SEO Glossary

Google Search Console

Definition

Google Search Console is a free Google tool that reports on how Googlebot crawls, indexes, and ranks a website — including coverage errors, manual actions, and Core Web Vitals field data.

Google Search Console (GSC) is the authoritative source of truth for how Google sees a specific website. Unlike third-party tools that estimate data, GSC provides data directly from Google's systems: which pages are indexed, which have errors, what queries drive impressions and clicks, and what Core Web Vitals scores look like from real Chrome users.

Key reports:

  • Coverage: Indexed pages and pages with errors (404, redirect chains, noindex conflicts)
  • Performance: Impressions, clicks, average position, and CTR per query and per page
  • Core Web Vitals: Field data from real users, split by mobile and desktop
  • Manual Actions: Penalties applied by a human reviewer at Google

What SearchVitals integrates: The Performance module can surface Search Console coverage issues — particularly pages with indexing errors — as findings within the audit report when a GSC integration is configured.

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