Google Search Console
Google Search Console (GSC) is a free Google tool for website owners and administrators. It shows how a site performs in Google Search: which queries it appears for, how many clicks it gets and which pages are indexed. It also reports technical errors, security issues and manual actions. Until 2015 the tool was called Google Webmaster Tools. Search Console keeps search performance data for 16 months.
What is Google Search Console used for?
Google Search Console is used to check how Google sees and shows a site in search results. The tool does not directly affect a page's rankings, but it helps find problems that lower them.
| Task | How Search Console helps |
|---|---|
| Analysing traffic from Google | clicks, impressions, CTR and average position for queries and pages |
| Indexing control | status of pages in the index and reasons for exclusion |
| Submitting content | submitting sitemaps and requesting indexing of a URL |
| Technical diagnostics | Core Web Vitals, robots.txt file, crawl stats |
| Security and compliance | manual actions and security issues |
| Links | sites linking to the site and internal links |
Search Console is used by site owners, SEO specialists, developers and marketers. Every user needs access to a verified property, that is, a site added to the tool.
What reports does Google Search Console include?
The most important Search Console reports cover search performance, indexing, page quality and security. Google's help lists them all in “Reports at a glance”.
| Report or tool | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Performance (search results, Discover, Google News) | clicks, impressions, CTR, average position and queries |
| Generative AI performance | impressions in AI Overviews, AI Mode and other AI features, without clicks |
| Insights | a simplified view of traffic, top content and queries |
| URL Inspection | the URL's status in Google's index and a live test |
| Page indexing | which pages are indexed and why others are not |
| Sitemaps | submitted sitemaps and processing errors |
| Removals | temporarily hiding a URL from results |
| Core Web Vitals | speed and stability of pages for real users |
| Rich results | structured data Google can or cannot read |
| Manual actions | penalties applied by Google staff and the reconsideration request |
| Security issues | e.g. a hacked site or malware |
| Links | external links, their anchor text and internal links |
| Crawl stats | how often and how many times Googlebot visits the site |
Google announced the generative AI report on 3 June 2026. Since 31 August 2026 it has been available to all sites worldwide, but it shows impressions only (Search Engine Journal). In the settings you can also export data to Google BigQuery and link the property with Google Analytics.
How do you add and verify a site in Search Console?
A site is added as a Domain property or a URL-prefix property. Then you need to confirm that you own it.
| Property type | What it covers | Verification methods |
|---|---|---|
| Domain (e.g. example.com) | all subdomains and both http and https | DNS TXT record only |
| URL prefix (e.g. https://www.example.com/) | only URLs with this prefix | HTML file, HTML meta tag, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager |
Google introduced the Domain property in 2019. It combines data from the www and non-www versions and from http and https. WordPress SEO plugins such as Yoast SEO, Rank Math or Site Kit usually verify the site with a meta tag.
After verification, data appears in the performance report with a delay of a few days. The owner can add more users with full or restricted permissions.
How does Search Console differ from Google Analytics?
Search Console shows what happens in search before the click. Google Analytics shows what the user does on the site after arriving.
| Feature | Google Search Console | Google Analytics 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Data source | Google Search | tracking code on the site |
| Traffic scope | only traffic from Google Search, Discover and News | all traffic sources |
| Main metrics | impressions, clicks, CTR, position | users, sessions, events, conversions |
| User queries | yes | no, without the Search Console integration |
| Technical data | indexing, Core Web Vitals, errors | none |
The two tools can be linked. Search Console data then appears in Google Analytics 4 reports. The number of clicks in Search Console usually differs from the number of sessions in Analytics, because the tools count traffic differently.
Frequently asked questions
Q.What is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console is a free Google tool for website owners. It shows which queries a site appears for in search, how many clicks it gets and which pages are indexed. It also reports technical errors, manual actions and security issues. Until 2015 it was called Google Webmaster Tools.
Q.Is Google Search Console paid?
No, Google Search Console is completely free. All you need is a Google account and a verified site. There is no paid version with extra reports. Costs can apply only to external services, e.g. Google BigQuery, if you turn on data export to that service.
Q.How long does Search Console keep data?
The performance report keeps data from the last 16 months. Older data disappears from the tool and cannot be restored. That is why it is worth exporting data regularly, e.g. to a spreadsheet or Google BigQuery. The BigQuery export collects data from the day it is turned on, with no historical data.
Q.Does Search Console show traffic from AI Overviews?
Partly. Since 31 August 2026 all sites have access to the generative AI performance report. It shows impressions in AI Overviews, AI Mode and other AI features, broken down by page, country and date. However, the report has no click data.
Let's talk growth
Send a brief or drop your contact. We'll reply within 24h.
Get a quote