Read the report before changing the page.

Use an account with appropriate access to the intended site property. Search Console provides site information and tools that can affect its Search presence, so ownership verification and permissions matter. You can learn with the fictional data below without changing a real account or submitting anything.

Choose the report by the job. Performance helps investigate Search appearances and clicks. Page indexing gives a broader view of indexing states. URL Inspection helps investigate a particular URL and distinguishes indexed information from a live check. A sitemap can support discovery and monitoring; submitting one does not guarantee indexing. An excluded page is not automatically a problem if its exclusion matches the site’s intended setup.

In the Search results Performance report, clicks count clicks from the relevant Search results and impressions count appearances under the report’s rules. CTR is clicks divided by impressions. Average position concerns the topmost result for the relevant site or grouping; it is an average across the selected observations, not a promise that everyone sees one fixed ranking.

Record the date range, search type, selected metrics, filters and grouping. Query rows answer a different question from page rows. Search results can vary with time, place, device and recent history, so repeating a query in your own browser may not reproduce a report row. Treat the newest preliminary data as provisional. Also note that unavailable values shown as a dash or tilde can become zeros in exports; preserve their original meaning rather than treating every exported zero as a measured absence.

Use comparable periods and keep relevant filters consistent. A change in the mix of devices, countries, pages or queries can alter an overall rate. Start with the affected page or group, then inspect the dimensions that help test your explanation. A lower CTR is not automatically a title failure, and more impressions do not establish more customers.

Chart and table totals can differ because the grouping and aggregation differ. Do not add page rows and expect them always to reproduce a property-level total. If a page seems absent, inspect its intended indexing state and the appropriate URL evidence rather than diagnosing from one empty performance row. Separate what the report shows, your possible explanations and the next check.

As documented for availability from August 31, 2026, Google provides a Generative AI performance report for Search impressions associated with AI Overviews and AI Mode. These data are also included in the overall Web Search view; they are not an additional total to add to it. The dedicated report’s scope and available metrics should guide the question. Do not invent a separate click, conversion or revenue measure from its impression data.

The report may be unavailable when there are not enough impressions, and newest figures can be preliminary. Absence of the report is not proof of zero AI exposure. For visits and later actions, use the appropriate website analytics or business records while retaining their different definitions and coverage. Close your review with a specific next check, owner and recorded filters so someone else can understand what you concluded.