It produces when you cannot afford to buy
Soft months are exactly when cash flow is tightest and the ad budget gets cut first. That is also when the phone most needs to ring.
Organic and map visibility keep working through that window at no incremental cost, which smooths the trough in a way no paid channel can.
Peak weeks arrive with a head start
When the season turns and everyone starts bidding, positions you already hold sit above the fight rather than in it.
That means a share of your peak-season bookings costs nothing per click during the weeks clicks are most expensive.
It compounds through storms rather than breaking
After a weather event, paid auctions spike and out-of-town operators flood in. Established local positions and review profiles hold their ground.
The businesses best positioned for those weeks did the work months earlier, which is the same pattern as everything else here.