Both owner types share the same permissions: full control over data, settings, tools, and user management. To add a user, go to Settings, then Users and permissions, click Add User, enter the email, choose an access level, and save.<\/p>\n
How to Add a Sitemap in Google Search Console<\/h2>\n
A sitemap tells Google which pages to crawl and index. In GSC, open Sitemaps from the left navigation, enter the XML sitemap URL, and click Submit. The status field shows whether the sitemap was processed successfully or returned errors.<\/p>\n
To make sure the sitemap itself is healthy, run a crawl-based audit with a dedicated SEO checker. After the audit completes, open the Issues tab and search for “sitemap” to surface any errors or warnings, then fix them.<\/p>\n
How to Read the Google Search Console Reports<\/h2>\n
GSC gives access to a set of reports that together cover performance, indexing, sitemap health, and page experience. Each one answers a different question about the site.<\/p>\n
Check Site Performance with the Performance Report<\/h3>\n
The Performance report, reached by clicking Search results in the left-hand navigation, shows how the site appears in Google’s web search results and how users interact with those results.<\/p>\n
Four core metrics drive the report:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Total clicks: how many times users clicked the search results.<\/li>\n
- Total impressions: how often results were displayed to users.<\/li>\n
- Average click-through rate (CTR): the share of impressions that resulted in a click.<\/li>\n
- Average position: the average rank in search results.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The table beneath the chart breaks performance down by queries, pages, countries, and devices, and trends over time are visible for spotting visibility issues.<\/p>\n
Patterns worth watching:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Low CTR on pages with strong rankings, which often improves with clearer title tags and meta descriptions. Note that CTR tends to be lower when AI Overviews appear.<\/li>\n
- Missing keywords that should be present, since absence can mean missed visibility opportunities.<\/li>\n
- High positions paired with low impressions or clicks, which can mean an AI Overview is sitting above the result.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Separate reports for Google Discover and Google News appear under the Performance section when the site is eligible.<\/p>\n
One practical use of the Performance report is finding striking-distance keywords, queries usually sitting in positions 4 to 15. Filter the queries table by average position and sort for those closest to the top. These are the fastest wins because the page is already ranking, just not yet on page one. Before pushing, check each candidate’s difficulty and intent in a dedicated keyword research tool. A keyword sitting at position eight with high difficulty and clear commercial intent is worth a dedicated content push; one with low search volume or unclear intent probably is not.<\/p>\n
For keywords worth pursuing, the tactics that most reliably move a page from striking distance to page one are expanding thin sections, adding subtopics competitors cover, building internal links from higher-authority pages, and refreshing outdated on-page elements.<\/p>\n
Inspect URLs to Check Indexing and Diagnose Issues<\/h3>\n
The URL inspection tool answers whether a specific page is indexed by Google and surfaces reasons it might not be appearing in search results. Access it by clicking URL inspection in the left navigation, or by pasting a URL directly into the search bar at the top of any GSC page.<\/p>\n
Key information returned includes index status, last crawl date, and structured data presence plus error status. To see how Googlebot views the live page, click Test Live URL in the top-right, then View Tested Page Screenshot to see the rendered version. After publishing or major updates, enter the full URL and click Request Indexing to prompt an earlier recrawl, keeping in mind that indexing is not guaranteed.<\/p>\n
Check Indexed Pages with the Page Indexing Report<\/h3>\n
The Page Indexing report shows which pages on the site Google has indexed and which it has not, along with the reasons behind exclusions. Because only indexed pages can appear in search results, this report is a primary defense against coverage problems.<\/p>\n
Access it under Indexing, then Pages in the left navigation. URLs are split into indexed and non-indexed groups, which makes coverage issues easy to spot. A sudden drop in indexed pages is a strong signal that something needs attention. Scrolling deeper reveals the reasons why specific pages were not indexed, for example pages returning 404 errors. Clicking any reason opens the affected URLs along with a description and a guidance prompt at the top of the list. After fixing an issue, click Validate Fix to notify Google and request re-indexing of the affected pages.<\/p>\n
See If Google Can Read Your Sitemaps<\/h3>\n
The Sitemaps report flags any blockers that might stop Google from accessing content and shows how many pages Google discovers from each sitemap. Open it from the left-hand sidebar.<\/p>\n
For each submitted sitemap, the report includes the URL, type, submission date, last read date, status, discovered pages, and discovered videos. The Status column is the key check. Success means Google processed the sitemap without issues and can use it to discover the listed URLs. Discovery is not the same as indexing, though; pages can still be excluded for the reasons covered in the Page Indexing report.<\/p>\n
Common unsuccessful statuses and how to handle each:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Has errors: review the listed errors and follow Google’s guidance to correct them.<\/li>\n
- Couldn’t fetch: Google could not access the sitemap. Use the URL Inspection tool to run a live test and investigate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Click a sitemap entry to open a detailed report, then select See page indexing to confirm whether every page in the sitemap is actually indexed.<\/p>\n
Check Whether Pages Meet Core Web Vitals<\/h3>\n
The Core Web Vitals report shows whether the site meets Google’s performance and usability benchmarks. CWV metrics are ranking factors, and meeting them supports better visibility in the SERPs.<\/p>\n
Google evaluates pages against three CWV metrics:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): how quickly the main content loads.<\/li>\n
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP): how responsive the page is to user interactions.<\/li>\n
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): how stable the visual layout is as the page loads.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Pages fall into Good, Needs improvement, or Poor buckets. Across a meaningful sample of real-user visits, Google determines the overall verdict for the site. When a group of similar URLs is flagged, the report identifies the actual URLs that fall below the threshold, so the worst examples are known rather than guessing.<\/p>\n
A Note on Generative AI Reporting<\/h2>\n
GSC’s Performance report does not break out metrics for AI Overviews or AI Mode separately. A Search Generative AI Performance report has launched in beta for select users, with broader rollout expected. It surfaces metrics specific to Google’s generative AI features once available in the property.<\/p>\n
FAQ<\/h2>\n
Is Google Search Console free?<\/h3>\n
Yes. Google Search Console is a free tool from Google for any site owner with a verified property.<\/p>\n
Do I need Google Search Console to rank in Google?<\/h3>\n
No, a site can rank in Google Search without GSC. Without it, however, the reasons a page stopped ranking, why a URL is not being indexed, or whether a structured data error is costing rich results will remain hidden until traffic drops.<\/p>\n
What is the difference between a domain property and a URL prefix property in GSC?<\/h3>\n
A domain property covers every protocol, subdomain, and path under the domain and requires DNS verification. A URL prefix property isolates a specific section, such as a blog subfolder, and offers more verification methods including HTML file upload, HTML tag, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, or the domain name provider.<\/p>\n
Related coverage<\/h2>\n
- \n
- Google’s AI Search Guide Isn\u2019t Reassuring. It\u2019s a Warning About Generic Content – BizScoreAI<\/a><\/li>\n
- Google AI Search Is Linking to Source Websites Again, Here\u2019s What Changed – BizScoreAI<\/a><\/li>\n
- Google AI Mode vs AI Overviews: Study Reveals Divergent Search Behavior – BizScoreAI<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
SEOScanPro<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSEOScanPro has the site audit tool runs a full technical audit of a site and shows the measured result behind every check. Open the site audit tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n
- Google AI Search Is Linking to Source Websites Again, Here\u2019s What Changed – BizScoreAI<\/a><\/li>\n
- Google’s AI Search Guide Isn\u2019t Reassuring. It\u2019s a Warning About Generic Content – BizScoreAI<\/a><\/li>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/seoscanpro.ai\/shots\/site-audit-v4.webp\")
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