GSC knowledge base
GSC Basics and Permissions Tutorials and Troubleshooting Guide
Verify the correct property, control account permissions, and explain the boundaries between GSC and GA4. Choose tutorials by specific issue and check operations, limitations, and verification results item by item.
Connect the right property before reading a report
What to prepare
Prepare your Google account, the exact live website address and the owner who can grant access. A Domain property covers protocols and subdomains; a URL-prefix property has a narrower scope.
| Your situation | First action | Read next |
|---|---|---|
| The website is missing from the account | Check property scope and the signed-in account. Connect only after the owner has granted the required access. | Connect Search Console: first verify the correct site scope |
| You are taking over a website | Record owners and users, grant the new account access and test it before removing the old owner. | GSC permissions and handover: grant only the access scope needed |
| GSC clicks differ from GA4 sessions | Align website scope, dates and measurement definitions; do not assume either report is broken. | GSC clicks and GA4 sessions differ: reconcile layer by layer |
| The domain or URL structure is changing | Prepare a page-by-page destination map and verify redirects, ownership and sitemaps. | Domain migration: URL mapping before the address change tool |
When to stop and verify
You can identify the exact property, the responsible owner and a report with the intended scope. Never share a password to transfer access.
Choose another Search Console problem · Check the official requirements
Basics and permissions
Verify the correct property, control account permissions, and explain the boundary between GSC and GA4.
Connect Search Console: first verify the correct site scope
First confirm website access in native Search Console; then connect AISEO Site using the same Google account and the correct property. Ownership verification, Google sign-in, read permission and available search data are separate checks. Follow the step where your setup actually fails instead of creating new properties repeatedly.
Steps · error branches · checklistDomain property or URL prefix: decide by URL scope
Choose the property that contains the URLs you need to measure. Use a Domain property for a domain-wide view, or a URL-prefix property for one protocol, host or directory. Keeping both is useful when their roles are explicit; adding their totals together is not.
Steps · error branches · checklistGSC permissions and handover: grant only the access scope needed
Grant access for a named task, then test it from the recipient's account. For a handover, preserve a verified business owner and review property roles, ownership verification methods and third-party app access separately. Removing an email from one screen may not close every route back in.
Steps · error branches · checklistGSC clicks and GA4 sessions differ: reconcile layer by layer
Compare Search Console clicks with GA4 Google organic sessions to find patterns, not to force equal totals. First align the site, dates and channel. Then isolate the landing pages where the discrepancy changed and test collection there. A difference between clicks and sessions is not a count of lost people.
Steps · error branches · checklistDomain migration: URL mapping before the address change tool
A migration starts with an old-to-new URL map and a tested destination. Moving a host without changing URLs, changing paths and changing domains need different actions. Verify redirects and the new pages before using any eligible Change of Address request; then monitor both properties without promising a recovery date.
Steps · error branches · checklistCheck guide coverage and product capabilities separately
SEO operations adds bounded technical checks, saved index-version reads, laboratory records and human content review. Native Google security, Discover, News and enhancement reports still require their own tools. A guide explains a method; it does not establish every report is connected.
View real product capabilities