How to Use Google Business Profile Insights to Boost Local Visibility

You want your Google Business Profile (GBP) listing to attract more leads and sales, but you’re unsure how to boost its ranking and visibility among potential customers.

GBP is a free discovery tool that manages your online presence on Google Search and Maps. It provides customers with information about your local business, such as operating hours, location, and services offered.

A well-optimized profile can get your business to the coveted #1 spot on Google, attracting more search visibility, foot traffic, and sales.

But what exactly makes a profile well-optimized? The answer lies in understanding your GBP insights and implementing strategic improvements. Today, you'll learn what performance metrics to measure and how to optimize your profile for maximum impact.

What Are Google Business Profile Insights?
12 Key Metrics in Your Google Business Profile Report
How to Analyze Your Google Business Profile Performance
Automate Your GBP Insights Reporting with DashThis
Tips to Optimize Your Google Business Profile Based on Insights

What Are Google Business Profile Insights?

GBP insights are performance data points that reveal how users interact with your business listing. Listings with completed profiles and consistent information usually rank higher on search engine.

The critical distinction between Google Business Profile (GBP) and Google Analytics (GA) 4 lies in their focus.

While GBP tracks profile interactions (e.g., calls, directions, posts clicked), GA4 measures all user behavior on your website, including page visits and conversions.

For a business owner running brick-and-mortar stores or multi-location brands, GBP drives local visibility that directly influences foot traffic and calls. An online businesses, like an eCommerce store or freelancer selling to international customers, can usually manage without it.

12 Key Metrics in Your Google Business Profile Report

Understanding these 12 Google Business Profile metrics helps improve your local visibility and attract more customers to your business.

Visibility metrics

View on Search: Total number of views through Google Search. Also known as "Search views" on bulk reports.
Views on Maps: Total number of views through Google Maps. Also known as "Map views" on bulk reports.
Discovery searches: Total number of people who found your profile after searching for a category, product, or service that you offer.
Direct searches: Total number of searchers who directly looked for your business name or address.
Branded searches: Total number of users who searched for your brand or another brand related to your business. This metric only shows up if you've appeared at least once for a branded search.

Engagement metrics

Visited your website (i.e. website clicks): Total number of clicks to your website. Also known as "Website actions" on bulk reports.
Called you (i.e., phone calls): Total number of calls to your business phone number. Also known as "Phone call actions" on bulk reports.
Requested directions: Total number of times users requested directions to your business. Also known as "Directions actions" on bulk reports.

Currently, image insights are no longer available on the GBP dashboard. Google removed it after transitioning from Google My Business (GMB) to GBP.

To calculate your website engagement rate, connect your GBP to GA4.

Audience metrics

Platform and device breakdown: Platform and devices folks used to find your profile (e.g., Google Search - mobile; Google Search, desktop; Google Maps - mobile).
Reviews: Customer reviews with star ratings (1-5 stars), comments, and photos. These feedback are displayed publicly, influencing customers' perception of your business.
Search terms: A list of search queries that showed your profile in the search results. These terms can be helpful in your SEO efforts.

How to Analyze Your Google Business Profile Performance

Now that you know what metrics to measure in your local search strategy, try these three tips to extract insights from your GBP performance.

🚨Note: To access your performance, log in to your Google account > go to business.google.com > select Performance.

(i) PINPOINT TRENDS

Analyze performance across daily, weekly, and monthly timeframes to identify (seasonal) patterns that impact engagement and business growth.

For example, if you're seeing more:

... monthly phone calls, expand your CS team, or improve your call management system.
... direction requests daily, consider creating a direction video guide.
... monthly mobile website visits, optimize your website for these mobile devices users.

Staying on top of these trends lets you proactively address challenges before they impact customer satisfaction and revenue.

(ii) BENCHMARK PERFORMANCE

Compare your performance across specific timeframes (in the Performance tab, click Time period and select your target period) to quantify growth and validate marketing investments.

For example, if you notice a drop in website clicks since you stopped posting content updates...then it may be time to get back to it. Restore engagement through consistent posting.

Tip: If you're managing multiple Business profiles, go to business.google.com and select your relevant business profile listings.

After choosing the timeframe, click Download report at the bottom right.

And while you're at it, click Download Insights above your locations. This reveals your top-performing locations, helping you allocate resources across branches.

(iii) INFORM SEO

Instead of writing new blog posts from scratch, treat your GBP as a springboard for SEO.

Strategically incorporate keywords in your Q&A responses and repurpose your most-engaged customer questions into conversion-focused SEO content that drives qualified leads through your sales funnel.

Automate Your GBP Insights Reporting with DashThis

You’re juggling multiple profiles across platforms — wasting hours and risking inconsistent reporting.

That’s why you need a reporting tool like DashThis to consolidate every profile into one GBP performance report, automatically.

Instantly pinpoint your best-performing profile listing, translate complex data into revenue-driven decisions, and reclaim hours of your time.

Here's how it works:

Connect your Google Business Profile account with DashThis
Select the free local SEO report template (note: DashThis currently offers 40+ free marketing report templates)
Pick your metrics in Preset Widget

Sit back while your entire data populates into your local SEO marketing dashboard, automatically. Drag and drop the metrics as desired.

Tailor your Google Business Profile report to fit your needs.

For example, if you're presenting to a time-strapped manager unfamiliar with marketing metrics, add a Note directly in the report to define them. It'll appear as a clickable orange tab in view mode. Your manager just needs to click it once to access it.

Hover over a widget and click Add Note.

Here’s how it might look like in a Google Business Profile + Google Ads report

Click Save.

After tailoring your report, schedule an automatic email dispatch:

Hover over the Sharing Options icon in the top right
Click Share by Email
Set the dashboard period and frequency
Add an optional note
Click Schedule

Our automatic email dispatch distributes your Google Business Profile dashboard on a pre-determined schedule. This lets stakeholders view it on real-time.

By automating your GBP reporting workflow, you ensure data consistency across all listings, eliminate human error, and redirect hours of manual reporting toward revenue-generating marketing strategies.

DashThis is the easiest reporting tool that automatically pulls your entire GBP performance (and other social media platforms like Instagram) into one beautiful report. Start your free 15-day trial today.

Tips to Optimize Your Google Business Profile Based on Insights

You've analyzed the data and you're ready to put in the work to improve visibility. Here are three tips to improve any underperforming listings:

(i) Update listings. Outdated profile listings create a disconnected customer experience. Upload new photos weekly, create posts highlighting current promotions, update operating hours, and showcase your latest services to generate buzz.

(ii) Respond to reviews. Speedy, thoughtful responses show your commitment to customer satisfaction. Respond to every review within 24-48 hours.

(iii) Use customer action data to improve CTAs. Meet customers where they're at. If there's only engagement on your GBP posts but no website clicks, an "Order Online" call button is misaligned with customer behavior. It's unlikely to work. Experiment with low-commitment CTAs like "Learn More" to build engagement and momentum toward conversion.