How we work

Methodology

InQik Insights publishes aggregate research based on public Google Business Profile data. This page explains what we collect, how we analyze it, and what our data cannot tell you.

Data sources

Our primary data source is public Google Business Profile information, the same information any user sees when viewing a profile on Google Maps or in Google search. This includes business name, category, address, hours, rating, review count, photos, and other publicly displayed fields.

We access this data through our own extraction infrastructure, supplemented by the Google Places API and the Google Maps public web interface. We do not access private Google My Business dashboard data, internal analytics, or any information that requires authentication as the business owner.

Sample selection

Each report specifies its sample size, time range, and selection criteria in the methodology section. Samples are typically 100 to 5,000 profiles drawn from a defined geographic area and vertical. Random selection is used where feasible; stratified selection by region or sub-category is used when the report requires balanced representation.

Analysis approach

Aggregate statistics (percentages, medians, distributions, cohort curves) are computed using standard methods. We round reported numbers where appropriate to avoid suggesting precision we do not have. Outliers are flagged and, where they materially affect results, excluded with the exclusion rule documented in the methodology section of the report.

What we do not publish

  • Individual business names or exact addresses. Location is reported at city or metro level only, never street or neighborhood.
  • Screenshots that could identify a business. Names, addresses, phone numbers, owner photos, and unique review text are blurred, cropped, or removed.
  • Verbatim review quotes. These are Google-searchable and defeat anonymization.
  • Exact numbers tied to an individual profile. Per-business figures are rounded to ranges so no single business can be reverse-identified from the stats.
  • Per-business rows of underlying data. Published datasets contain aggregate counts and distributions, not individual records.
  • Client data. Clients are businesses that InQik manages. Their profiles are never included in Insights research.

Anonymization standard for individual-profile analyses

Case studies and teardowns are individual-profile analyses drawn from public data. They follow a strict anonymization standard:

  • No business name, brand, or DBA anywhere on the page.
  • Location reported at the city or metro level only.
  • All numbers rounded to ranges (for example, "roughly 30 reviews grew to nearly 200").
  • No screenshots unless names, addresses, phone numbers, and owner photos are fully blurred.
  • A 30-day delay between the underlying analysis and publication, so observed changes cannot be correlated to a specific business by timing alone.
  • The identification test: if a local competitor could identify the business from the page, we anonymize further or do not publish.

Consent is not required for analyses of public profile data that meet this standard, but we obtain it when the analysis is tied to an engagement with that business.

What this data cannot tell you

  • Causation. Correlation between signals (e.g., photo count and ranking) does not prove one causes the other.
  • Individual business performance. Aggregate rates are not predictions for any single profile.
  • Revenue or profit. We do not have access to business financials.
  • Future outcomes. Historical data describes what we observed, not what will happen.

Update cadence

Reports are updated when new data materially changes findings, or at least annually for vertical benchmark reports. Every report shows both its original publication date and last modified date. Older data is kept accessible for longitudinal reference.

Affiliation

InQik is an independent research and tools platform. We are not affiliated with Google. Google, Google Business Profile, and Google Maps are trademarks of Google LLC. Any claims, guidance, or inferences in our reports are our own, not Google's.

Licensing

Published datasets are available under CC BY 4.0. You may use our data in your own research and publications with attribution to InQik Insights and a link to the source report.

Corrections

If you find an error in a report, email research@inqik.com. We log all corrections publicly on the affected report page.