Google Business Profile Tracking in GA4

March 12, 2026
  • First Published: March 12, 2026
  • Last Modified: March 12, 2026

Are your local search clicks vanishing into thin air?

When you want to track Google Business Profile traffic, it often feels like you are looking into a black box.

The clicks either get lumped into general organic traffic or, worse, they show up as direct traffic in Google Analytics 4.

This happens because many mobile apps and browsers strip out the referral data before it reaches your reports.

But you can fix this. You just need to structure your parameters properly.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

  • Understand why local search traffic often appears as ‘direct’ in your reports.

  • Learn how to structure UTM parameters for every single link on your listing.

  • Find out how to set up GA4 explorations to view your local traffic data.

  • Get expert naming conventions to keep your analytics data clean.

Why am I talking about this?

Well, this came about because someone searched on my site for this issue. And they couldn’t find anything.

So – I decided to write about it. 

That’s the value of reviewing your search terms in GA4

A note on GBP V GMB

I’m sticking with Google Business Profile (GBP) rather than Google My Business (GMB). I know many still call it GMB but GBP is the current name for it so that’s why I’ve chosen that name. But when I say GBP, it can also mean GMB.

Google Business Search Term

Why Does Local Traffic Go Missing?

When a potential customer finds you on Google Maps or in the local pack and clicks your website link, that action is a referral.

The problem is that many mobile apps and privacy-focused browsers do not pass this referral data along to your analytics platform.

Because GA4 does not know where the user came from, it categorises the visit as direct traffic.

This makes it incredibly difficult to measure the true impact of your local SEO efforts.

The secret to getting a granular view of your profile’s performance is making sure your UTM parameters are correctly set up.

Tagging More Than Just Your Homepage

You really should tag your profile with the correct UTM parameters to tell GA4 exactly where the traffic originated.

And this goes far beyond just your primary website button.

Think about all the different ways users interact with your listing. You have:

  • Appointment or booking links,
  • Google posts,
  • Products,
  • Activities
  • Menu links.

Every single one of these should have a distinct tracking parameter.

UTM parameters in GBP

If you are managing multiple locations, doing this manually can be a bit of a challenge. Building a Google Sheet to help construct your URLs is a smart move. In fact, Claire Carlisle has brilliant resources on this exact topic that are well worth a look.

Creating the UTMs

So, what is the right approach here? You have a couple of solid options for naming your tracking tags.

The first option keeps things traditional. You set your UTM source as Google and your UTM medium as organic.

Then, you use the UTM campaign to signify it is from your profile, perhaps using ‘gbp’.

Finally, use the UTM content to specify the exact button, like the menu link.

So a link might look like this:

https:// krmdigital.uk/ ?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gbp&utm_content=menu_link

Alternatively, taking a leaf out of Claire Carlisle’s book, you could make the source ‘gbp’ and the medium ‘organic’. Then, your campaign field details the specific interaction, such as ‘gbp listing’ or ‘gbp appointment’.

So a URL might look like this:

https://krmdigital.uk/ ?utm_source=gbp&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gbp_appointment

This method helps you immediately understand which part of your listing is driving traffic.

But What About the Caveats?

Before you start applying these links everywhere, there are a couple of crucial things to remember.

First, there is case sensitivity to consider.

If you write ‘GBP’ with capital letters for one link and ‘gbp’ in lowercase for another, GA4 sees those as two completely separate lines in your reports.

Always use lowercase to keep things consistent.

Second, test your links to ensure they do not cause any unwanted redirects that might strip the tracking codes.

Document your naming conventions clearly and stick to a standard approach.

Inconsistent naming means your data becomes fragmented and much harder to analyse.

Viewing the Results in GA4

Once everything is tagged and running, how do you actually view this data?

Explore Report

You can build a free form exploration in GA4 to get a clear view of your performance. 

This allows you to set up a freeform table comparing sessions and conversions. You can then use different filtering options to isolate the exact campaigns you just created.

The dimensions I added are:

  • Session Campaign &
  • Session Source Medium

And then I added Sessions for a simple view of things, but of course, you can add key events, or key event conversion rate too to truly see your performance of your GBP listing.

I then added them to the report.

So you can see over the last 90 days, my Google Business Profile got 24 sessions (miserable I know, but in my defence, I live in Orkney islands)

Google Business Profile Explore Report

Report Section

You can view the information too in the report section.

I would go to traffic acquisition, and then choose the drop down and include session source medium.

From there, I can either search or use the filter to get more granular.

Of course, you can build an entirely new custom report and save it to the library for ease of access later on.

Using the report section for GBP results

Google Search Console

Because you’ve now tagged your links, you can also see how your URLs are surfacing in Google Business Profile too.

So that’s an added bonus from an SEO perspective.

But wait, don’t forget Bing

Other search engines do exist – and believe it or not, other search engines might actually be driving better traffic and conversions – but how do you know.

Don’t forget Bing for Business.

Perhaps you can take the same naming conventions that we use for GBP but the source could be B4B (hello, fellow kids) or Bing_Business or even bing_maps.

That way you can get a much clearer view of how your traffic is surfacing and driving clicks across the 2 search engines.

Summary

Tracking your local profile clicks does not need to be complicated. By tagging every link and keeping your naming conventions strict, you get the exact data you need to prove the value of your local marketing efforts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my Google Business Profile traffic showing as direct in GA4?

This happens because mobile apps and privacy-focused browsers often strip away referral data before it reaches your analytics platform. When GA4 receives a visit without a clear source, it automatically categorises it as direct traffic. You can fix this by adding UTM parameters to the links on your profile.

How do I track Google Maps clicks in GA4?

You need to append UTM parameters to the primary website button on your listing, as well as any booking links, products, or menu links. This tells GA4 exactly where the click came from. Once tagged, you can view this data by creating a freeform exploration in GA4 and filtering by your specific campaign name.

What is the best UTM structure for a Google Business Profile?

A highly effective approach is setting your UTM source to ‘gbp’ and your UTM medium to ‘organic’. You then use the campaign field to identify the specific link clicked, such as ‘gbp_listing’ or ‘gbp_appointment’. Always use lowercase letters to prevent fragmented data in your reports.

Does case sensitivity matter for UTM parameters in GA4?

Yes, it matters immensely. If you use ‘GBP’ for one link and ‘gbp’ for another, GA4 will record these as two entirely separate lines of data. Sticking to strict lowercase conventions keeps your reports clean and easy to analyse.

Kyle

Author

Hello, I'm Kyle Rushton McGregor!

I’m an experienced GA4 Specialist with a demonstrated history of working with Google Tag Manager and Looker Studio. I’m an international speaker who has trained 1000s of people on all things analytics.

Find out more About me
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