SEO reporting explained: read it with a red pen
An SEO report should let a busy owner answer one question in five minutes: did search bring in more business this month, and why? Here's where each number comes from, why the tools disagree, and the margin notes we'd write on any report, ours included.
By the Boltly team · about 12 minutes to read
Updated
- Search ConsoleClicks, impressions, position
- AnalyticsSessions, key events
- Business ProfileCalls, directions (ads mixed in)
- Generative AI reportAI impressions only
- Call trackingPhone enquiries
- Rank trackerA fixed list of searches
- Your monthly reportEvery figure names its source
- EnquiriesThe number at the top
Schematic, not to scale: six sources feed one report, and the report should end at enquiries.
What SEO reporting is for
SEO reporting is a regular write-up that shows how your site performed in search, what caused the changes, and what happens next, using data from your own Google accounts. The numbers matter less than the explanation. A report that lists rankings without saying what they did for enquiries hasn't done its job.
Treat it like a bank statement: each figure should trace to a tool you can open yourself, compared against a period that makes sense, with a sentence explaining it.
Three tests cover most of it. Can you read the summary in a few minutes? Does it lead with enquiries, calls or sales rather than a score? And does it show the months that went badly as clearly as the good ones? If a report fails any of those, raise it with whoever writes it.
Six sources, and what each one can and can't tell you
Nearly every figure in an SEO report comes from one of these six, defined here from Google's own help pages.
Google Search Console
What happened on the results page
Clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position for your site in Google Search. Google defines average position as the average of your topmost result's position, so a page shown equally often at 3 for one search and 9 for another averages 6.
Can't tell youwhat visitors did after they clicked.
Google Analytics 4
What happened on your site
Sessions, engagement and key events such as form sends or bookings. Google counts a session as engaged if it lasts more than 10 seconds, records a key event, or views two or more pages.
Can't tell youwhich searches brought people in; Search Console holds that.
Business Profile performance
What happened on Maps and the local pack
Views, the searches that showed your profile, calls, direction requests, website clicks, bookings and messages. Google notes this data includes interactions from both organic results and Google Ads.
Can't tell youorganic and paid separately, so read it with your ad spend in mind.
Generative AI performance report
How often AI answers linked to you
Impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode by page, country, date and device. Google says it reached every Search Console property as of 31 August 2026.
Can't tell youclicks or the questions asked. Clicks stay in the main Performance report.
Call tracking
Phone enquiries from search
For trades and clinics the phone is often the main enquiry. A tracking number shown to search visitors counts those calls.
Can't tell youwhether the caller became a customer; your job records do.
Rank trackers
Positions for a fixed list of searches
Third-party tools check where you appear for chosen searches from a chosen location. Useful for spotting movement on terms you care about, as long as the list was picked before the work began.
Can't tell youanything about Google's internal systems. Google says no third-party tool has access to them.
Sources: Search Console Help, Performance report metrics and dimensions; Google Search Central, "Using Search Console and Google Analytics data for SEO" (updated 7 January 2026); Business Profile Help, "Understand your Business Profile performance & insights"; Search Console Help, "Generative AI performance report (Search)". All read 4 October 2026.
Why the numbers never quite match
The tools count different things, and Google documents most of the gaps, so two figures that disagree usually mean nothing is wrong.
Clicks aren't sessions
Search Console counts clicks on Google's results page. Analytics counts sessions on your site. Google says the two are calculated differently and you'll likely see different numbers. Cookie consent and ad blockers widen the gap further.
Some searches are hidden
Search Console leaves out rare searches to protect privacy. Google calls them anonymised queries. They're counted in the chart totals but missing from the query table, so the rows never add up to the total.
The table stops at 1,000 rows
Long-tail searches beyond the first thousand rows fall off the table but stay in the chart. Google points to its bulk data export for the most complete list.
Filters change totals
Filtering by page or query can make totals rise, or rarely drop, because the chart switches from adding up by site to adding up by page.
Days run on Pacific time
Search Console's daily figures use US Pacific Time, so an Australian "Monday" straddles two of its days. Weekly and monthly views smooth this out.
Only 16 months of history
Search Console keeps 16 months. To compare further back, export it through the API or bulk export before it ages out.
A good report says which source each number came from and doesn't mix them in one chart. If a report shows "organic traffic" without naming the tool, ask which one it means.
Sources: Search Console Help, Performance report dimensions, data discrepancies and "About the data"; Google Search Central, "Debug drops in Google Search traffic" and "Using Search Console and Google Analytics data for SEO". Read 4 October 2026.
Which metrics matter, and which mislead
Metrics that track money belong at the top; the ones that explain the movement go underneath.
Headline numbers
- Enquiries from search. Forms, calls and bookings from organic visitors. This is the reason you pay for SEO.
- Sales from search, for online stores, from Analytics with ecommerce tracking set up.
- Clicks to the pages that sell. Service and product pages, not blog posts that rarely lead to a sale.
- Business Profile calls and directions, with the note that ad clicks are mixed in.
Supporting detail
- Impressions. Useful for spotting early movement, but they rise easily without anyone clicking.
- Average position. Worth tracking per page; a site-wide average blends hundreds of searches into one number.
- Total keywords ranked. Mostly searches nobody who buys from you types. Fine in the appendix.
