How to Connect Google Search Console and Pick the Right Property
Updated
Open Search Visibility > Overview, click Connect Search Console and approve read-only access on Google's screen. Back in SEOmatic, the property list opens: pick your site and click Confirm. Your agents only use Search Console once a property is picked.
Before You Start#
- Your site must be verified in Search Console for the Google account you use. If it is not there yet, add and verify it at search.google.com/search-console first.
- On a team, the workspace owner should connect. SEOmatic reads Search Console in the background through the workspace owner's Google connection. A teammate can only pick a property that the owner's Google account can also read.
- It is read-only and free. SEOmatic can view your Search Console data and nothing else. Reading it never uses credits. See what SEOmatic can and cannot do with Google.
Connect Search Console#
- In the sidebar, under Insights, click Search Visibility, then Overview.
- Click Connect Search Console. Google opens.
- Choose the Google account that has your site in Search Console.
- Google shows what SEOmatic asks for: View Search Console data for your verified sites. Click Continue. If Google shows a box next to it, leave it ticked, or SEOmatic cannot read anything.
- Back in SEOmatic, Select Search Console Property opens. Pick your site and click Confirm.
- If you closed the list, the page says Choose your property. Click Choose a property to open it again.
Your numbers appear right away. In the background, SEOmatic also loads up to 26 weeks of history, which takes a few minutes, and your agents re-plan their work around your real data.
Other Places You Can Connect From
| Where | What to click | Asks for a property? |
|---|---|---|
| Setup, step 2 | Connect on the Google Search Console card | Yes. It picks the property that matches your domain, or opens the list. |
| Connections page, after your website is connected | Connect Search Console on the card One more connection makes your agents a lot smarter | Yes |
| SEO Copilot, Data Sources in the bottom left corner | Connect next to Search Console | Yes |
| Settings > Integrations (Owner and Admins) | The switch on the Google Search Console row | Yes. When you come back, the property list opens if this workspace has none yet, and the row shows Choose a property until it has one. |
Domain Property or URL-Prefix Property?#
Search Console has two kinds of property. A Domain property covers your whole domain: http and https, with and without www, and every subdomain. A URL-prefix property covers only addresses that start with one exact prefix, such as https://www.example.com/.
- Pick the Domain property when you have one. It counts every click your site gets.
- Each row says which kind it is: Domain property, or URL prefix followed by the exact address. When both exist for your site, pick the Domain property.
- Greyed-out rows say Not verified for your Google account - verify it in Search Console first. Verify ownership in Search Console, then come back.
- Pick the right site. SEOmatic accepts any property you can read, even one for another website, and shows its data without a warning.
Change the Property Later#
- Search Visibility: at the top of the page, click the property name (example.com: change property), pick the new property and click Confirm.
- Settings > Integrations: under the Google Search Console row, the line names the property this workspace reports on. Click Change property.
- SEO Copilot: in Data Sources, bottom left, click the pencil next to Search Console.
What changing it does
SEOmatic replaces the stored weekly history with history from the new property, which takes a few minutes. All three places work on a phone or tablet.
Use a Different Google Account#
While you are connected, Connect reuses your current Google account. To switch, disconnect first (below), then connect again and choose the other account. Each SEOmatic user has one Google connection, so properties from several Google accounts must be shared with that one account in Search Console.
Reconnect or Disconnect#
- Reconnect. If Google stops accepting the connection (access removed, password changed, or it aged out), you get an email titled Search Console disconnected for your site, and Settings > Integrations shows Reconnect. Click it and approve again. Each workspace keeps its property, so you do not pick again.
- Disconnect. Turn off the switch in Settings > Integrations, or click the X next to Search Console in SEO Copilot's Data Sources. There is no confirmation. It clears the property on every workspace you own, so after reconnecting you pick a property again for each one. Your stored history is kept.
- Remove SEOmatic from Google too. Disconnecting in SEOmatic deletes the stored access, but SEOmatic still appears in your Google Account's list of third-party connections until you remove it there.
Error Messages and Fixes#
If the Google step fails, SEOmatic shows a message when you come back, on the page you connected from. The connect page you open from an email or AI assistant link shows its own wording.
| You see | Fix |
|---|---|
| Google did not grant access, so Search Console is not connected yet. | You clicked Cancel on Google. Connect again. |
| The Google step did not complete. Try connecting again. | Something went wrong on the way back from Google. Connect again. |
| The Search Console box was unticked on Google, so we cannot read your data. Connect again and leave it ticked. | Connect again and leave View Search Console data ticked. |
| No verified properties found in your Search Console account. | This Google account has no verified site. Add and verify your site in Search Console, or connect with the Google account that has it. |
| Your Google account isn't verified for this property yet... | Verify ownership of that property in Search Console, or pick one you are verified for. |
| The workspace owner's Google account can't read this Search Console property... | In Search Console, add the owner's Google account as a user on the property, or ask the owner to connect. |
| Only workspace members can change the Search Console property | Viewers cannot pick a property. Ask a member, admin or the owner. |
| Failed to fetch sites | Google no longer accepts your connection. The Owner or an Admin clicks Reconnect in Settings > Integrations. |
| That Google link expired or was not started here. Start the connection again. | The Google step took more than 1 hour. Start again. |
- How long until I see data?
- Right away for a site that already gets traffic. Google's own numbers run 2 to 3 days behind, so the latest days are never shown. A brand-new site can have no data for days or weeks. See Search Console shows no data.
- I am on the Free plan. Do I get anything for connecting?
- Yes. The first time your organization picks a Search Console property, you get 10 bonus SEO Copilot questions, once.
- I connected, but the banner still says <strong>Your agent can only see part of the picture</strong>.
- That banner checks your own Google connection. If the owner connected for the workspace, it can still show for teammates. Check Search Visibility: if it shows numbers, you are set.
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