How to Find Keyword Search in Google Analytics

Curious about which organic search keywords are sending visitors to your website? If you've looked through Google Analytics 4, you've probably noticed that this information is surprisingly hard to find. A large portion of your keyword data is likely bucketed under the mysterious label "(not provided)," leaving you in the dark about the exact terms people use to discover your brand.

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While Google no longer passes this data directly for privacy reasons, there is a clear and effective way to get these insights. This tutorial will walk you through the single best method for finding your organic keyword data by linking Google Search Console to your GA4 property, allowing you to see which queries drive traffic and how users behave once they’re on your site.

Why You Can't See All of Your Keywords in Google Analytics

Before we jump into the solution, it’s helpful to understand why you’re hitting this roadblock in the first place. For years, Google passed along the search a person used in the referral data it sent to analytics tools. But in a move to protect user privacy, Google began encrypting searches from logged-in users, which meant this keyword data was no longer visible. The result? The infamous "(not provided)" keyword appeared in our reports.

Today, virtually all search data is encrypted, meaning that relying solely on Google Analytics for your organic keyword report is a non-starter. Trying to find this data in GA4's default reports is like searching for something that isn’t there.

Fortunately, Google offers a different tool - Google Search Console - that is designed specifically for this purpose. It tracks your website's performance in Google Search, and when you connect it with GA4, you get the best of both worlds: search query data from Search Console, combined with on-site behavior data from GA4.

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Connecting Google Search Console to GA4

Linking the two platforms is the official and most reliable way to unlock your organic keyword data within Google Analytics. It’s a straightforward, one-time setup that will change how you analyze your search performance forever. Once linked, a new set of reports will become available directly in your GA4 interface.

How to Link Your Accounts: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you haven’t already, connecting Search Console is a simple administrative task. Here’s how to do it:

• Step 1: Check Your Permissions. To create a link, you need to be a verified owner of the Google Search Console property and have an Administrator or Editor role for the Google Analytics 4 property.
• Step 2: Navigate to the GA4 Admin Panel. Click the 'Admin' gear icon at the bottom-left corner of your GA4 dashboard.
• Step 3: Find Product Links. In the 'Property' column, scroll down to the 'Product Links' section and click on Search Console Links.
• Step 4: Create the Link. Click the blue Link button. A new screen will appear, prompting you to 'Choose a Search Console property'. Here, you’ll link to the property managed by your Google account.
• Step 5: Select Your Property. A list of your managed Search Console properties will appear. Find the one that corresponds to your website, select it, and click Confirm.
• Step 6: Choose Your Web Stream. Next, you'll need to select the web data stream for your website. Most businesses will only have one. Make your selection and click Next.
• Step 7: Review and Submit. Review the configuration to make sure everything is correct, then click Submit.

That’s it! You've successfully linked the two platforms. It can take up to 48 hours for new data to start populating in your GA4 reports, so you may need to wait a day or two to see the new reports.

Finding Your New Keyword Reports in GA4

After linking your accounts and waiting for data to populate, you won’t immediately see the new reports in your standard left-hand navigation. You'll need to enable them from the Report Library first. It's an easy step that many users miss.

Publish the Search Console Report Collection

The Search Console reports are added to your GA4 property as a "collection" that needs to be published before it appears in your user interface.

1. Navigate to the Reports section (the icon of a bar chart on the left).
2. At the bottom of the navigation menu on the left, click Library.
3. You’ll see a card titled Search Console in the 'Collections' section. Click the three dots on the bottom right of the card and select Publish.

Once you publish the collection, a new "Search Console" section will appear in your left-hand reporting navigation menu, containing two essential reports: "Queries" and "Google Organic Search Traffic."

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Analyzing What’s in the Reports

Now that your reports are live, let’s explore what you can do with them.

1. The Queries Report

This is where you'll find the specific search terms people used to find you in Google. This report shows you invaluable search performance data, including:

• Google Organic Search Query: The actual keyword or phrase a user typed into Google.
• Clicks: The number of times your site was clicked for that query.
• Impressions: The number of times your site appeared in the search results for that query.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of impressions that resulted in a click (Clicks / Impressions).
• Average Position: Your website's average ranking for that query.

This report is the direct replacement for the "(not provided)" data. You can now see what's working, what users are searching for, and how visible your site is for important terms.

2. The Google Organic Search Traffic Report

This report focuses on the pages that receive your organic traffic. It rolls up performance by landing page rather than by individual query. For each landing page, it shows Clicks, Impressions, CTR, and Average Position from Search Console, combined with GA4 metrics like Users, Sessions, and Engagement Rate.

This report is perfect for understanding the relationship between rankings and on-site behavior. For example, you can see if a page that ranks high for many keywords also has a high engagement rate, or identify pages that get a lot of organic impressions but fail to earn clicks.

Actionable Tips for Analyzing Your Keyword Data

Simply having the data isn't enough, the real value comes from what you do with it. Here are a few practical ways you can leverage these reports to make smarter marketing decisions.

Tip 1: Identify "Striking Distance" Keywords

"Striking distance" keywords are terms where your site is already ranking, but just off the first page - typically in positions 11-20. These represent low-hanging fruit for SEO because a small push can bring significant traffic gains.

• In the Queries report, add a filter.
• Set the dimension to Average Position, the match type to greater than, and the value to 10.
• Now, sort the report by Impressions in descending order.

You’ll see a list of keywords that get a lot of visibility but sit on the second or third page of search results. These are your top priorities for optimization. Consider improving the page title and meta description, adding internal links to that page, or refreshing the on-page content to see if you can claim a first-page spot.

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Tip 2: Discover Question-Based Keywords for Content Ideation

Use the search bar on the Queries report to find keywords that include terms like "how," "what," "why," or "where." These queries reveal the exact questions your audience is asking. Each one is a golden opportunity to create targeted blog posts, FAQ pages, or videos that address those specific needs, positioning your brand as a helpful authority.

Tip 3: Analyze Performance for Branded vs. Non-Branded Queries

Understanding the balance between your branded and non-branded traffic is essential. Branded searches (e.g., "Graphed marketing dashboard") show how many people are looking for you specifically. Non-branded searches (e.g., "ai powered marketing dashboard") reflect your ability to attract people who don’t yet know your brand.

• In the Queries report, use the filter again.
• Set the dimension to Google Organic Search Query, the match type to does not contain, and the value to your brand name. Apply that filter to see your non-branded performance. You can do the reverse to analyze branded queries.

Final Thoughts

Wrapping your head around keyword performance in GA4 might seem difficult initially, but it boils down to one critical step: linking it with Google Search Console. Once connected, a wealth of actionable data becomes available, allowing you to move beyond "(not provided)" and gain a clear understanding of the organic search terms that drive valuable traffic to your site.

Unifying data from different sources is a common headache for marketing and sales teams. You have your website traffic in Google Analytics, query data in Search Console, ad performance in Facebook Ads, and sales data in your CRM. At Graphed, we built our platform to solve precisely this problem. Instead of manually connecting tools or spending hours exporting reports into spreadsheets, we let you connect all your data sources in seconds and use simple natural language prompts to create blended, real-time dashboards so you can finally get a single, clear view of your performance.