If you want to appear in Google Search, you don't need Google Search Console (GSC). But without it, you won't know why a page stopped ranking, why Google isn't indexing something you published, or whether a structured data error is quietly costing you rich results. And by the time those problems show up in your traffic, they've usually been running for weeks.
This guide covers everything GSC offers: setting it up, managing who has access, submitting a sitemap, and reading every report the tool provides to find and fix site issues.
What is Google Search Console?
GSC is a free Google SEO tool that helps you monitor your search performance and technical SEO health.
GSC reports on metrics like position in search results, clicks, and Core Web Vitals (CWV), which measure user experience. These insights let you diagnose problems and improve how your site appears in Google's various search experiences.
Here are some of the key things you can do with GSC:
- Review how your site is performing in Google Search
- See which pages Google can crawl and index
- Submit sitemaps and individual URLs for discovery
- Identify and troubleshoot technical SEO issues
How to set up Google Search Console
To access GSC, sign in to Search Console with your Google account and add a property — the website you want to monitor.
You have two options when setting up GSC: add a domain property or a URL prefix property.
Domain properties give you the broadest view of everything under your domain; URL-prefix properties let you isolate a specific section, like a blog subfolder — choose based on what you actually need to monitor.
Add a domain property
Adding a domain property gives you the most comprehensive view of your site in GSC because it includes all protocols, subdomains, and paths under the domain.
When you add a domain property to GSC, you have to verify ownership through your domain name system (DNS) provider. This confirms you control the domain and allows Google to collect data across the entire site.
To add a domain property, choose the "Domain" option in the property setup screen and enter your root domain (without http, https, or www). For example, if your domain URL is "https://www.yoursite.com," enter "yoursite.com." Then click "Continue."
Copy the TXT record provided by GSC to add to your DNS configuration.
Open a new tab, go to your domain registrar, and locate your DNS settings. For this example, we'll use GoDaddy as our domain registrar.
Access your DNS settings in GoDaddy by clicking on the nine dots beside "My Products" in the navigation bar, and clicking "Domains."
In your GoDaddy Domain Portfolio dashboard, select the three dots beside your domain name and click "Edit DNS."
You should now be in the "DNS Management" window. Add a new TXT record by clicking "Add New Record" in the "DNS Records" section.
A "New Records" form will pop up. Add your TXT record using the values supplied by Google:
- Type: TXT
- Host/Name: @
- Value: [Paste the TXT record from GSC]
- TTL: Default or 1 hour
When you're done, click "Save."
After adding the record to your DNS configuration, return to GSC and click "Verify."
DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to up to 48 hours to update. If verification fails at first, wait at least an hour and try again by selecting the property from your GSC dashboard.
Once you've successfully verified domain ownership, you'll see a confirmation message and your property will begin collecting data.
Add a URL prefix property
Adding a URL prefix property is useful when you want to track data for a specific section of your site, such as a blog subfolder.
To add a URL prefix property to GSC, click the "URL prefix" option, enter the full URL (including protocol and path) into the field, and click "Continue."
In this example, we'll use "https://www.yoursite.com/blog/."
Google supports multiple verification methods for URL prefix properties:
- HTML file (recommended)
- HTML tag
- Google Analytics
- Google Tag Manager
- Domain name provider
In this example, we'll use the "HTML file" verification method. To do this, download the provided file.
Upload the HTML verification file to the root directory of the website you're verifying. The root directory depends on the URL prefix you entered. For example, the root directory is "/blog/" if you're verifying "https://www.yoursite.com/blog/."
Once the verification file is uploaded to your root directory, return to GSC and click "Verify."
As with domain verification, you may need to wait a bit. If you aren't able to verify your site right away, try again later — GSC will try to automatically verify the property.
Owners, users, and permissions
Owners, users, and permissions in GSC outline who can control what within a property.
Owners have full control over a property in GSC and can view all data, configure settings, use every tool, and manage other users.
There are two types of owners in GSC, both with the same permissions:
- Verified owner: This owner is the person who verified ownership of the property
- Delegated owner: This owner was granted access by a verified owner
Users can access GSC data, but their permissions are more limited than an owner's.
GSC user roles are:
- Full user: This user can view all data and take certain actions
- Restricted user: This user can view most data but is otherwise limited
- Associate: This user can't access GSC directly but can perform specific tasks depending on the association
How to add a user and grant permissions
If you're a property owner and want to add a new user, go to "Settings" > "Users and permissions."
From the "Users and permissions" menu, click "Add User."
Enter the new user's email address, choose an access level, and click "Add."
Once added to GSC, the user can access your property.
How to add a sitemap to Google Search Console
To add a sitemap listing the pages you want in search results that Google can use to more efficiently crawl and index (find and store) your pages, go to "Sitemaps" in GSC, enter your XML sitemap URL, and click "Submit."
Once Google processes your sitemap, GSC shows a status message indicating whether the sitemap was submitted successfully or contains errors.
