calls knows something is wrong with the profile itself. An HVAC tech who notices "AC repair" spiking in their search queries every May can start posting seasonal content before the rush hits.
This guide walks you through every metric in the GBP Performance dashboard, what the numbers actually mean, what "good" looks like for home services businesses, and how to use the data to get more calls. For the full picture on optimizing your profile, see our complete Google Business Profile Optimization guide.
Where to Find Your GBP Performance Dashboard
Google Business Profile Insights lives inside your GBP dashboard under the "Performance" tab. The section was renamed from "Insights" to "Performance" in February 2023 when the entire analytics dashboard was redesigned.
On desktop:
- Search your business name on Google while logged into the account that manages the profile
- Your Business Profile management panel appears directly in the search results
- Click "Performance" to view your analytics
- Select your desired date range and click Apply
For businesses managing multiple locations, go to business.google.com to access the Business Profile Manager.
On mobile:
- Open the Google Maps app
- Tap the "Business" tab at the bottom right
- Next to "Performance," tap "See more"
The dashboard shows up to 6 months of historical data. When you select a completed month, year-over-year comparisons appear automatically.
What Metrics Does Google Business Profile Track?
The Performance dashboard tracks four core interaction types, plus search queries and platform breakdowns. Here's what each one actually measures:
| Metric | What It Counts | What It Doesn't Count |
|---|---|---|
| Calls | Click-to-call button taps | Whether the call was completed or how long it lasted |
| Direction Requests | Unique customers tapping "Directions" | Not available for service-area businesses without a physical address |
| Website Clicks | Clicks on your website link | Whether the page actually loaded or the visitor stayed |
| Bookings | Completed bookings through the profile | Requires third-party booking integration (e.g., Reserve with Google) |
Search queries show the terms people used to find your profile, with impression counts per term. This tells you exactly what homeowners are typing into Google when your business shows up. The data is available monthly and goes back 6 months.
Platform and device breakdown shows where people find you across four buckets: Google Search (mobile), Google Search (desktop), Google Maps (mobile), and Google Maps (desktop). Currently, about 75% of GBP views come from Google Search and 25% from Maps (BrightLocal). Google Maps views have increased 61% year-over-year, while Search views are up 28% (SOCi, via Searchlab 2026).
What's no longer tracked: Google removed photo analytics (view counts, comparison to similar businesses) in the 2023 migration. Google also discontinued in-profile messaging in July 2024, so message metrics are historical only. Post-level click tracking is not available natively, though you can use UTM parameters in Google Analytics to track individual post performance.
How to Read Your Calls, Clicks, and Direction Requests
These three metrics are the most important numbers in your dashboard because they represent homeowners taking real action toward hiring you. Here's what healthy numbers look like for home services businesses:
Calls: Service-based businesses like plumbers and roofers typically see a call click rate of 10-15% of total views, roughly double the average across all industries (WebFX). If your views are high but calls are low, your profile isn't converting. Common culprits: wrong phone number, missing business hours, or poor reviews.
Website clicks: The average profile sees approximately 33 website clicks per month (BrightLocal). For home services, website clicks matter less than calls (most homeowners call directly from the profile), but they're still a strong indicator of interest.
Direction requests: The average profile gets about 14 direction requests per month (BrightLocal). If you're a service-area business without a physical storefront, this metric won't apply to you. Focus on calls and website clicks instead.
How to Use Search Query Data
Your search query report shows the exact terms homeowners typed into Google when your profile appeared in the results. This data is gold for optimizing your profile, but it comes with limitations: it only shows impressions (not clicks per query), excludes low-volume keywords, and only goes back 6 months.
How to use it:
Match your profile to real searches. If your top queries include "water heater repair [city]" but your business description talks about "comprehensive plumbing solutions," update the description to use the actual words homeowners are searching. This isn't keyword stuffing. It's speaking your customer's language.
Spot seasonal demand. Watch for shifts like "AC repair" spiking in late spring and "furnace repair" climbing in fall. Time your Google Posts and offers around these patterns to catch the demand wave before your competitors do. For more on what to post and when, see our guide on Google Business Profile Posts.
Find service gaps. If queries show demand for services you offer but haven't listed on your profile, add them to your Services section immediately. Every missing service is a missed opportunity to show up.
Validate your categories. If the queries people use to find you don't match your primary category, you may have the wrong one selected. Your primary category is the single most important ranking factor for the local pack (Whitespark 2026). Getting it right matters more than anything else. For trade-specific category recommendations, see Google Business Profile Categories Explained.
Only about 34% of your top GBP search queries will overlap with what you see in Google Search Console (Sterling Sky). They measure different things. GBP tracks your profile's visibility in local results, while Search Console tracks your website's visibility in organic results.
