Google Business Profile insights for dentists: reading the numbers
Your Google profile is often the first thing a new patient sees, and Google tells you more about it than most practices ever look at. Here is how to read the performance report and what to do with it.
Practice Radar shows a dental practice where it ranks against every practice nearby, and does the work to move up.
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Google Business Profile insights, which Google now shows in a report called Performance, tell you how many people found your practice's profile on Google Search and Maps, what they searched for and what they did next: called, asked for directions, clicked through to your website or booked. For a dental practice these are some of the most direct signals you have of patient demand. This guide explains how to see them, what each metric means, why the numbers rarely match your other reports, and a simple monthly routine for using them.
How do I see Google Business Profile insights?
Google says performance data is available only for verified Business Profiles, and you must be signed in to a Google account that is an owner or manager of the profile.
On a computer, through Google Search
- Go to your Business Profile, for example by searching your practice name while signed in.
- Click Performance.
- Select a time period at the top.
- Click Apply.
On a phone, in the Google Maps app
- Open Google Maps and tap Business at the bottom right.
- Next to Performance, tap See more.
- Select a time period and tap Apply.
Google also offers a separate Insights feature on some profiles, with suggestions based on public information such as reviews, photos and local search trends. Google says it may not be available for all profiles. The figures that matter for measuring patient demand are in Performance.
See this for your own town.
Every practice competing with yours on one map, sized by the share of local search each one holds, re-checked every week. The sample town shows the whole thing now, with no sign-up.
Run on our own practice first: ninth of the 14 practices measured in its town in May, first of 18 in September, on UK-wide search value. Page-one keywords: 6 in May, 194 in September.
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What each metric means
Google notes that only metrics that apply to your business appear. For a dental practice these are the ones you will see, with Google's definitions summarised.
| Metric | What Google counts | Why it matters to a practice |
|---|---|---|
| Interactions | A summary of all interactions with your profile | A quick overall trend line |
| Views | How many people viewed your profile on Search and Maps, counting each person once a day | Visibility, but the noisiest number |
| Searches | The search terms people used to find your profile | Shows which treatments and places you are found for |
| Calls | Taps on the call button on your profile | The closest thing to a new patient enquiry |
| Website clicks | Clicks on the website link on your profile | Patients who want to know more before contacting you |
| Directions | Requests for directions, with repeat taps, cancellations and spam filtered out | Often existing patients, but rises with new ones too |
| Messages | The number of separate message conversations | Only if you have messaging switched on |
| Bookings | Bookings completed through a Google booking provider | Only counts bookings made through a connected provider |
One detail many practices miss: Google says performance data includes views, searches and actions from both organic results and Google Ads. If you run ads with your profile linked, some of these interactions came from paid clicks.
Which numbers matter most for a dental practice?
Calls and website clicks are the two to watch first. Each represents a person actively considering your practice. Direction requests are useful but mixed, because existing patients use them too. Views tell you whether you are being seen at all, but they move with seasons and with Google's own changes, so treat a single month's drop with caution.
The searches report is the most underused. It shows the words people typed when your profile appeared. Split them into two groups:
- Searches for your name. These come from people who already know you, through word of mouth, signage or existing patients.
- Everything else, such as "dentist near me", "emergency dentist" or "dental implants" plus a town. These are discovery searches, from people choosing a practice.
A practice whose searches are almost all its own name is relying on reputation and is barely visible to people choosing a dentist for the first time. If treatments you offer never appear in your search terms, Google may not connect your profile with them. Adding them as services and covering them on your website is the place to start.
How often is the searches data updated?
Google says the searches metric is updated at the start of each month and may take up to five days to appear. Look at it once a month, after the first week, rather than checking it daily. Google also notes that you cannot directly manage which searches your profile appears for.
Can I see who viewed my Business Profile?
No. Google reports counts, not people. It describes views as the number of unique visitors, with each person counted once a day, and it does not tell you who they were. The same applies to calls and direction requests. If you need to know where new patients came from, ask them at booking and record it in your practice management software.
Why the numbers don't match your other reports
Expect differences between Google's figures, your phone system and your website analytics. Common reasons:
- Views are deduplicated. Google counts a person once a day, so views can be lower than numbers in Google's notification emails.
- Calls only count taps on the profile. A patient who copies your number, or calls from your website, is not counted as a profile call.
- Website clicks are not website visits. Some people click and leave before your analytics loads.
- Custom booking links are not tracked. Google says performance data is not available for custom links, so bookings only appear if you use a connected booking provider.
- Ads are mixed in. As above, paid interactions are included.
Connecting your Business Profile to Google Analytics
Google now lets you link a Business Profile to Google Analytics, so profile interactions such as website clicks, calls, directions, messages and bookings are shared with your GA4 property alongside your website data. You need an administrator or editor role on the GA4 property and to be an owner or manager of the profile. The link is made from the Google Analytics admin page, under Product links, then Google Business Profile links.
It is also worth tagging the website link on your profile with tracking parameters, using Google's campaign URL builder. That lets your analytics separate visitors who came from your profile from those who came through ordinary search results, so you can see which pages they read and whether they went on to enquire.
How to download a Google Business Profile report
Google lets you download performance data as a spreadsheet, which is the easiest way to keep a monthly record, and to compare sites if you run more than one practice.
- On a computer, go to Business Profile Manager.
- Tick the profiles you want.
- At the top right, click Actions, then Insights.
- Select the time frame and click Download report.
Google notes that if a profile is not enabled for downloads, you may see asterisks in some columns.
A monthly routine using your insights
| Step | What to look at | What to do if it moves |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calls and website clicks against the same month last year | A fall with steady views points to the profile or website, a fall in both points to visibility |
| 2 | Search terms, split into your name and discovery searches | If discovery searches shrink, check services, categories and treatment pages |
| 3 | Direction requests | A sudden change can mean a wrong pin or address, so check the map |
| 4 | Reviews received and replied to | Reply to anything outstanding |
| 5 | Hours, holiday closures and any edits Google has suggested | Correct them before patients see them |
Compare months with the same month a year earlier where you can. Demand can be seasonal, so comparing one month with the month before can mislead.
What the performance report cannot tell you
Insights describe what happened on your profile. They do not tell you where you ranked, who was above you, or how your visibility changes across your catchment. Google says local results depend on relevance, distance and popularity, so your position differs from street to street. A fall in calls might mean a rival has overtaken you in the map pack in the area where most of your patients live, and nothing in the performance report will show that. Our guides to rank grids and map visibility and local SEO for dentists explain how to see that side.
See what the performance report cannot
Google shows what happened on your profile. Practice Radar shows why: map pack watch, a rank grid across your catchment on Growth, and who holds each of your main searches, re-checked every week.
Run on our own practice first: ninth of the 14 practices measured in its town in May, first of 18 in September, on UK-wide search value. Page-one keywords: 6 in May, 194 in September.
Thirty days free. No card, and nothing starts automatically when it ends.