Most Fishing Charters Have a Website. Very Few Can Be Found on Google.

A Marshall365 analysis of fishing charter businesses across 10 of the top U.S. fishing destinations found that the majority of charter operators are invisible online at the exact moment customers are searching to book a trip.

• 62% have no Google Ads presence during booking season
• 87% don't rank on Page 1 of Google for their market's primary fishing charter search term
• 85% have a Google Business Profile, but only 16% have it fully optimized
• The median Google review count was 35, despite an average of 195
• 100% had a website — the gap isn't about having a web presence, it's about being found

Source: Marshall365 Fishing Charter Marketing Analysis

Markets Analyzed

We examined fishing charter businesses operating across 10 of the top fishing destinations in the United States. These markets represent some of the most active charter fishing destinations in the country, spanning all five major U.S. coastal and freshwater regions.

Destin, FL · Montauk, NY · Port Aransas, TX · Outer Banks, NC · Port Clinton, OH · Myrtle Beach, SC · Ketchikan, AK · Newport, OR · Gloucester, MA · Milwaukee / Port Washington, WI

What We Found

Every fishing charter business we analyzed had a website. That's the good news. Everything else tells a different story.

62% are not running Google Ads, no paid search presence at all during booking season.

87% don't rank on Page 1 organically for their market's primary fishing charter search term.

85% have a Google Business Profile, but only 16% of those have it fully built out with photos, hours, a description, and the correct category.

The median Google review count across all businesses analyzed was 35 — despite an average of 195. A handful of well-established operators are pulling that number up. Most charters are working with far less social proof than the average suggests.

The data points to one clear conclusion — most fishing charter businesses have an online presence, but very few have the visibility to match it.

How It Breaks Down by Region

Google Ads adoption varied significantly depending on where charters are located.

The Southeast Atlantic coast showed the highest adoption rate, driven largely by the competitive Outer Banks and Myrtle Beach markets.

The Northeast and New England region showed the lowest, with just one of the twelve businesses analyzed running any paid search campaign at all, despite markets like Gloucester and Montauk drawing serious fishing tourism every season.

Southeast Atlantic (NC / SC) Running Google Ads: 67% · Have a GBP: 67%

Gulf Coast (FL / TX / MS / LA) Running Google Ads: 33% · Have a GBP: 75%

Great Lakes (OH / WI / MI / IN) Running Google Ads: 42% · Have a GBP: 92%

Pacific Northwest (WA / OR / AK) Running Google Ads: 42% · Have a GBP: 100%

Northeast / New England (ME / MA / RI / NY / NJ) Running Google Ads: 8% · Have a GBP: 92%

The Pacific Northwest was the only region where every single business analyzed had a Google Business Profile, yet even there, less than half were running Google Ads. Across every region, the gap between having a basic online presence and actively showing up in search is consistent.

What This Means for Your Charter

Every day, anglers are opening Google and typing "Outer Banks fishing charter" or "Destin deep sea fishing" or "Montauk tuna trip." They're not browsing. They're ready to book.

The charter that shows up at the top of those results gets the booking. Simple as that.

In most of these markets, Google Ads is still largely untapped. One or two operators are running ads. The rest aren't. That gap is exactly where a well-run campaign does its best work, and right now it's yours to fill before someone else does.

Google Ads puts you in front of someone the moment they're searching for exactly what you offer. Someone who typed "fishing charter" into Google and is ready to book right now.

Why Most Charters Struggle to Get Found

Having a website is no longer enough. Customers searching for a fishing charter on Google are seeing results shaped by three things — paid ads at the top, organic rankings below them, and a Google Business Profile in the map section. Most charter businesses are missing at least two of the three.

Google Ads place your business at the very top of search results the moment someone searches for a charter in your market. Without them, you're starting every race from behind the operators who are running them.

Even a strong ad can struggle when it sends visitors to the wrong page. Sending Google Ads traffic to your home page can waste money if visitors cannot quickly find the trip they searched for.

Organic rankings take time to build and require consistent effort. 87% of the businesses we analyzed don't rank on Page 1 for their market's primary search term, which means most customers searching for a charter in their area never see them in organic results either.

Google Business Profile is the listing that appears in Google Maps and the local results section. 85% of the businesses we analyzed have one, but only 16% have it fully built out.
An incomplete profile carries less weight in local search and gives customers less reason to trust the business when they do find it.

Charter operators are experts on the water. The online side is a different skill set entirely, and these numbers reflect that.

Why Google Ads Works

It's the most documented advertising platform in the world, and the numbers back it up.

On average, businesses earn $2 for every $1 spent on Google Ads. Google's own economic impact data puts that figure even higher, estimating $8 in profit for every $1 spent through Google Search and Ads.

People who click on Google Ads are 50% more likely to buy than people who arrive through organic search results. That's not surprising. Someone clicking a paid search result is already looking for exactly what you offer. They typed it in themselves.

70% of mobile searchers call a business directly from a Google Ad. For a charter operator, that's the whole game. Someone searches, sees your ad, and calls to book.

Find Out If Google Ads Can Work for Your Charter

We'll learn about your business, your goals, and what you want to achieve, and tell you straight whether Google Ads makes sense for your charter. If it doesn't, we'll tell you that too.

No pitch. No pressure. Just an honest conversation about your business and whether there's an opportunity worth taking.

Methodology

We identified and analyzed fishing charter businesses operating across 10 of the top U.S. fishing destinations. For each business, we evaluated website presence, Google Business Profile status and optimization level, Google review count, active Google Ads presence, and first-page organic ranking for the market's primary fishing charter search term.

About the Author

Jay Marshall Owner, Marshall365

Jay Marshall has spent years managing Google Ads campaigns for fishing charters and outdoor recreation businesses across the United States and internationally.

He founded Marshall365 to give small, family-owned operations access to the same level of paid search expertise typically reserved for much larger companies.

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