The Google Business Profile Insights data helps to answer the question "How customers find your listing", but the distinctions between Direct, Discover, and Brand search can be confusing. We find that the best way to explain the distinction is to present the Google Help description, along with real-world examples.
​

These occur when a potential customer directly searches for your business name or address in a manner that Google believes includes local intent. For example, when someone searches for "Starbucks on Taylor Street", a Direct search result is recorded for that location.

These occur when a customer searches for a category, product, or service that you offer, and your listing appears. Searchers looking for "coffee shop near me" will cause a Discover search result for each of the locations returned in the result set.

These occur when a customer searches for a brand without explicit local intent but Google decides to present a local listing anyway OR a listing is presented that sells/offers the brand name present in the search.

Yes, this is where it gets confusing.
​
Case 1. Just the Brand:

A search for "Starbucks" presents the corporate logo in a knowledge panel but also presents a map pack further down the page. These impressions are recorded as being for the Brand.

Case 2. Brand Offerings:

A search for "Starbucks beans in grocery store" returns not just a Starbucks location but also two local grocery stores that will each receive a Brand search record.

The following table presents the distinctions in summary.

Different business verticals can have wildly different expected patterns for Direct, Discovery, and Brand searches. For assistants comparing your numbers to industry verticals please let us know at hello@localclarity.com. We'd be happy to provide the resources to help you leverage this data set.