# Google Search Console

**First-party** clicks / impressions / CTR / position. The only ground-truth source for these KPIs — every modelled estimate from Semrush/Ahrefs/DataForSEO is a proxy. Prefer GSC whenever the site is verified.

## CLI commands

```bash
# Top queries (KPI: clicks, impressions, CTR, position per query)
our research search-console queries --site sc-domain:<domain> --days 28

# Top pages (KPI: clicks, impressions per URL)
our research search-console pages --site sc-domain:<domain> --days 28

# Query × page combined (KPI: cannibalization, content efficiency)
our research search-console combined --site sc-domain:<domain> --days 28
```

`sc-domain:` prefix for Domain-verified properties.

## KPI dimensions served by GSC

| KPI | Source |
|---|---|
| Clicks (first-party) | `queries` or `pages` |
| Impressions (first-party) | `queries` or `pages` |
| CTR | computed from clicks / impressions |
| Average position | `queries` |
| Cannibalization signal | `combined` (query × page) |
| Branded vs non-branded split | post-process `queries` output |
| Anonymous queries | Ahrefs `gsc-anonymous-queries` (if Ahrefs project connected) |

## Ahrefs GSC alternates

When the site is connected as an Ahrefs project:

```
mcp__ahrefs__gsc-performance-history(project_id="<id>")
mcp__ahrefs__gsc-positions-history(project_id="<id>")
mcp__ahrefs__gsc-ctr-by-position(project_id="<id>")
mcp__ahrefs__gsc-anonymous-queries(project_id="<id>")
```

## Strengths for this skill

- Single source of truth for clicks/impressions — non-negotiable in a serious KPI dashboard.
- 28-day, 90-day, and 16-month windows available (GSC default).
- Anonymous queries via Ahrefs surface ~10-30% of impressions Google hides from the standard report.

## Not for this skill when

- **Backlinks / DR KPI** — Ahrefs.
- **Traffic value (USD)** — Semrush.
- **GA4 sessions / conversions** — `our research ga4 *`.
- **Competitor KPIs** — GSC is single-site.

Gotcha: `our-claude-skills/custom-skills/15-seo-search-console/code/gotcha/gsc-cli-integration.md`.