google-business-profile
What should a monthly Google Business Profile report contain?
A monthly Google Business Profile report should identify the profile and reporting period, record meaningful profile changes, show the Google performance metrics available for that business, explain movement from the previous period, and separate observations from ranking claims. A missing metric should be marked as unavailable or not applicable, not silently treated as zero.
What should a monthly report identify?
Start with the business name, profile or location, reporting month, comparison period, report date, and the person responsible for the report. A Google Business Profile must be verified before its performance data is available, and the person checking it must sign in to the Google Account associated with the profile. Google's “Understand your Business Profile performance & insights” guidance says an owner can select a date range and download the selected performance data from Business Profile Manager as a spreadsheet.
Use this header at the top of every report:
Monthly Google Business Profile report
Business: [business name]
Profile or location: [profile name and location]
Reporting period: [start date] to [end date]
Comparison period: [previous start date] to [previous end date]
Prepared on: [date]
Prepared by: [name or team]
Which profile changes belong in the report?
Record each customer-facing profile change made during the month, with its date, field, previous value, new value, reason, and current status. Include changes to business information, categories, hours, contact details, website links, products, menus, offers, and other profile features when they affect what customers see. If a third party manages the profile, Google's “Business Profile third-party policies” requires the manager to inform the owner about every change and edit. The policy prohibits changing or disabling profile features without the owner's consent. It also requires the manager to ensure the owner understands what Google Business Profile is and where the profile data is used. The monthly Google Business Profile routine can supply the change list.
| Change-log field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Date | When the edit was made or noticed |
| Field | The profile field or feature affected |
| Before | The previous customer-facing value, when known |
| After | The saved value or the value still pending |
| Reason | The business event or correction behind the edit |
| Status | Published, pending, rejected, or needs review |
Which Google performance metrics should a monthly report include?
Show the applicable Google metrics in three groups: how people found the profile, the total interaction summary, and the actions people took after finding it. Google's “Understand your Business Profile performance & insights” guidance covers discovery on Search and Maps and actions from organic results and Google Ads. The Google Business Profile performance metrics answer explains the definitions in more detail.
| Metric | What the report should say |
|---|---|
| Views | People who viewed the Business Profile on Search and Maps. Google counts a person at most once per day and may count a user a limited number of times across devices and platforms. This is not every view of the business on Google. |
| Searches | Search terms people used to find the business. A query appears when the profile shows for that search, and the business cannot manage these queries directly. |
| Interactions | Google's summary of total interactions on the profile. |
| Directions | People who asked for directions to the business. Google adjusts this count for multiple taps, canceled requests, and spam. |
| Calls | Clicks on the profile's call button. The phone number must be added for Google to track this metric. |
| Website clicks | Clicks on the website link on the profile. |
| Messages | Different conversations through messages. |
| Bookings | Completed bookings managed through a booking provider. |
| Booking clicks | Clicks on a hotel's booking link. The click sends the user to the hotel's landing page to book directly. This metric applies only to hotels. |
| Products | Views of products sold at the profile location, excluding products sold online. |
| Menus | Menu-content clicks per user per day, including menu photos, menu links, and structured menu data. |
| Offers | Views and clicks on offers on the profile. |
Only metrics that apply to the business appear in Google's report. Do not create a full checklist of cards and fill every absent card with zero.
How should the report compare this month with the previous month?
Show the current value, previous value, absolute change, percentage change when the comparison is meaningful, and a short explanation for each important movement. Use the same type of date range in both periods. Label the result as profile performance, such as “website clicks increased,” rather than as a ranking result.
| Metric | Current period | Previous period | Change | Observation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Views | [value] | [value] | [value or %] | [what changed] |
| Website clicks | [value] | [value] | [value or %] | [what changed] |
| Calls | [value] | [value] | [value or %] | [what changed] |
| Directions | [value] | [value] | [value or %] | [what changed] |
How should a report handle missing or delayed metrics?
Label a missing value as Not applicable, Not configured, Not available, or Pending update, and state the reason when Google documents one. Google's “Understand your Business Profile performance & insights” guidance says Google updates Searches at the start of each month, and the terms may take up to 5 days to appear. Calls need a phone number, Bookings need a booking provider, and Booking clicks apply only to hotels. A downloaded spreadsheet may show *** when the profile has not been enabled for downloads.
The report should use zero only when Google supplied a zero for the selected period. This distinction keeps an unavailable card from looking like a month with no customer activity.
How should Google data be separated from other profile-management services?
Give Google Business Profile data its own clearly labelled section, then show data from other profile-management services separately. These rules apply when a third-party service prepares the report. Google's “Business Profile third-party policies” requires the service to report Business Profile data separately from non-Business Profile data. The service may also show an aggregate when the Google-specific data remains easy for the customer to access.
If a report includes a combined total, label the sources in that total and keep the Google-specific rows visible. A third-party service must not compare or share one customer's Google Business Profile-specific data with another customer's data.
What should a monthly report say about rankings?
A monthly report can state what the profile performance data shows, but it should not turn views, searches, or actions into a promise about placement. Use language such as “Google reported [value] website clicks during the selected period.” A third-party manager must not promise top placement or claim that the profile will appear in Search or Maps at all times. Google's “Business Profile third-party policies” lists those claims as false, misleading, or unrealistic.
How should the report be shared with the business owner?
If a third party prepares the report, it must make management costs and performance data easy for the customer to access by email or website. It can instead let the customer sign in directly to the Google Account used to manage the profile. Google's “Business Profile third-party policies” names those access paths. Send the report with a short summary of the material changes, the metrics that were available, and the next checks that follow from the observations.
For a repeatable owner-side check, pair the report with the Google Business Profile audit checklist. The checklist can hold the evidence behind each change while the monthly report shows what changed and what customers did afterward.
See where your profile stands
The audit shows how this applies to your own profile: it reads a verified Google Business Profile and scores it the same way every month.
Visibility Score
0 to 100
20 scored factors across profile completeness, performance, competitive position. Free, no signup, on any verified Google Business Profile.
No signup, no card. You get the score and the factors behind it.
Sources
Common questions
- Should every monthly report contain the same Google metrics?
- No. Google shows only the metrics that apply to a business. A hotel may have Booking clicks, while another business may not. A report should list the available metrics and explain why an expected metric is not present instead of treating every profile as if it had the same cards.
- Should Google Ads activity appear in the report?
- Yes, if the report covers the Google performance data Google makes available for the selected period. Google's performance guidance says the data can include actions from organic results and Google Ads. Label the source and period clearly so a reader can tell what the Business Profile report includes.
- Is a missing metric the same as zero activity?
- No. A missing metric can mean that the feature does not apply, is not configured, or has not updated yet. Google says Searches can take up to 5 days to appear after the start of the month, and Calls requires a phone number. Use zero only when Google reports zero.
- Does a monthly performance report prove that local ranking improved?
- No. A performance report describes profile views, search terms, and customer actions. It does not by itself establish a position for a particular search. Keep ranking observations in a separate, explicitly labelled measurement rather than presenting profile activity as a placement guarantee.
- Can the report be a spreadsheet?
- Yes. Google lets an owner select a timeframe in Business Profile Manager and download the selected performance data as a spreadsheet. A useful spreadsheet can combine the downloaded metrics with the report header, change log, comparison columns, source notes, and explanations for unavailable values.
More on this subject in the answers library, and on the Maps Agent blog.