To make sure your sitemap is properly set up, run a crawl-based audit of your site using a dedicated SEO checker like Semrush Site Audit.
After Site Audit has crawled your site, open the "Issues" tab and search "sitemap" to see if any errors or warnings appear. If so, work to fix them.
What can you do with Google Search Console data?
With GSC data, you can see how your site performs in Google Search, which pages are indexed, where technical or experience issues can affect visibility, and more.
Check site performance
Check site performance using GSC’s Performance report to see how your site appears in Google's web search results as well as how users interact with those results.
Just know that GSC’s Performance report doesn't report on metrics for AI Overviews or AI Mode separately.
Access the Performance report by clicking "Search results" in the left-hand navigation in GSC. The report shows four metrics:
- Total clicks: How many times users clicked your search results
- Total impressions: How often your results were displayed to users
- Average click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of impressions that resulted in a click
- Average position: Your average position in search results
Below the chart at the top of the Performance report, a table breaks down performance by queries, pages, countries, and devices. And you can review trends over time to identify visibility issues worth exploring.
When analyzing the Performance report, look for the following:
- Low CTR: Pages with strong rankings but low click-through rates may benefit from clearer title tags and meta descriptions. That said, CTR may also be lower among results with AI Overviews present.
- Missing keywords: If important queries are absent from the report, you may be missing out on opportunities to drive more visibility
- High positions with low impressions or clicks: This can point to an AI Overview sitting above your result that you aren't appearing in
If your site appears in Google Discover or Google News, you'll see separate reports for those surfaces within the Performance section.
Find striking-distance keywords with GSC and Semrush
To find striking-distance keywords in GSC — queries typically in positions 4 to 15 — filter the Performance report's queries table by average position and sort for the ones closest to the top.
These are the fastest wins available since you're not starting from zero — you're pushing an already-ranking page closer to the top.
Before investing further effort, check each shortlisted keyword's difficulty and intent in Semrush's Keyword Overview to confirm the push is worth it. A keyword sitting at position eight with high difficulty and clear commercial intent is worth a dedicated content push, while one with low search volume or unclear intent probably isn't.
For keywords worth pursuing, prioritize the tactics that most reliably move a page from striking distance to page one:
- Expand thin sections
- Add subtopics competitors already cover that you don't
- Add internal links from your site's higher-authority pages
- Refresh any outdated on-page elements
Inspect URLs to check indexing and diagnose issues
Inspect URLs to check whether a specific page is indexed by Google and diagnose issues that may prevent it from appearing in search results.
Access the URL inspection tool by clicking "URL inspection" in the left-hand navigation, or by pasting a URL directly into the search bar at the top of any GSC page.
Paste the full URL of the page you want to analyze into the search box and press "enter" or "return" on your keyboard. The URL inspection tool shows key information about the page, including:
- Index status: Whether Google has indexed the page
- Last crawl date: When Google last crawled the URL
- Structured data: Whether structured data is present and error-free
The tool also lets you test a live version of a page to see how Googlebot views it. Just click "Test Live URL" in the top-right corner of the screen.
From the results page, click "View Tested Page" > "Screenshot" to see how Google renders the page.
If you've published a new page or made significant updates, you can request indexing directly by entering the full URL in the inspect search box and clicking "Request Indexing." This prompts Google to re-crawl the page sooner, but you should know that indexing isn't guaranteed.
Check indexed pages
Checking indexed pages shows which pages on your site Google has and hasn't indexed (stored in its database) and provides details about issues preventing pages from being indexed.
Pages must be indexed to appear in search results, so it's important to avoid any indexing problems.
You can find the “Page indexing” report under "Indexing" > "Pages" in the left-hand navigation. The report separates URLs into indexed and non-indexed pages, helping you spot coverage issues quickly.
If you see a sudden drop in indexed pages, it could be a sign that something is wrong and needs to be addressed.
Scroll down to review the reasons why some pages weren't indexed. For example, pages returning 404 (Not found) errors.
Click any entry in the "Reason" column to see a list of affected URLs and a description of the issue.
At the very top of the page listing URLs affected by a given issue, you'll see the option to get guidance on how to fix the problem.
After you've addressed any issues you discovered in the Page indexing report, click "Validate Fix" to notify Google of the change and request re-indexing of the affected pages.
See if Google can read your sitemaps
Seeing if Google can read your sitemaps alerts you to any potential blockers that may be preventing Google from accessing your content.
You can also check how many pages Google discovers from your sitemaps.
Access the Sitemaps report by selecting "Sitemaps" from the left-hand sidebar.
For each submitted sitemap, the report includes:
- URL: The sitemap URL you submitted
- Type: Sitemap format (e.g., sitemap, sitemap index, etc.)
- Submitted: When the sitemap was added
- Last read: The most recent crawl date
- Status: Whether Google processed the sitemap successfully
- Discovered pages: The number of URLs Google found in the sitemap
- Discovered videos: The number of videos Google found in the sitemap
Note the "Status" column. "Success" means Google was able to process your sitemap without issues, so it can use the file to discover the URLs listed inside it. Discovery isn't the same as indexing, though. Pages can still be excluded for the reasons covered in the Page indexing report above.
