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What is Google Search Console?

Sean Dorje

Published

October 2, 2025

3 min read

What is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console remains the indispensable telemetry layer for growth teams navigating AI-warped SERPs in 2025. We define Google Search Console, preview its new reports, and show how to pair it with Relixir for end-to-end AI search visibility.

Google Search Console in 2025—why every growth team still needs it

Google Search Console is Google's free platform that lets site owners verify crawling, fix indexing or security errors, and analyse performance metrics—clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position—across 16 months of data. Those insights help teams spot technical issues early and optimise pages for maximum visibility.

The platform has evolved significantly since its days as Google Webmaster Tools. In 2025, GSC remains essential for understanding how Google sees your site, offering tools for everything from crawl verification to search traffic analysis. Teams rely on GSC's main performance metrics—total clicks (blue), total impressions (purple), average CTR (green), and average position (orange)—to track organic search performance.

But here's the reality check: GSC's traditional metrics evolved alongside the SERP when every search led to 10 blue links. Today's AI-mediated search landscape demands more. While GSC excels at tracking conventional search performance, it struggles with the new reality where AI Overviews appear and zero-click results dominate.

Core GSC reports & what they really tell you

Google Search Console's reports provide a comprehensive view of your site's search presence. The Overview page shows a summary of your property's health, including any manual actions or security issues, graphs of total clicks and error/valid indexed pages, and summaries of error/valid enhancements for your site. The Insights report delivers a simple overview of your site's performance, summarizing key metrics like clicks and impressions while highlighting top and trending content.

The Performance reports remain the backbone of GSC, letting teams explore how many people saw and clicked on their site, what queries showed their site, and average position. The URL Inspection tool provides granular information about specific URLs or lets you test live pages. Meanwhile, the Page indexing report shows index status for all pages, grouping them by whether they are indexed with descriptions of why they could or couldn't be indexed.

GSC's main performance metrics track total clicks, impressions, average CTR, and average position—fundamental data that every SEO relies on. But these metrics tell an incomplete story in 2025's AI-dominated landscape.

New: Achievements milestones (Sept 2025)

As Google explained: "We're happy to bring Achievements into Console as a new report. Up until now, you'd receive achievements via email, and it was part of our previous Insights experience. We know users love the milestones, so we thought we'd create a place where you can check them inside Console." These achievements track milestones like reaching your first 1,000 clicks, providing a more engaging way to monitor site performance progress.

The zero-click reality: AI Overviews flatten organic CTR

The data is stark: zero-click results hit 65% in 2023 and continue climbing. When AI Overviews appear on search results, they fundamentally alter user behavior. According to recent studies, just 8% of users who encounter an AI summary click on traditional links—half the rate of those who don't see AI content.

This isn't just about reduced clicks. Google users who see AI summaries are more likely to end their browsing session entirely. One Similarweb study indicates that zero-click news pages grew from 56% when Google launched AI Overviews in May 2024 to 69% by May 2025.

The impact varies by industry. E-commerce saw AI Overview presence spike to 40% during peak shopping periods. Healthcare content witnessed a 15% increase in AIO citations due to the expert nature of medical sources. Meanwhile, traditional publishers face devastating traffic losses, with some experiencing drops exceeding 75%.

These shifts represent more than traffic changes—they signal a fundamental transformation in how users consume information. AI Overviews now serve over 1.5 billion users monthly across 100+ countries, pushing organic results further down the page while expanding to occupy 50% more vertical space since August 2024.

What GSC can't see: AI citations, share-of-answer & hallucinations

Traditional SEO metrics evolved for a world of 10 blue links. But we've entered an era where users ask questions and receive synthesized answers from platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. GSC can't track chunk retrieval frequency, embedding relevance scores, or AI citation counts—the new KPIs that matter when AI systems determine visibility.

Perhaps most concerning: GSC provides no visibility into hallucinations or when competitors dominate share-of-answer. Brands might rank #1 organically yet receive zero mentions in AI responses. Without specialized tracking, teams remain blind to their true AI search presence, unable to identify gaps where competitors capture citations or where AI systems misrepresent their offerings.

Google's AI Mode data gets mixed with traditional metrics, featured snippets, and AI Overviews. As one industry expert noted: "AI Mode should have been a new type in the Performance reporting like Web, Image, Video, and News." Instead, the conflated data yields more confusion than clarity.

How Relixir pairs with GSC to track GEO and revenue risk

While GSC struggles with AI visibility gaps, Relixir's GEO platform uncovered an average of 847 competitive blindspots per brand, compared to 289 for traditional SEO suites. The platform monitors 15,000 AI queries daily across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, revealing how AI engines actually perceive brands.

