How to Connect GSC to Google Analytics 4

Connecting Google Search Console to Google Analytics 4 is one of the quickest and most valuable things you can do for your marketing reporting. This simple integration merges your SEO performance data with on-site user behavior, giving you a complete view of how organic search drives traffic and conversions. This article will walk you through exactly why this connection is so important and how to set it up step-by-step.

Why Connect Google Search Console to GA4?

On its own, Google Search Console (GSC) is brilliant. It tells you how your site performs in Google Search, showing which queries you rank for, how many clicks and impressions you get, and your average position. Google Analytics 4 is equally powerful, telling you what people do after they arrive on your site - which pages they visit, how long they stay, and whether they complete key actions, like filling out a form or making a purchase.

Individually, they are Mission Control for their respective domains. Together, fusing their data allows you to follow the complete user journey from browser search bar to website conversion. It closes the loop between your SEO efforts and your business goals.

Here are the biggest benefits of linking the two platforms:

• See SEO Metrics in the GA4 Interface: Stop jumping between tabs. Once linked, GSC data like Clicks, Impressions, CTR, and Average Position appears directly within your GA4 reports, right alongside user engagement metrics.
• Supercharge Your Content Analysis: Answer critical questions you couldn’t before. For instance, you can finally identify pages that rank well in search (high impressions in GSC) but have a high bounce rate or low engagement time in GA4. This is a clear signal that the page content doesn't match the searcher's intent, giving you a chance to optimize it.
• Discover New Keyword Opportunities: The "Queries" report in GA4 will show you the exact search terms people are using to find you. You might discover “striking distance” keywords - terms where you rank on page two (e.g., average position 11-20) that could be pushed to page one with a little extra optimization.
• Unite SEO and Conversion Data: The most powerful benefit is connecting search queries to outcomes. You can see which specific search terms not only bring traffic but also result in the most valuable conversions, whether that’s leads, sign-ups, or sales. This helps you focus your SEO strategy on the queries that actually move the needle for your business.

Before You Start: A Quick Prerequisite Checklist

The linking process is straightforward, but you need the right permissions in place first. Before you dive in, make sure you have the following:

• Administrator Access to GA4: You need to have the Administrator role for the Google Analytics 4 property you want to connect. Editor or Viewer roles won’t have the necessary access to create product links.
• Verified Owner of GSC: For the Google Search Console property, you must be a verified Owner. A "Full User" or "Restricted User" permission level isn't sufficient to initiate the link.
• Matching Properties: The GA4 property and GSC property must be for the same website. For example, you can't link the GSC property for yoursite.com to the GA4 property for anothersite.com.

Got those covered? Perfect. Let's get them linked.

Step-by-Step: How to Link Search Console and GA4

Follow these steps exactly, and you'll have your accounts connected in under two minutes.

1. Navigate to the Admin Section in GA4

Sign in to your Google Analytics account. In the bottom-left corner of the screen, click the Admin gear icon.

2. Find the Product Links Menu

You’ll now see two columns: Account and Property. Make sure the correct GA4 property is selected in the Property column. Then, scroll down to the "Product Links" section and click on Search Console Links.

3. Start the Linking Process

You'll land on the "Search Console Links" page. Any existing links would be shown here. To create a new one, click the blue Link button in the top-right corner.

4. Choose Your Search Console Property

A new settings panel will slide out called "Create a Search Console link." The first step is to choose the account.

• Click on Choose accounts.
• A list of all the Google Search Console properties for which you are a verified Owner will appear.
• Find the GSC property you want to link, check the box next to it, and click Confirm in the top-right corner.

5. Select Your Web Stream

After clicking Confirm, you’ll be returned to the settings panel. Click Next.

• Now, you need to select the GA4 web stream for your website. A web stream is the data source in GA4 that collects information from your website.
• Click on Select.
• Choose the appropriate web stream from the list (most properties will only have one) and click Next.

