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Article · Google Search Console

Google Search Console setup for client reporting

Set up each client's Search Console once so you can read, compare and export the numbers every month, while the client keeps ownership. It ends with a 15-minute monthly review you can run for every client.

Checked against official documentation on 29 October 2026.

Search Console's Performance report is the free data source for question 2 and, with Google Analytics, question 3 of the five questions a monthly report should answer. For a new client, do this setup as part of your onboarding checklist.

Step 1: Pick the property type

The property type decides what your numbers include.

QuestionDomain propertyURL-prefix property
What it covers The whole domain: all subdomains, all paths, both http and https Only URLs that begin with the exact address you enter, protocol included
How it is verified Only by a DNS record (TXT or CNAME) at the domain name provider DNS, an HTML file, an HTML tag, the Google Analytics tag or the Google Tag Manager snippet
Use it when The client, or their host or IT contact, can add a DNS record You cannot get DNS access yet, or one section needs its own report

Website properties only; platform properties are not covered here.

Our decision rule: default to a Domain property. Use a URL-prefix property while DNS access is pending, or for a section the client wants reported separately, such as a blog. Google suggests a property for the whole site plus separate properties for sections you track on their own.

Tell the client that adding a property does not change how the site appears in Google Search. Add it on day one: data collection begins once anyone adds the property, even before verification, and Google says data for a newly created site can take up to a week to appear.

Step 2: Verify, and keep the record in place

We suggest the client verifies with their own Google Account and their own DNS, and then adds you as a user. Google says that if every verified owner loses access, every user loses access too.

Step 3: Ask for the right permission level

RoleWhat matters for reportingGive it to
Owner (verified or delegated) Everything, including managing users and linking Google Analytics. A delegated owner is added by a verified owner and needs no token. The client. You only if you must manage users or link Analytics.
Full user All data, plus sharing report links, submitting sitemaps, URL Inspection, validating fixes and adding annotations You, in most engagements
Restricted user View rights on most data; URL Inspection is fetch-only; can see annotations but not add them Client staff who only read reports

Summarized from Google's permissions and annotations pages. Only owners can see the Users and permissions page.

Agree on the risky tools in writing. A full user can also use the Removals tool and the disavow links tool. Add a line to your agreement that you will not use either without the client's written approval.

You need an individual Google Account; Google does not accept email groups. If Search Console says you can only be added as an owner, you already own a parent property, and that is the only role allowed on the child property.

Email template: asking for access

Subject: Search Console access for [Business name]

Hi [Name],

To prepare your monthly search report, I need access to your Google Search Console:

1. Open Search Console and select the property for [domain].
2. Go to Settings, then Users and permissions. Only owners see this page; if it is missing, tell me who set up Search Console for you.
3. Click Add user, enter [your work Google Account email], choose Full, and save.

You stay the owner and can remove my access on the same page at any time. If we stop working together, I will remind you to do that.

If you do not have Search Console yet, reply and we will set it up together. It needs a DNS record added at your domain provider.

Thanks,
[Your name]

Step 4: Set up the report views you will reuse

The Performance report has four metrics (clicks, impressions, CTR, average position) grouped by queries, pages, countries, devices, search appearance or dates.

Whole months, in Pacific Time

Set the Date filter to a custom range for last calendar month. Dates are in Pacific Time, except in the 24-hour view, so month boundaries may not match an analytics tool set to the client's time zone. The report shows complete days by default, and the newest data can be preliminary (a dotted line). Google says collected data is normally available in two to three days, so we run the review on or after the 4th. The chart can also show weekly or monthly points.

One comparison at a time

The Compare tab in the Date filter compares with the previous period or the same period a year earlier. You can also compare two values of a dimension, such as mobile against desktop. A Difference column appears; sort by it to find the biggest movers. Only one comparison can be active, and a new one replaces the old. For date comparisons, Google suggests weekly or monthly granularity to smooth out day-of-week effects.

Filters you will reuse

Example (hypothetical client "Example Dental Co."): to drop brand searches when the branded filter is missing, choose Custom (regex), then Doesn't match regex, and enter (exampledental|example dental). Save it in your setup record.

Annotations for your work

Right-click the Performance chart on a date to add a note of up to 120 characters. Owners and full users can add and delete annotations; restricted users can only view them. Notes are shared with everyone who has access, cannot be edited, are deleted after 500 days, and do not show in comparison mode or the 24-hour view. Keep personal details out of them.

Why totals will not always match

Step 5: Export every month

The Performance report goes back 16 months (the Date filter has a Last 16 months option). To keep data longer, Google points to the Search Console API or bulk data export. A monthly export from the report is the manual version of the same idea.

Name files the same way every month, for example 2026-10 example-dental queries.csv.

Step 6 (optional): A Data Studio dashboard

Google says Looker Studio is now called Data Studio, and documents a Search Console connector for it. Choose Create, then Data Source, select the connector, authorize it, pick the site, a table and a default search type, and click Connect. You need at least view permission on the property, signed in to both tools with the same Google Account.

The 15-minute monthly review

Run this per client on or after the 4th, then write the report with the report outline and the monthly report email template.

  1. Minute 0 to 1: Check access

    Open the property and confirm your role is unchanged. If access is gone, email the client before anything else.

  2. Minutes 1 to 4: Headline numbers

    Set last calendar month, compare with the previous period, and note clicks and impressions. Then switch the comparison to the same month last year.

  3. Minutes 4 to 7: Queries that moved

    On the Queries tab, sort by Difference. Note three gains and three losses. Repeat with Non-branded or your saved brand regex.

  4. Minutes 7 to 9: Pages you worked on

    On the Pages tab, filter to the URLs you changed and compare their clicks. Google suggests focusing on trends in clicks and impressions more than on position alone.

  5. Minutes 9 to 11: Rule out data issues

    Check for system annotations and the Data anomalies page before you explain any sharp change.

  6. Minutes 11 to 13: Export and annotate

    Remove the comparison, export the Queries and Pages views, and add an annotation for each piece of work that went live.

  7. Minutes 13 to 15: Write three lines

    What improved, what needs attention, what you need from the client. For which numbers to feature, see SEO KPIs for clients.

Setup record for each client

FieldWhat to write down
PropertiesEach property name and type
VerificationMethod, who controls the DNS or file, date set up
Owners and your roleEvery owner by name; your role and the date access was granted
Agreed limitsTools you will not use without written approval
Saved filtersBrand regex and page groups you report on
Exports and dashboardFolder, file naming, whose credentials the dashboard uses

Keep it with the contract.

When the engagement ends

Where Search Console stops

Average position comes from searches where the site actually appeared; it is not daily rank tracking for a fixed keyword list. If clients need that, read how many keywords to track and when a paid suite earns its place. Until then, the free-first route plus this routine covers the core of the report. The walkthrough shows the paid setup if you get there.

Sources

All checked on 29 October 2026.