Search Console performance report
Search Console performance report,
as defined by Google
Google's own definitions of clicks, impressions, CTR, average position, dimensions and search types. Verified from Google's page on 2026-10-07.
The Performance report (Search results) in Search Console shows metrics about how your site performs in Google Search results. This page lists the definitions on Google's help page, with quotes taken from that page, so the numbers you read in reports are the numbers Google says they are.
What Google says each part of the report means
| Topic | What Google says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What it shows | “The Performance report shows important metrics about how your site performs in Google Search results.”Google lists uses such as seeing how search traffic changes over time, which queries bring traffic, and which pages have the highest and lowest click-through rate. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Default view | “The default view of the report shows click and impression data for your site in Google Search results for the past three months.”Google: you can change metrics, dimensions and date ranges. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Clicks | “The number of times a user clicked your site from Google Search results.”Google links to a separate page on how clicks and impressions are counted. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Impressions | “How many times your site appeared in Search results.”See the aggregation row for how repeated results from one site are counted in the chart. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| CTR | “The click count divided by the impression count.”Google names it CTR (click-through rate). | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Average position | “The average position of the topmost result from your site.”Google: in the chart this is the average position of the topmost result from your entire site; in the table it is the average position for the specific URL or grouping dimension in that row. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Dimensions | “The dimension defines how the data in the table is grouped.”Google lists the tabs: Queries, Pages, Countries, Devices, Search appearance and Dates. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Queries may not match what you see | “Even if a query appears in your list, you might not see your site in results if you run the same query in Google Search.”Google: Search results are specific to the time, place, device, and recent history of the person searching. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| 24-hour view | “When you choose the 24-hour view, the graph's data points represent hours and include preliminary data.”Google: the date filter changes the time period. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Web: text-based | “Includes search traffic originating from text queries entered into the standard Google search bar.”One of the search types you can filter by. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Web: multimodal | “Includes search traffic when users search using images (such as with a smartphone camera).”Google: this includes Google Lens, Circle to Search on Android, uploaded images, and Chrome image search. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Image, video and news | “Includes search traffic from results shown in the Google Images tab.”Google gives matching definitions for Video (the Google Videos tab) and News (the Google News tab and the news search results view). | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Time granularity | “Select Hourly, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly from the dropdown menu above the chart to spot trends.”Google: Hourly is only for the 24-hour view; Daily, Weekly and Monthly are not available in the 24-hour view. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Daily vs weekly and monthly | “Used to analyze longer-term trends by smoothing out daily fluctuations (like those caused by weekends or holidays).”Google says Weekly and Monthly are for this, while Daily is used to detect issues or traffic spikes. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Chart aggregation | “Data on the chart is aggregated by property.”Google's example: if two results from the same site appear for one query, they count as a single impression in the chart total. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Preliminary data | “The newest data can be preliminary, meaning it's still being collected and might change in the next few hours.”Google: preliminary data is indicated by a dotted line on the graph. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Table aggregation | “Data grouped by Pages or Search appearance is aggregated by page.”Google: data grouped by Queries, Countries, Devices or Dates is aggregated by property. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Chart vs table totals | “The chart totals can sometimes differ from the table totals.”Google: this is usually due to differences in aggregation (property vs. page). | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Sharing | “This link grants access only to the current view of the report.”Google: it does not grant access to other pages for your resource or let the shared user perform actions on your property or account. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
| Exporting | “Values shown as either ~ or - in the report (not available/not a number) will be zeros in the downloaded data.”Google: many reports provide an export button to download both the chart and table data. | Google docs Verified 2026-10-07 |
How to apply it
A reading guide built only from the definitions on Google's page.
- Pick the metric: clicks, impressions, CTR (clicks divided by impressions) or average position.
- Pick the dimension tab (queries, pages, countries, devices, search appearance or dates) for how the table is grouped.
- Set the search type (web text-based, web multimodal, image, video or news) and the date range.
- Choose a time granularity: daily to detect issues or spikes, weekly or monthly to smooth out weekends and holidays.
- When the chart and table totals differ, check whether the table is aggregated by property or by page.
- Treat dotted-line data as preliminary, and remember that exported ~ and - values become zeros.
Questions
How does Google define CTR in the Performance report?
Google defines CTR (click-through rate) as the click count divided by the impression count.
What is average position?
Google defines it as the average position of the topmost result from your site. In the chart it covers your entire site; in the table it is the average for the URL or grouping dimension in that row.
Why do my chart and table totals differ?
Google says this is usually due to differences in aggregation. The chart is aggregated by property, while data grouped by Pages or Search appearance in the table is aggregated by page.
Is the newest data final?
Not necessarily. Google says the newest data can be preliminary, still being collected and might change in the next few hours, and it is shown with a dotted line on the graph.
Why do I not see my site for a query that is in the report?
Google says Search results are specific to the time, place, device, and recent history of the person searching, so you might not see your site when you run the same query.
Which search types can I filter by?
Google lists web (text-based or multimodal), image, video and news.
How current is this page?
Every quote was read from Google's page on 2026-10-07, which shows no last-updated date. Google can change its documentation, so treat the linked page as the final word.
Sources
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