Here's an overview of what unsuccessful statuses in the Sitemaps report mean, plus how you should approach them:
- Has errors: Google detected issues in your sitemap. Review the listed errors and follow Google's guidance to correct them.
- Couldn't fetch: Google was unable to access the sitemap. Use the URL Inspection tool to run a live test to investigate issues.
Click a sitemap entry to open a detailed report. From there, select "See page indexing" to see whether all the pages in your sitemap are indexed.
Check if your pages meet Core Web Vitals
Checking if your pages meet CWV standards helps you understand if your site adheres to Google's performance and usability benchmarks.
Plus, CWV metrics are ranking factors, and having good CWV can help your site gain better visibility within the SERPs.
Google evaluates pages using three CWV metrics:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How quickly the main content loads
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP): How responsive the page is to user interactions
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): How stable the page layout is as it loads
The Core Web Vitals report groups pages by "Good," "Needs improvement," and "Poor."
Clicking on an issue shows the affected URLs. After fixing the issue, use "Validate Fix" to ask Google to re-evaluate the affected pages.
Core Web Vitals data comes from the Chrome UX Report (CrUX) — real-world measurements from actual Chrome users, not a lab simulation — so changes may take time to appear in the report as new user data accumulates.
See which rich results you’re eligible for
Seeing which rich results you’re eligible for may help you get more clicks from searchers.
The Enhancements section in GSC includes reports related to your website's structured data — markup that provides more information about your pages.
Google lists the structured data types it detects — such as Breadcrumbs — under the "Enhancements" section in the sidebar.
Click a specific structured data type to open a detailed report about any invalid items that need to be fixed.
To resolve issues with your structured data, follow Google's guidance for the specific markup type.
View site penalties
Viewing site penalties shows whether your site has received any for violating Google's spam policies. Then, you can work to fix them and get your site back in good standing.
Websites with manual actions (penalties) may get decreased visibility in Google’s search results — or may not appear at all. That means less traffic and impressions.
Check for penalties by opening the "Manual actions" report in GSC and note what you see:
- "No issues detected" means no action is required
- "Issues detected" means you've received at least one manual action to address
For example, one penalty you might see is “Unnatural links to your site.” This is when Google detects backlink manipulation like link exchanges or buying backlinks. You should disavow toxic backlinks to remove this penalty.
Find toxic backlinks using Semrush’s Backlink Audit tool. Once configured, the tool gives you an Overall Toxicity Score, broken down by toxic, potentially toxic, and non-toxic. Click the red number in the “toxic” column.
Select all the links you’d like to disavow and click “Disavow” > “Move to Disavow.”
Then, click the “Disavow” tab and select “Export to TXT” to download a text file of the links you’d like to disavow.
Finally, head into GSC’s Disavow links tool, select your property, and upload the text file.
For detailed advice on recovering from other Google penalties, review Google's manual action documentation.
Review internal and external links
Reviewing internal and external links (backlinks) helps you understand where your links are coming from and which pages attract them.
Let’s start with backlinks. Backlinks help Google and AI systems recognize your site as authoritative — more relevant backlinks can help you grow your visibility.
Select "Links" from the sidebar to access GSC's Links report.
You'll see your site's total number of backlinks ("External links") at the top.
The report also includes these sections under "External links":
- Top linked pages: Pages on your site that receive the most external links
- Top linking sites: Domains that link to your site most often
- Top linking text: Common anchor text used in external links
The Links report also includes information about internal links — links from pages on your own domain.
Internal links are important for SEO because they:
- Help users and crawlers navigate your site more efficiently
- Distribute authority across pages, which can support visibility in search results
You'll find internal link totals and your most-linked pages within the same report.
Spot issues with product-related markup
Spot issues with product-related markup by opening the Shopping section in GSC, which flags invalid items in your product structured data before they block rich results or listings.
Depending on the structured data on your site, you might see these Shopping reports:
- Product snippets: Shows issues affecting product rich results in search
- Merchant listings: Shows issues impacting free product listings across Google
- Merchant opportunities: Shows issues preventing products from appearing in the Shopping tab
Each Shopping report highlights any invalid items that prevent the pages from showing as rich results on Google.
After fixing any markup errors, use Google's Rich Results Test to confirm whether the markup was implemented correctly.
Connect your Google Search Console account to Semrush
Connecting your GSC account to Semrush lets you access comprehensive search performance information in one place — see what's different between Semrush and GSC if you're deciding how the two fit together.
For example, Position Tracking allows you to import keywords directly from GSC. This lets you track rankings and visibility for search terms your site already appears for. You can easily spot trends and do competitor comparisons.
Check out our full list of Semrush tools that integrate with GSC for more ideas — including connecting GSC to Google Analytics 4 for an even fuller picture. Test all of these tools and more with a Semrush One trial.
