Google Search Console performance report: clicks, impressions, CTR and position explained

• Items in carousels usually need to be scrolled into view to count as an impression.
• Position only covers Google Search, not Discover or News.
• Your average position can differ from what you see when you search yourself, because results vary by place, device and history.

Sources: Search Console Help: What are impressions, position, and clicks?, checked 15 October 2026; Search Console Help: Performance report (Search results): Overview and basic setup, checked 15 October 2026

1. Open Search Console, choose your property and open the Performance report for Search results.
2. Select the metric scorecards above the chart (clicks, impressions, CTR and position) to show or hide each one.
3. Use the Date filter to change the period from the default three months.
4. Pick a dimension tab above the table: Queries, Pages, Countries, Devices, Search appearance or Dates.
5. Select a column heading to sort the table, for example by Clicks.

• The newest data may be preliminary and is shown as a dotted line; it can change over the next few hours.

Sources: Search Console Help: Performance report (Search results): Overview and basic setup, checked 15 October 2026; Search Console Help: Performance report (Search results): Common tasks and use cases, checked 15 October 2026; Search Console Help: Performance report (Search results): Dimensions and data groupings, checked 15 October 2026

1. Select Add filter in the bar at the top of the report, or select any table row to filter by it.
2. Choose Query, Page, Country, Device or Search appearance and set the value, such as queries containing your town's name.
3. To compare, open a filter, choose Compare, add the two values or date ranges and select Apply.
4. Sort by the Difference column to find the biggest changes.

• Only one comparison can be active at a time.
• Google suggests comparing weeks or months rather than single days, to avoid day-of-week swings.

Sources: Search Console Help: Performance report (Search results): Advanced filtering and comparison, checked 15 October 2026; Search Console Help: Performance report (Search results): Common tasks and use cases, checked 15 October 2026

Google's own common tasks, plus our suggestions for a local business:

• Top searches: Queries tab, sorted by clicks. Look for your services and your town.
• Pages that aren't getting clicked: select CTR, open the Pages tab and sort ascending. Google says a low CTR can mean people see your page but don't think it answers their search, so rewrite the page title and description.
• Branded searches: add a Query filter and choose Branded or Non-branded. It isn't available for sites with few impressions.
• Our suggestion: compare this month with the same period last year if you're seasonal.

Sources: Search Console Help: Performance report (Search results): Common tasks and use cases, checked 15 October 2026; Search Console Help: Performance report (Search results): Dimensions and data groupings, checked 15 October 2026

Google lists several reasons the table, chart and other tools disagree:

• Rare searches are anonymised to protect privacy. They're left out of the table but counted in chart totals, unless you filter by query.
• The table shows at most 1,000 rows.
• Chart data is grouped by property and some table views by page, so totals can differ.
• Daily data uses Pacific Time, so days won't line up exactly with tools set to your time zone.
• Google Analytics only counts visitors with JavaScript enabled, so its numbers will differ from clicks.
• Data usually takes 2 to 3 days to appear, and up to a week for a newly added site.

Sources: Search Console Help: Performance report (Search results): Troubleshooting data discrepancies, checked 15 October 2026; Search Console Help: Performance report (Search results): Overview and basic setup, checked 15 October 2026; Search Console Help: About Search Console data, checked 15 October 2026

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