How to Make a Scatter Plot in Google Sheets with AI

A scatter plot is the perfect way to see if a relationship exists between two different things, like your ad spend and website traffic or your daily sales and the outside temperature. In Google Sheets, you can create one in just a few clicks. This guide will show you how to use Google's built-in AI feature for lightning-fast chart creation and also walk you through the manual process for full control.

What Exactly Is a Scatter Plot?

Before we build one, let’s quickly cover what a scatter plot does. A scatter plot uses dots to represent the values for two different numeric variables. One variable's value is plotted on the horizontal axis (X-axis) and the other on the vertical axis (Y-axis). By looking at the pattern of these dots, you can instantly see the relationship - or lack thereof - between the two variables.

You’re primarily looking for three types of relationships:

Positive Correlation: As one variable increases, the other variable also tends to increase. The dots on the plot will generally trend from the bottom-left to the top-right. For example, the more hours you study, the higher your test score might be.
Negative Correlation: As one variable increases, the other variable tends to decrease. The dots will trend from the top-left to the bottom-right. Think of it like a car's speed and travel time, the faster you drive, the less time it takes to reach your destination.
No Correlation: There is no apparent relationship between the two variables. The dots will be scattered randomly with no clear direction. For instance, there's likely no correlation between the number of shoes you own and your final exam grade.

Scatter plots are incredibly useful for everything from analyzing marketing campaign results to spotting trends in sales data.

Step 1: Get Your Data Ready

The foundation of a good scatter plot is well-organized data. Google Sheets needs two columns of corresponding numerical data - one for your X-axis and one for your Y-axis.

Your data should be clean and structured in adjacent columns. Each row should represent a single data point with its paired X and Y values. Don't worry about having perfect data, but remove any obvious entry errors or empty cells that might skew the results.

For our example, let's say we run an e-commerce store and want to see if there's a relationship between our weekly spending on social media ads and the number of sales we generated that week. Our data in Google Sheets would look something like this:

Here, "Social Media Ad Spend ($)" will be our independent variable (X-axis), and "Weekly Sales" will be our dependent variable (Y-axis). We want to see if changes in ad spend influence the number of sales.

Step 2 (The AI Way): Create a Scatter Plot with the Explore Feature

Google Sheets has a powerful built-in tool called "Explore" that uses AI to analyze your selected data and suggest relevant charts and insights. It's often the fastest way to get a professional-looking chart without any manual configuration.

How to Use Explore:

Select Your Data: First, click and drag to highlight the two columns of numerical data you want to analyze. In our example, we would select the cells containing our Ad Spend and Weekly Sales data, including the headers.
Open the Explore Panel: With your data selected, look for the Explore icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen. It looks like a square with a four-pointed star. You can also use the keyboard shortcut: Alt + Shift + X (on a PC) or Option + Shift + X (on a Mac).

Choose a Scatter Plot: The Explore panel will pop up on the right-hand side, automatically analyzing your data. It will instantly suggest several charts. Scroll through the options, looking for a scatter plot. Google Sheets is usually smart enough to identify when a scatter plot is the right choice for your data.

Insert the Chart: Once you see the scatter plot you want, you can hover over it and click the "Insert chart" icon or simply drag and drop the chart directly onto your spreadsheet.

And that's it! Google's AI has just created a scatter plot for you in seconds. From here, you can click on the chart to customize its titles, colors, and more.

Step 3 (The Manual Way): Create a Scatter Plot from Scratch

If the Explore feature doesn't give you exactly what you're looking for, or if you prefer more control from the start, building the chart manually is just as easy.

How to Create a Chart Manually:

Select Your Data: Just like before, highlight the two columns of numerical data you want to plot.
Go to the "Insert" Menu: At the top menu, go to Insert > Chart. A Chart Editor pane will appear on the right, and Google Sheets will insert a default chart (often not a scatter plot) onto your sheet.
Choose the Scatter Chart Type: In the Chart Editor pane, under the "Setup" tab, click the dropdown menu under "Chart type." Scroll down to the "Scatter" section and select the scatter chart option.

Confirm Your Axes: Google Sheets will typically assign your columns to the correct X and Y axes, but it's good practice to double-check. Back in the "Setup" tab, ensure the correct column is assigned to your X-axis and Y-axis.
Customize Your Chart: Switch over to the "Customize" tab in the Chart Editor to fine-tune your chart’s appearance. You can change everything from the chart and axis titles to the color and size of the points. A clearly labeled chart is much easier for others to understand.

Step 4: Interpret the Results and Add a Trendline

Creating the plot is just half the battle. The real value comes from understanding what it's telling you.

Looking at our example plot, the dots generally move from the bottom-left to the top-right. This indicates a positive correlation: weeks with higher ad spending tend to have more sales. While it's not a perfect line, the trend is clear.

To make this relationship even clearer, you can add a trendline - a straight line that cuts through the data points to show the general direction.

How to Add and Understand a Trendline:

Open the Chart Editor: Double-click your scatter plot to open the Chart Editor pane if it's not already open.
Navigate to the "Customize" Tab: Go to the "Customize" tab and expand the "Series" section.
Add the Trendline: Scroll down and check the box next to "Trendline." A line will instantly appear on your chart. You can customize its color, opacity, and thickness here.

Going Deeper: R-squared

For a more advanced view, you can check a box to "Show R²" (R-squared). R-squared is a statistical measure between 0 and 1 that represents the proportion of variance for a dependent variable that's explained by an independent variable.

In simpler terms, it tells you how well your data fits the trendline.

An R² value of 0.82 would mean that 82% of the variation in your "Weekly Sales" can be explained by the variation in your "Social Media Ad Spend." A value this high indicates a strong relationship.
A value closer to 0 indicates a weak relationship.

This single number can help you quickly judge the strength of the correlation you're visually observing.

Final Thoughts

Creating a scatter plot in Google Sheets is a direct way to uncover hidden relationships in your data. Whether you use the AI-powered Explore feature for a quick-start or manually build the chart for full control, you now have the tools to visualize correlations and add a trendline to quantify the connection.

Of course, sometimes your data lives outside of a single spreadsheet. Constantly downloading CSVs from different platforms like Google Analytics, Shopify, and social media ad managers to pull them into Google Sheets can become a weekly chore. That's why we built Graphed. We connect directly to all your data sources, allowing you to ask questions in plain English like, "show me a scatter plot of my Facebook Ads spend vs. my Shopify sales for the last quarter" and get stunning, real-time dashboards instantly - no spreadsheets required.