# Search Console Setup + AI Mode Impressions

> Set up Google Search Console in 10 minutes and read its Generative AI report: AI Overviews and AI Mode impressions per page.

Source: https://geoasked.com/guides/google-search-console-setup/ · Updated: 2026-10-26 · GEO Asked

## In short

- Search Console is Google’s own data about your site. Google itself recommends its Generative AI report over third-party tools.
- Pick a Domain property (DNS verification) or a URL-prefix property (HTML tag, file and more). Then submit your sitemap.
- Use URL Inspection to get key pages indexed, and Performance → Queries to find the real questions people ask.

## Why Search Console comes first

Google’s AI features (AI Overviews and AI Mode) only use pages that are indexed and eligible to be shown with a snippet.[^g-ai] Search Console is where Google tells you whether that is true for your pages. Google also says no third-party tool has access to its internal ranking or AI systems and recommends the Generative AI performance report in Search Console.[^g-geo]

![Measurement setup: your site to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, then AI answers](https://geoasked.com/img/en/gsc-bing.svg)

## 1. Add a property (2 min)

Go to [Google Search Console](https://search.google.com/search-console), sign in and add a property. There are two types:[^gsc-property]

| Aspect | Domain property | URL-prefix property |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | All subdomains and protocols (`http`, `https`, `www`, `m`) | Only URLs starting with the exact prefix |
| Verification | DNS record only | Several methods (HTML tag, HTML file and others) |
| Use it when | You control your domain’s DNS | You don’t control DNS (e.g. `workers.dev`) |

## 2. Verify (3 min)

- **Domain property:** add the TXT record Search Console gives you at your DNS provider (on Cloudflare: DNS → Records → Add record → TXT).
- **URL-prefix property:** paste the `<meta name="google-site-verification" …>` tag into your homepage `<head>`, publish, then click Verify.

## 3. Submit your sitemap (1 min)

Open **Sitemaps**, enter your sitemap URL (for example `sitemap-index.xml` or `sitemap.xml`) and submit.[^sitemap] If your site has no sitemap, ask your agent to generate one; most static site tools do it automatically.

## 4. Check your key pages (3 min)

Paste each important URL into the **URL Inspection** bar at the top. You can see whether Google has indexed it, test the live version and request indexing.[^inspect] Do this for your homepage and every answer page you publish.

## 5. Find real questions (1 min, then weekly)

Open **Performance → Search results → Queries**. Filter for question patterns such as *how, what, best, which, vs, price* (the query filter accepts a custom regex, for example `^(how|what|best|which)\b`). These are the questions people already use to find you, and the raw material for your answer pages. → [Keyword research for GEO](https://geoasked.com/guides/keyword-research-for-geo/)

## 6. Open the Generative AI report

Since June 2026, Search Console has a dedicated view of your impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode, by page, country and device. It rolled out to all sites on August 31, 2026.[^gsc-genai] Two details matter:[^gsc-help]

- It shows **impressions only**: no clicks, CTR or position.
- If several of your pages appear in the same AI feature, that counts as **one** impression.

Note which pages already earn AI impressions. Those topics are working; build around them.

## Common problems

- **Blocked by robots.txt** or a **noindex** tag on the page.
- A **canonical** pointing to another URL.
- The main text only appears after **JavaScript** runs. Most AI crawlers don’t run JavaScript, so keep important content in the HTML.[^vercel]

[^g-ai]: Google Search Central, [AI features and your website](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features), December 10, 2025.
[^g-geo]: Google Search Central, [Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide), July 10, 2026.
[^gsc-property]: Search Console Help, [Add a website property to Search Console](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/34592).
[^sitemap]: Google Search Central, [Build and submit a sitemap](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/build-sitemap).
[^inspect]: Search Console Help, [URL Inspection tool](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9012289).
[^gsc-genai]: Google Search Central Blog, [Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/06/gen-ai-performance-reports), June 3, 2026.
[^gsc-help]: Search Console Help, [Generative AI performance report (Search)](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139).
[^vercel]: Vercel, [The rise of the AI crawler](https://vercel.com/blog/the-rise-of-the-ai-crawler), December 17, 2024.

## FAQ

### Domain or URL-prefix property?

If you control DNS, a Domain property is best: it covers every subdomain and protocol, but it can only be verified with a DNS record. On an address you don’t control DNS for, like a workers.dev subdomain, use a URL-prefix property with the HTML tag method.

### My page isn’t indexed. What now?

Open URL Inspection, test the live URL and look for a reason: blocked by robots.txt, a noindex tag, a different canonical, or a server error. Fix it, then request indexing.

### Does the Generative AI report show clicks?

No. It shows impressions only, with no clicks, CTR or position. Clicks from AI features are still counted in the overall Performance report.