GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE FOR LOCAL BUSINESS.
Search Console is Google's free tool for seeing how your website shows up in Search. Here is how to set it up and the four reports a local business owner actually needs, following Search Console Help.
WHAT CHANGED RECENTLY
- Search Console now reports AI Overviews and AI Mode — Impressions and clicks from AI surfaces appear in Performance.
- Search Console branded queries filter explained — Separate brand searches from the ones that won you new customers.
This guide covers what stays true. The blog tracks the changes as they land.
SET IT UP
| Property type | What it covers | How to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | All subdomains (such as www) and protocols (http, https) [1] | DNS record only [1] |
| URL-prefix | Only URLs starting with the exact prefix, including http or https [1] | Several methods [1] |
If you can edit your domain's DNS, a Domain property sees everything in one place. Ask whoever manages your domain before changing DNS records.
1. PERFORMANCE
The Performance report shows clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position, which is the average position of the topmost result from your site.2 You can group data by queries, pages, countries, devices, search appearance and dates.2
- Check queries with your services and towns. These show which local searches already find you.
- Look for high impressions and low clicks. Those pages may need clearer titles and descriptions.
- Don't panic over your own searches. Google notes results are specific to the time, place, device and recent history of the person searching.2
Search Console covers your website in Search. Map and Business Profile activity is in your profile's performance report instead.
2. PAGE INDEXING
The Page indexing report shows how many URLs on your site Google has crawled and indexed.3 Google says you should not expect all URLs to be indexed, only the canonical pages.3 Focus on your home page, service pages and real location pages. After fixing an issue, you can ask Google to validate the fix; Google says this typically takes up to about two weeks.3
3. URL INSPECTION
URL Inspection shows information about Google's indexed version of a page and can test whether a URL might be indexable.4 After publishing or changing an important page, you can request indexing. Google says a request doesn't guarantee the page will appear in the index, there is a daily limit on requests, and indexing can take a day or so or much longer.4 For many pages, submit a sitemap instead.4
4. SITEMAPS
WHY A PAGE ISN'T INDEXED
| Status | What Google means | Usual local-business cause |
|---|---|---|
| Crawled — currently not indexed | Google reached the page and chose not to index it [3] | A thin service-area page that repeats another page with the town name swapped |
| Discovered — currently not indexed | Google found the URL but hasn't crawled it yet [3] | A new page with no internal links pointing at it |
| Duplicate without user-selected canonical | The page duplicates another and doesn't state a preference [3] | Near-identical location pages with no canonical tag |
| URL marked ‘noindex’ | A noindex directive is preventing indexing [3] | A staging setting that shipped to production |
| Soft 404 | A “not found” message returned without a proper 404 code [3] | A removed service page rendering an empty template |
| Blocked by robots.txt | Your robots.txt is preventing the crawl [3] | A blanket disallow left over from a rebuild |
Google says not every URL needs to be indexed, and that duplicate or alternate pages being left out is often intentional.3 Chase the statuses that affect pages you want customers to land on.
MANUAL ACTIONS AND WHY TO LOOK
The Manual actions report is the one place Google tells you a human reviewer has acted against your site. Google says that if a site has a manual action, some or all of that site will not be shown in Google search results.6
Among the actions Google lists are thin content with little or no added value, hidden text and keyword stuffing, unnatural links to and from your site, structured data issues, cloaking and sneaky redirects, back button hijacking, and site reputation policy violations.6 Several of those are things an aggressive agency might have done to your site without telling you, which is why the report is worth opening before you hire anyone and after you part ways. See how to choose a local SEO agency.
Google says that when all the issues listed in the report are fixed across all pages, you select Request Review in the report.6 An empty report is the normal state; if yours is empty, there is nothing to do.
FAQ
Is Search Console the same as Google Analytics?
No. Search Console shows how your site appears in Google Search; Analytics shows what visitors do on your site. See our GA4 setup guide.
My new page isn't on Google. What should I do?
Inspect the URL, then request indexing. Google doesn't guarantee it will be indexed.4
Why do my rankings look different from what I see?
Results depend on the searcher's time, place, device and history.2 That matters even more for local searches.
Can you set it up and watch it?
Yes, as part of our local SEO work, with the property owned by you.
SOURCES
- Search Console Help, Add a website property to Search Console.
- Search Console Help, Performance report (Search results).
- Search Console Help, Page indexing report.
- Search Console Help, URL Inspection tool.
- Search Console Help, Manage your sitemaps using the Sitemaps report.
- Search Console Help, Manual actions report.
KEEP READING
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL
Have Search Console but not sure what it is telling you? We will walk through your reports on a 15-minute call.