GBP is good
I want to get this out of the way first: your Google Business Profile is worth having. If you run a local business and you haven't claimed and filled out your GBP, stop reading this and go do that instead.
A well-maintained profile puts you in front of people searching with local intent. 76% of people who search for something nearby on their phone visit a business within 24 hours.1 The Map Pack - those three listings Google shows at the top of local results - gets roughly 70% of all local clicks and calls.2 Being in that pack matters.
But there's a gap between "useful free tool" and "the only thing your business needs online." A lot of small businesses are treating GBP as a replacement for a website, and that gap is costing them.
You're building on rented land
Google decides what your profile looks like, what features it includes, and how it ranks. They change these things regularly and without asking. In 2023, Google killed the GBP website builder entirely.3 Businesses that had been using that feature as their primary web presence had to scramble.
This isn't hypothetical risk. It's the business model. Google optimizes for Google's goals, which sometimes align with yours and sometimes don't.
You can't say much
A GBP gives you a business description (750 characters), some categories, photos, posts, and reviews. That's the entire canvas. You can't explain how your process works, walk someone through pricing, compare service tiers, or answer the twelve questions every prospect asks before they call.
For a locksmith or a single-truck food vendor, that's probably enough. For anyone whose sales process involves any amount of education or trust-building, 750 characters is nothing.
The analytics are thin
GBP Insights tells you how many people viewed your profile, how many clicked to call, and how many asked for directions. That's about it. You can't see where those people came from, what else they looked at, how long they spent considering you, or what made them decide to call (or not call). The data caps out at six months and can't be exported without third-party tools.4
Compare that to a website with Google Analytics or Plausible. You can see which pages people read, where they drop off, which traffic sources convert, and how behavior changes over time. GBP gives you a peephole. A website gives you an actual picture.
You can't convert anyone
A GBP doesn't have contact forms, email capture, or booking widgets you control. You can't run an offer, build a campaign landing page, or test different calls to action.
The conversion actions available on a GBP are: call, get directions, visit website, and send a message. That's it. If your business benefits from any kind of lead nurturing, follow-up sequence, or structured intake process, GBP has no mechanism for that.
The zero-click problem
This is the one that gets overlooked. SparkToro's 2024 study using Datos clickstream data found that 58.5% of Google searches in the U.S. end without a click to any website.5 For local searches specifically, that number is even higher.
What does that mean for your GBP? Someone searches "plumber near me," sees your listing in the Map Pack, maybe checks your hours and reviews, and either calls directly from Google or moves on. They never visit your website. They never see your full service list, your About page, or your portfolio.
That works fine when they call. But when they don't - when they're comparing three options and need more information to decide - you've got nothing to offer them. The business with a real website that answers their questions gets that call instead.
GBP plus a website
The right setup is not one or the other. GBP handles local discovery. It puts you in the map results and gives you a place to collect reviews.
Your website handles the rest. It explains your services, captures leads, gives you real analytics, and lives on a domain you control. It is where people go when a GBP listing is not enough to make them call.
71% of consumers use Google as their primary source for local business information.6 Many of them will see your GBP first. The question is what happens next. If the answer is "nothing, because there's nowhere else to go," that's the problem.
Claim your GBP, fill it out, collect reviews. Just don't stop there.