Relixir fills GSC's critical gaps by tracking metrics Google can't: AI citation frequency, share-of-answer percentages, hallucination rates, and competitor mention patterns. Brands using Relixir saw share-of-answer increase by 12 percentage points within six weeks—improvements invisible in traditional search console data.

The platform simulates thousands of buyer questions across multiple AI engines, then automatically generates and publishes content to address identified gaps. This proactive approach contrasts with GSC's reactive reporting. Where Search Console shows what happened, Relixir's automated engine flips AI rankings in under 30 days without developer involvement.

For revenue impact, Relixir quantifies what GSC can't measure: the financial risk of AI invisibility. With zero-click results approaching 70% and AI engines influencing purchase decisions, brands need visibility into both traditional and AI-driven discovery paths.

Sample workflow: from crawl error to AI citation lift

Consider how Reframe, a behavioral health app, transformed their search presence. Relixir's two-pronged strategy addressed both SEO and Answer Engine Optimization simultaneously. Within three months, Reframe achieved 99.5K clicks and 27 million impressions through traditional channels.

But the AI metrics tell the real story. Their mention rate jumped to 7.0%, outpacing competitors like Sunnyside (4.3%) and I Am Sober (1.9%). The head-to-head win rate averaged 68.3%, peaking at 92.7%—meaning Reframe dominated competitor comparisons in AI responses. Daily active users grew from 18 to 20-30 within weeks, driven by improved AI visibility that GSC alone couldn't track or influence.

Implementation checklist: verifying, tagging & automating updates

Start with GSC fundamentals. Confirm Google can find and crawl your site. Fix indexing problems and request re-indexing for new or updated content. Set up alerts for when Google encounters indexing, spam, or other critical issues. These baseline steps ensure traditional search visibility while you build AI presence.

Next, implement proper tracking infrastructure. GSC requires cookies and JavaScript enabled, plus a valid Google account. Verify site ownership through HTML file upload, DNS record, or tag manager. Connect GSC to Google Analytics for deeper insights into user behavior post-click.

For AI visibility, layer Relixir's automated monitoring atop GSC's foundation. The platform continuously analyzes thousands of buyer questions, identifies gaps where competitors rank but you don't, and automatically generates authoritative content. Unlike manual optimization, Relixir requires no developer lift—content publishes directly while the system tracks citation improvements across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and other AI engines.

Key takeaways

Google Search Console remains essential infrastructure for search visibility, but its traditional metrics tell an incomplete story. With zero-click results dominating and AI Overviews reshaping user behavior, teams need comprehensive tracking across both conventional and AI-driven discovery.

The data speaks clearly: AI engines influence 70% of queries by 2025's end. Brands using purpose-built GEO platforms identify 3× more competitive gaps than those relying on traditional tools alone. When 17% inbound-lead lift comes from improved AI visibility, ignoring these channels means leaving revenue on the table.

Pair GSC's crawl monitoring and indexing tools with Relixir's AI citation tracking and automated content engine. This combination provides complete visibility—from technical SEO foundations to AI answer dominance. As one client discovered, achieving 99.5K clicks in three months requires optimizing for both traditional search and the AI engines reshaping discovery.

The future belongs to brands that master both search paradigms. Start with Google Search Console's proven framework, then expand into AI visibility tracking before competitors claim your share-of-answer. With Relixir's platform flipping AI rankings in under 30 days, the path from search console insights to AI citation dominance has never been clearer.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Google Search Console?

Which core reports and metrics does GSC provide?

Google Search Console's reports provide a comprehensive view of your site's search presence. The Performance reports remain the backbone of GSC, letting teams explore how many people saw and clicked on their site, what queries showed their site, and average position. The URL Inspection tool provides granular information about specific URLs or lets you test live pages.

What changed with the Achievements section in GSC (Sept 2025)?

Google added a new Achievements section to Google Search Console in September 2025, bringing milestone tracking directly into the Console interface. Previously, these achievements only arrived via email as part of the Insights experience. These achievements track milestones like reaching your first 1,000 clicks, providing a more engaging way to monitor site performance progress.

How are AI Overviews and zero-click results affecting clicks?

What can GSC not track in the AI-mediated search era?

Google Search Console faces critical blind spots in the AI-mediated search era. The platform lumps AI Overview and AI Mode traffic into standard Web metrics, making it impossible to distinguish when impressions spike but clicks fall—a pattern that occurs increasingly as AI features expand. GSC can't track chunk retrieval frequency, embedding relevance scores, or AI citation counts—the new KPIs that matter when AI systems determine visibility. Perhaps most concerning: GSC provides no visibility into hallucinations or when competitors dominate share-of-answer.

How does Relixir complement GSC for AI search visibility?

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