What "Good" Looks Like for Home Services
Here are benchmarks based on data from BrightLocal, Searchlab, and WebFX so you can see where your business stacks up:
| Metric | Below Average | Average | Good | Great |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly views | Under 500 | 500-1,000 | 1,000-2,000 | 2,000+ |
| Monthly actions | Under 30 | 30-60 | 60-100 | 100+ |
| View-to-action rate | Under 3% | 3-5% | 5-7% | 7%+ |
| Monthly calls | Under 10 | 10-30 | 30-50 | 50+ |
| Monthly website clicks | Under 15 | 15-35 | 35-60 | 60+ |
| Photos on profile | Under 10 | 10-30 | 30-70 | 70+ |
| Review count | Under 15 | 15-40 | 40-80 | 80+ |
| Average rating | Under 4.0 | 4.0-4.2 | 4.2-4.5 | 4.5+ |
| Google Posts | Never | Monthly | Bi-weekly | Weekly |
Home services businesses tend to outperform the average on calls and photos. The Construction and Real Estate category (closest comparable in BrightLocal's data) averages about 580 views per month with 18 reviews and a 4.35 average rating.
GBP impressions have declined significantly year-over-year, but actions (calls, clicks, directions) have held relatively steady (Birdeye/Near Media 2026). AI-powered search is compressing the funnel. Fewer people are casually browsing, but the ones who do see your profile are taking action at nearly the same rate. Don't panic if your view count drops. Focus on whether your actions hold steady.
Red Flags in Your GBP Data
Not every number tells a good story. Here's what to watch for:
| What You See | What It Likely Means |
|---|---|
| High views, low actions (under 3% conversion) | Profile isn't compelling. Missing info, bad photos, or weak reviews. |
| Calls declining while views stay stable | Phone number issue, negative reviews mentioning responsiveness, or a competitor gaining ground. |
| Sudden drop in all metrics | Possible suspension, guideline violation, or a GBP reporting glitch. Check your profile status. |
| Search queries don't match your services | Wrong categories or your description needs updating. |
| Very few search queries showing | Profile isn't ranking well, or low-volume terms are being filtered out. |
If you see a sudden, unexplained drop across all metrics, check your profile status first. Suspensions and guideline violations can kill your visibility overnight. If you're setting up a new profile or need to understand verification, see how to create a Google Business Profile.
How to Track Your Performance Over Time
Google only keeps 6 months of historical data. After that, it's gone forever unless you saved it. Here's how to build a tracking habit:
Export monthly. On the first of every month, download your Performance data as a CSV file from the Business Profile Manager at business.google.com. Select your timeframe and hit "Download Report." Save each file with the month and year. This takes two minutes and gives you data Google would otherwise delete.
Build a simple spreadsheet. Track these numbers month over month: total views, total actions, calls, website clicks, direction requests, view-to-action rate, and your top 5 search queries. This takes 10 minutes per month and gives you a clear picture of trends that Google's 6-month window doesn't show.
Add UTM tracking. Append UTM parameters to your GBP website link to track GBP-driven traffic in Google Analytics. This gives you deeper data than GBP's native reporting, including what visitors do after they click through to your site.
Consider a third-party tool when you scale. Tools like BrightLocal store up to 18 months of GBP data (three times what Google keeps) and offer daily rank tracking, review monitoring, and automated reporting. For a solo operator, the monthly CSV export is enough. For an agency or multi-location business, the third-party tools pay for themselves.
For more on how reviews show up in your data and how to get more of them, check out How to Get More Google Reviews for Your Home Services Business. For a complete field-by-field optimization guide, use our GBP Optimization Checklist.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Google Business Profile Insights accurate?
GBP Performance data is directionally accurate but has known limitations. The "Calls" metric counts button taps, not completed calls. Views count unique users per day per platform, but can still include bots. Search query data filters out low-volume keywords, so you're only seeing your top-performing terms. Direction requests filter out spam and accidental taps. For the most reliable picture, track trends month over month rather than treating any single number as exact.
What is the difference between Google Business Profile Insights and Google Analytics?
GBP Performance tracks interactions with your Business Profile listing in Google Search and Maps (calls, direction requests, profile views, search queries). Google Analytics tracks what happens on your website (page views, session duration, conversions). Only about 34% of your top search queries overlap between the two platforms (Sterling Sky). They measure different parts of the customer journey, and you need both for a complete picture. Use UTM parameters on your GBP website link to connect the two.
Why did my Google Business Profile views drop?
GBP impressions have declined significantly across the board as AI-powered search compresses the funnel (Birdeye 2026). If your views dropped but your actions (calls, clicks, directions) stayed steady, this is likely the industry-wide trend, not a problem with your profile. If both views and actions dropped suddenly, check for: a profile suspension or guideline violation, incorrect business hours, a lost or changed phone number, seasonal dips in your industry, or a Google reporting glitch. Check your profile status first.
How far back does Google Business Profile data go?
Google's Performance dashboard stores a maximum of 6 months of historical data. After that, the data is gone permanently unless you exported it. Download your Performance data as a CSV file on the first of every month to build your own historical record. Third-party tools like BrightLocal store up to 18 months of GBP data, which is three times what Google keeps natively.
What counts as an interaction on Google Business Profile?
Google tracks four types of interactions on your Business Profile: calls (click-to-call button taps), direction requests (tapping "Directions" to your business), website clicks (clicking your website link), and bookings (completed reservations through a third-party integration like Reserve with Google). Google previously tracked messages/chat conversations, but that feature was discontinued in July 2024. The average verified profile generates roughly 60 interactions per month across all types (Searchlab 2026).
