Performance Max store visits are modeled estimates, not counted customers. Google builds them from anonymous, aggregated data on signed-in users who opted into location history, then extrapolates to your wider customer base. Directions and call clicks are counted, but they are clicks, and a directions click can come from a later organic result. Before you scale PMax on any of them, check it against a conversion you can verify yourself: a booking, an order or an answered call.
What Google is actually counting
- Store visits are modeled. Google says it "creates modeled numbers by using current and past data on the number of customers who click or view your ads and later visit your store." To report them at all, an account needs active location assets or affiliate location assets (with locations verified in Business Profile if you use Business Profile location assets), an eligible country, and enough ad clicks, impressions and foot traffic to pass Google's privacy thresholds.
- Directions are clicks. The local action "Directions" counts Directions or Start clicks on your locations "while or after engaging with your ads." Google notes the click can happen in your ad or on a later organic search result for your store.
- Clicks to call are clicks. They count "Call" clicks on your locations, not answered or qualified calls. Google lists bidding to them as available only in Performance Max.
None of that makes the numbers wrong. It makes them directional. And one gap matters for checking them: Google says store visit and store sales conversions aren't available in the PMax search terms report.
What it looked like in a restaurant account
Over a series of mentoring calls, we worked through a UK restaurant's Google Ads. In the first half of September, its PMax campaign reported 857 clicks and 382 conversions: 338 directions, 37 store visits and 7 clicks to call.
The owner's first question was why so many people asked for directions and so few visited. Our answer: 37 store visits doesn't mean 37 customers. Nobody outside Google can see exactly how that number is built.
So we validated what we could. The search terms behind the conversions showed 101 converting terms, 36 of them irrelevant, with most conversions coming from strong local searches like "restaurant near me." Some conversions were the restaurant's own name plus the town, then a directions click. That's someone who was already coming.
Later, the restaurant set up a table reservation conversion. With both campaigns spending about £280, Search reported 14 table reservations and 107 store visits. PMax reported 3 reservations and 60 store visits. We paused PMax and kept Search. The modeled numbers had pointed the same way, but the reservations made the decision obvious.
How to validate before you scale
- Add a conversion you can verify. A reservation, booking, form or order. Make it the one you bid on, and keep modeled actions for reporting. Our conversion tracking guide covers how.
- Compare campaigns on that conversion at similar spend, not on store visits or directions.
- Audit the search terms behind conversions. Strip out irrelevant terms and your own brand, which we explain in Your PMax 'win' might just be your own brand search.
- Track real calls, not call clicks. Set up call conversions with a minimum duration, as in A call from your ad is not a call from your website.
- Sense-check against the till. Our read: if directions and visits climb while covers and bookings stay flat, believe the bookings.
The takeaways
- Google Ads store visits are modeled and extrapolated, not counted visits.
- Directions and clicks to call are clicks, and a directions click can come from a later organic result.
- Store visits don't appear in the PMax search terms report, so you can't audit them by query.
- Scale PMax on a conversion you can verify, and use modeled actions as direction, not proof.
Common questions
Are Google Ads store visits real visits?
They are modeled estimates. Google says store visits use anonymous, aggregated statistics from signed-in users who opted into location history, extrapolated to represent your broader customer base, and that Google Ads creates modeled numbers from current and past data on people who click or view your ads and later visit.
What do I need to report store visits in Google Ads?
Google lists physical locations in an eligible country, locations that are not in sensitive categories, active location assets or affiliate location assets, locations verified in Business Profile if you use it, and enough ad clicks, impressions and foot traffic to pass its privacy thresholds. Eligibility is assessed separately for each network.
Does a directions conversion mean someone came to my store?
No. A Directions local action counts clicks on Directions or Start for your locations while or after engaging with your ads, and Google notes the click can happen in your ad or on a later organic search result. It shows intent to visit, not a visit.
Are clicks to call the same as phone call conversions?
No. Clicks to call count Call clicks on your business locations. They don't tell you whether the call connected or how long it lasted. For that you need call conversion tracking with a minimum call length.
Can I see which search terms drove PMax store visits?
No. Google says store visit and store sales conversions aren't available in the Performance Max search terms report, so you can audit queries behind other conversions but not behind store visits.