Originally published: October 15, 2018 · Last updated: August 17, 2026
Google Business Profile and Google Search Console can both show search queries, but they are measuring different surfaces. Expecting the two reports to match creates confusion because one report describes how people discover a business profile, while the other describes how Google Search exposes and sends traffic to a website.
Business Profile measures the profile
Google Business Profile performance includes searches that caused the verified profile to appear, plus profile views and interactions such as website clicks, calls and direction requests. The profile can appear in Google Search and Maps without the user visiting the business website.
That means a query can be valuable locally even when it produces no Search Console click.
Search Console measures the website
Search Console’s Performance report records impressions and clicks for links to pages in the verified Search Console property. It can group that website performance by query, page, country, device and other dimensions.
The report therefore answers a different question: which searches caused Google to show or send users to the website?
One user journey can create different events
A person might search for a local business, see the Business Profile, tap “Directions” and never visit the website. That interaction belongs in Business Profile performance, not as a website click in Search Console.
Another person may click the normal website result without interacting with the profile. Search Console records the website click even if the Business Profile played no role.
Metrics are counted differently
Business Profile views use their own counting rules and include Search and Maps. Search Console has separate rules for impressions, clicks and result position. Privacy thresholds and aggregation can also affect which query rows are visible.
For that reason, comparing the query lists row by row is less useful than looking for patterns.
How to use both reports together
Use Business Profile to understand local discovery and actions around the listing: calls, directions, profile views and website clicks. Use Search Console to understand which queries and pages create website visibility and organic clicks.
If a local query appears strongly in Business Profile but weakly in Search Console, check whether the website has a useful page matching that need. If Search Console performs well but the profile generates few local actions, review the profile’s category, information, photos and local relevance.
Bottom line
The reports are complementary, not competing versions of the same dataset. Business Profile measures discovery and interaction with the local listing; Search Console measures performance of the website in Google Search. Use each for the surface it actually represents.
Sources: Google Business Profile performance, Google Search Console Performance report.