Every month, your Google profile generates views, calls, direction requests and visits to your website. These figures exist, Google measures them… but few professionals look at them, and even fewer know how to interpret them. It is a shame: they are the most direct indicators of what your local presence brings you.
This guide explains what your profile’s insights measure, how to read them without getting it wrong, and above all what to do with them.
What Google measures
Google details its indicators in its help on your profile’s performance. They fall into two families.
Views, i.e. the number of times your profile was displayed:
- in Google Search, on mobile and on desktop;
- in Google Maps, on mobile and on desktop.
The same person is only counted once a day: these are people, not repeated clicks.
Actions, i.e. what internet users do after seeing your profile:
- calls made from the profile button;
- direction requests;
- website clicks;
- depending on your business, bookings, messages, orders and clicks on your menu.
On top of that come searches: the list of keywords people typed that brought up your profile. It is probably the most valuable information, and the least known.
Three reflexes to read the figures properly
1. Always compare with the previous period. An isolated figure says nothing. 3,000 views this month, is that good? It all depends on the previous month, and on the same month last year for a seasonal business.
2. Look at the action rate, not just the volume. Dividing actions by views gives the share of people who take action. A profile that is seen a lot but rarely clicked is often a profile that does not convince: dull photos, a low rating, missing information.
3. Allow for the delay. Google publishes its figures a few days late, and keywords are updated at the start of each month. The last days of a period are therefore often incomplete: do not panic at an apparent drop in the last week.
Keywords: what your customers are really looking for
The list of searches shows you, in your customers’ own words, how they find you. It usually contains three types of queries:
- brand searches: your name, sometimes misspelled. They measure your awareness;
- category searches: “italian restaurant lyon”, “holiday cottage with pool”; these are the ones that bring new customers;
- need searches: “sunday brunch”, “urgent leak repair”. They reveal current expectations.
For infrequent searches, Google does not give an exact figure but a threshold (“fewer than 15”). They are still interesting: a query that appears for the first time can signal an emerging trend.
Turning figures into actions
Insights are only worthwhile if they lead to decisions. A few simple correspondences:
- Many views, few actions: improve what makes people choose. Recent photos, replies to reviews, accurate opening hours, a booking button. See our guide to optimizing your profile.
- Rising category searches: publish Google posts on those topics, and check that your categories and services cover them.
- Searches for a service you offer but do not display: add it to your services.
- Falling calls: check your phone number and opening hours. Google sometimes changes them without telling you; we explain how to spot it.
- A large share of views on mobile: that is the case for most shops. Take care of the photos and the call button, they are what converts on smartphones.
A concrete example
Take a neighbourhood restaurant that notices, over three months, a 20% increase in views on Google Maps but a drop in calls. Looking at its keywords, it discovers that “sunday brunch” has appeared and is climbing every month, while its brunch is mentioned nowhere on its profile. It adds the brunch to its services, publishes an illustrated post the following Thursday and checks its Sunday opening hours. The month after, calls start rising again, and the “sunday brunch” search generates more views.
That is the whole point of combining figures and keywords: insights show the effect, keywords give the cause.
The limits to know
Google’s insights only measure what happens on your profile. A customer who finds you and then calls you from your website or walks past your shop window does not necessarily show up. They also say nothing about your presence in AI assistants: for that, you need to measure your visibility in ChatGPT and Gemini.
Finally, a variation from one month to the next can be due to the weather, holidays or an interface change at Google. Reason in trends over several months.
How Replik tracks your insights
With Replik’s insights, you find in one place:
- views in Search and Maps, calls, directions, website clicks, bookings, messages and orders, over 30 days, 3 months or 12 months, compared with the previous period;
- the action rate and the mobile / desktop split;
- up to 18 months of history, updated every night;
- the month’s search keywords, with their trend, the new ones, and the 12-month total. One click is enough to create a post on one of them.
Tracking is free. If you wish, the AI analysis reads your figures and keywords and suggests a concrete action plan: what works, what should worry you, the post topics to publish first (see pricing).
In short
Your Google profile’s insights are a free and telling dashboard: views, actions and keywords tell you how many potential customers see you, how many take action and what they are looking for. Always compare with the previous period, keep an eye on the action rate, and use keywords to choose your post topics and complete your profile.
To get started, take stock of your profile with the free audit.