How to Find Search Queries in Google Analytics

Trying to find which search queries drive traffic inside Google Analytics can feel like a dead end. You open the organic keywords report, ready for valuable insights, only to be met by a list dominated by the frustratingly vague "(not provided)". This article will explain why that happens and show you exactly how to unlock the keyword data you need.

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We'll cover how to find paid search query data directly within Google Analytics 4, and more importantly, how to integrate Google Search Console to see the organic search terms people are using to find your website.

What Happened to Organic Keyword Data in Google Analytics?

Once upon a time, Google Analytics gave you a detailed report of the exact organic keywords visitors used to find your site. Marketers loved it. Then, back in 2011, Google began encrypting search traffic to protect user privacy (moving from HTTP to HTTPS), which stopped passing organic keyword data to third-party tools, including its own Google Analytics.

As a result, the keyword data was replaced with the term "(not provided)". Today, it typically accounts for 99% or more of the organic keywords report, making that specific report largely useless for SEO analysis.

While organic search data is hidden, Google does share one type of search query data inside GA4: the terms that trigger your Google Ads.

How to Find Google Ads Search Queries in GA4

If you're running Google Ads campaigns and have your account linked to Google Analytics 4, you can see which user search queries triggered your ads and what happened after they clicked.

Follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Reports in the left-hand menu.
2. Go to the Acquisition section and click on Acquisition overview.
3. In the overview dashboard, you'll see several summary cards. Look for the card titled "Sessions by Session Google Ads campaign" and click the View Google Ads campaigns link at the bottom.
4. This takes you to the Google Ads Campaigns report. Scroll down to the data table and click the blue + icon next to the primary dimension ("Session Google Ads campaign").
5. In the search box that appears, type "query" and select Google Ads search query from the list.

The table will now update to show you the specific user search terms that led to an ad click, alongside key metrics like users, sessions, engagement rate, and conversions. This is incredibly valuable for optimizing your ad campaigns, discovering negative keywords, and understanding paid search performance.

But what about the organic queries that SEOs and content marketers care about? For that, we need to turn to another free tool from Google.

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The Real Source for Organic Keywords: Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) is the definitive source of truth for your website's organic search performance. It's a separate tool from Google Analytics, designed specifically to help you monitor how your site appears in Google search results. It doesn't track on-site behavior like GA does, instead, it focuses on pre-click data.

Inside GSC, you can find a wealth of information, including:

• The exact search queries people use to find your site.
• The number of impressions (how many times your site appeared in search results).
• The number of clicks your site received from those queries.
• Your average click-through rate (CTR).
• Your average ranking position for each query.

While you can analyze this data directly in GSC, the real power comes from connecting it to Google Analytics. This integration allows you to see both your pre-click SEO data (from GSC) and your post-click user behavior data (from GA4) in one place.

How to Connect Google Search Console to Google Analytics 4

Linking GSC to your GA4 property is straightforward, but it requires you to have the appropriate permissions. You'll need "Editor" role on the Google Analytics 4 property and be a verified "Owner" of the Google Search Console property.

Here's how to set up the connection:

1. Log in to your Google Analytics 4 account.
2. Click the Admin icon (the gear) in the bottom-left corner.
3. In the Property column, scroll down to the "Product Links" section and click on Search Console Links.
4. In the top right, click the blue Link button.
5. A setup panel will slide out. Click Choose accounts to see a list of the Search Console properties you manage.
6. Select the checkbox next to the GSC property you want to link and click Confirm.
7. Click Next.
8. Now you need to select your web data stream. Click Select, choose your website's data stream, and click Next.
9. Review your settings. If everything looks correct, click Submit.

You'll see a "Link created" notification. It can take up to 48 hours for the new data to start appearing in your Google Analytics reports, so be patient.

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Where to Access the Search Console Reports in GA4

Once the link is active and data begins to flow, GA4 will automatically create a new collection of reports built on your GSC data. However, these new reports aren't added to your main navigation menu by default.

Here's how to find and publish them:

1. In the left-hand menu, go to Reports.
2. At the very bottom of the menu, click on Library.
3. In the Library, you will now see a card under "Collections" titled Search Console. It will be marked as "Unpublished".
4. Click the three dots on the Search Console card and select Publish.

After you publish it, "Search Console" will appear as a new section in your main reports navigation bar. When you click it, you'll find two powerful new reports:

• Queries: This is the one you've been looking for! It shows all your organic Google search queries alongside their impressions, clicks, CTR, and average position.
• Google Organic Search Traffic: This report is similar, but the primary dimension is Landing Page instead of Query. It tells you which of your pages get the most organic traffic.

Actionable Tips for Using Your New Search Query Data

Unlocking this data is great, but its true value is in how you use it to make better decisions. Here are a few ways to turn these insights into action.

1. Optimize for "Striking Distance" Keywords

In the Queries report, sort your data by Average Position. Look for keywords where you rank on the second page of Google, typically between positions 11 and 20. These are your "striking distance" keywords.

These queries represent topics where Google already sees your content as relevant, but it just needs an extra boost to get onto the first page where the vast majority of clicks happen. For these pages, find ways to improve them: expand the content, add more internal links pointing to the page, or build a few external backlinks.

2. Discover New Content Opportunities

Filter your Queries report to find keywords that have a high number of impressions but few clicks. This often reveals that people are searching for topics related to your business, but you don't have a specific page that perfectly matches their query. This is a goldmine for new blog posts, FAQs, or landing pages that can directly address that user intent.

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3. Improve Click-Through Rates (CTR)

Sort your Queries report by impressions again. Look for keywords that have many impressions and a good average position (e.g., in the top 10) but a low CTR. This could mean your page title and meta description aren't compelling enough to earn the click. Rewrite them to be more engaging, include the target keyword, and clearly state the value a user will get by visiting the page.

4. Combine GA4 and GSC Data for Deeper Insights

This is where the integration really shines. Head to the Google Organic Search Traffic report (the one that shows landing pages). Click the blue + icon to add a secondary dimension and search for "Session conversion rate" or "Conversions".

Now you have a report that connects the dots between a searcher's query, the page they land on, and whether they ultimately complete a goal on your site. For example, you might find a page that gets tons of clicks for a specific query but has a zero conversion rate. That's a clear signal to investigate that page for user experience issues or ensure it has clear calls-to-action.

Final Thoughts

While Google Analytics no longer shows organic search terms out of the box, the data isn't gone for good. By setting up a simple, one-time link to Google Search Console, you can restore this critical visibility and see the exact queries driving users to your site, allowing you to build a much smarter and more effective SEO strategy.

Connecting data sources like Google Analytics and Google Search Console is the first step, but constantly switching between tools and manually piecing together insights is still a huge time sink. At Graphed, we solve this by centralizing your data from dozens of platforms in one place. Instead of building manual reports, you can just ask questions in plain English like, "Which organic search queries are driving the most revenue for our Shopify store?" and get an instant, real-time dashboard. This turns hours of weekly reporting into a 30-second task.