For practical purposes, does the difference really matter? Most consumer phones come with Google services on them. Building a usable ROM without Google services on them is not an easy task.
Not only is it an extremely easy task for someone who wants such a thing, it's already been done and is widely available pre-build for a plethora of devices with projects like LineageOS (risen from CyanogenMod), AOSP, CopperheadOS etc...