6. Review and Submit

This is the final step. The screen will show you a summary of your choices: the Search Console property you selected and the GA4 web stream you picked.

• Give it a quick look-over to make sure everything is correct.
• If it looks good, click Submit.

You should see a green "Link created" confirmation message. That's it! The two platforms are now connected and will start sharing data.

Finding Your GSC Data in Google Analytics 4

After you complete the linking process, don't be alarmed if you don't see the new reports right away. It can take 24 to 48 hours for the Search Console data to start populating within GA4.

Once data starts flowing, two new reports will be available. By default, they are added to your Reports library but may not be visible in your main left-hand navigation. Here’s how to enable them.

Publishing the Search Console Reports Collection

1. From your GA4 dashboard, navigate to the Reports section in the left-hand menu.
2. In the bottom left of the menu that opens, click on Library.
3. Inside the Library, you’ll see cards for different "Collections." One of them should be a new one labeled Search Console.
4. If it says "Unpublished" on the card, click the three vertical dots (…) on the card and select Publish from the dropdown menu.

Once you hit publish, a new “Search Console” section will instantly appear in your left-hand reports navigation, giving you quick access to your SEO data.

Exploring the GSC Reports in GA4

This new section contains two incredibly useful reports that blend SEO and website behavior data.

1. The Queries Report

This report lists all the Google Search queries that brought users to your site. For each query, you get key GSC metrics:

• Google Organic Search Clicks
• Google Organic Search Impressions
• Google Organic Search Click-Through Rate (CTR)
• Google Organic Search Average Position

How to use it: Use this report to look for optimization opportunities. Sort by "Impressions" to find search terms where you get a lot of visibility but a low CTR. This could mean your page title and meta description aren't compelling enough to earn the click. Improving them can lead to a quick traffic boost.

2. The Google Organic Search Traffic Report

This is where the magic truly happens. This report shows your top-performing landing pages from organic search. Crucially, it combines GSC metrics (Clicks, Impressions) with core GA4 behavioral metrics:

• Users
• Engaged Sessions
• Engagement Rate
• Average Engagement Time
• Event Count
• Conversions

How to use it: This report is perfect for understanding the true business value of your SEO efforts. For an ecommerce site, you can sort by "Conversions" or "Total Revenue" to see which landing pages are generating the most sales from organic traffic. For a B2B site, you can see which blog posts are contributing the most lead-generation form fills. This helps you prove ROI and double down on what’s working.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Sometimes things don't go exactly as planned. Here are a couple of the most common issues and how to fix them.

• My GSC Property Doesn't Appear: If you get to step 4 and can't find your Search Console property in the list, it’s almost always a permissions problem. Double-check that (1) you're signed in to the Google account that is a verified Owner of the GSC property, not just a User, and (2) you have Administrator access in GA4.
• There's No Web Stream to Select: If you don’t see a web data stream available to link, you’ll need to create one. Go to Admin > Data Streams > Add stream > Web, and follow the on-screen instructions to set it up.
• The Reports Are Empty: So you created the link and published the reports, but they show "No data available." Remember, it can take up to 48 hours for data to populate after the initial connection. Give it a day or two and check again.

Final Thoughts

Connecting Google Search Console to Google Analytics 4 is a foundational step for any business that relies on organic search. It closes the gap between your SEO performance and your on-site user behavior, providing a holistic view that allows you to make smarter, more data-driven decisions about your content and marketing strategy.

Once you’ve centralized your Google data, the next logical step is to bring in the rest of your marketing and sales data from other platforms. With Graphed, we make it seamless to connect all your data sources - from GA4 and GSC to Facebook Ads, Shopify, HubSpot, and Salesforce - all in one place. Instead of spending hours pulling reports, ask simple questions in plain English like "Show me a dashboard of last month's ad performance by campaign," and we will instantly build you a live interactive view, empowering your entire team to act fast instead of just waiting to make reports.