- Tool scores. "SEO health" or "authority" scores come from third-party tools, not Google.
Impressions deserve extra care now
AI answers and other features mean more searches are settled on the results page. SparkToro, working with Similarweb, found that 68% of US Google searches from January to April 2026 ended without a click to any website (published 8 June 2026). Australian figures haven't been published to the same standard, but the effect is visible in many Search Console accounts: impressions climb while clicks hold flat.
So the Generative AI performance report belongs in the supporting section: it shows whether AI Overviews link to your pages, but the headline stays with enquiries. Our article on SEO for AI search explains what that report measures.
How to read one month against another
Use the same comparison every month, because the comparison you choose decides whether a report looks good or bad.
Compare with the same month last year as well as the month before. A garden maintenance business in Hobart will see enquiries fall every winter; a tax agent will be busiest around the end of the financial year. Google's own guide to debugging traffic drops suggests looking at 16 months of data so seasonal patterns show up.
Note anything outside the work that could explain a change: a Google update, a site outage, a price rise, a competitor's new location or a long weekend. So far in 2026 that list includes two core updates (March and May) and four spam updates (March, June, August and September); a good report names any that overlapped with a dip.
Give it time. Google's SEO starter guide says changes can take effect within hours or take several months, so a report that judges last week's work by this week's traffic is reading noise. Our article on how long SEO takes goes further.
Margin notesFive questions for any report
- Compared to what?Last month, last year, or a hand-picked low point?
- Which tool?Every figure should name its source.
- So what for enquiries?Rankings and traffic only matter if they lead somewhere.
- What went wrong?No report should be all good news.
- What changes next month?A report that never alters the plan is a receipt.
Six things that should make you ask questions
No access to the source
The report quotes Search Console or Analytics, but you don't have your own login. You should own both accounts and be able to check any figure.
Rankings and nothing else
Positions for a list of keywords, with no traffic, enquiries or sales. Rankings are a means, not the result.
A moving comparison
One month compared with last month, the next with a low point from two years ago. The baseline should stay the same.
Only good news
Every chart points up, month after month. Something is being left out.
No list of work done
You can't see what was changed on your site, or why. Every change should be listed, page by page.
Scores dressed as Google data
"Domain authority" or a "health score" presented as if Google uses it. These are third-party estimates.
No enquiry count, no link list, and three months of "early days"
These are the three gaps owners raise most often when they ask whether their SEO is working, with what to request.
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The report can't say how many enquiries came from search
Usually nobody set up the tracking. Ask for three things. Form sends and bookings recorded as key events in your Google Analytics property, so they can be filtered to organic search. Calls counted, either with a tracking number registered in your name or by recording taps on the phone number as an event. And a "where did you find us?" question on the enquiry form and at the start of each call, written down in your job system. Until those exist, every report is guessing at the number that matters.
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"Twelve backlinks built" with no addresses
A link you can't visit can't be checked. Ask for every link as a full URL on the linking site, with the date it went live and whether it was paid. Open a few. If they sit on pages no reader would ever find, or on sites that exist only to sell links, that's a risk to your site, not progress. Compare the list with Search Console's Links report.
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Three months in, no new enquiries, and the report says it's early days
It may be. Search work tends to show up in a rough order: pages indexed, then impressions, then better positions, then clicks, and only then calls and forms. Ask which stage each target page has reached and what evidence shows it, page by page. A new website or a crowded market moves slower. What shouldn't happen is three months with no movement at any stage and no explanation; agree a review date now.
What you'd get from us
Our reports answer the same questions.
Monthly reportOne page, marked up
- Summary in plain wordsCould I explain this to my partner?
- Enquiries from searchCompared with last month AND last year?
- Search Console clicks by pageWhich pages moved, and why?
- Business Profile calls and directionsIncludes ad traffic, says Google
- AI Overview and AI Mode impressionsNew since 31 Aug 2026
- Work done this monthPage by page, with reasons
- Next month's planWhat changed because of this?
An outline, not a real client report. No figures shown.
- A written report every month on every plan, leading with enquiries from search, then the clicks and pages that explain them.
- A list of every change we made to your site that month, page by page, with the reason, and a note on anything that didn't work.
- Figures drawn from your own Search Console, Analytics and Business Profile, which stay in your name so you can check them.
- Growth adds a monthly call to talk it through; Performance adds a strategy call.
The plans are Starter at $500 a month, Growth at $900 and Performance at $1,500, with no setup fee and no lock-in. The pricing page lists what each includes. If you already have a provider and want an outside read of their reports, our SEO audit can check the tracking and the numbers behind them, and the guide to choosing an SEO agency covers what to ask before you sign.
SEO reports, answered
What is SEO reporting?
SEO reporting is a regular summary of how your site performs in search, what caused the changes and what's planned next, built from your own Google accounts. The best reports lead with enquiries or sales from search, then use clicks, rankings and technical checks to explain why they moved.
What should an SEO report include?
A plain summary, enquiries or sales from search compared with last month and last year, clicks by page from Search Console, Business Profile actions for local businesses, the work done that month, what didn't work, and the plan for next month. Each figure should name the tool it came from.
What tools are used for SEO reporting?
Google Search Console for search performance, Google Analytics 4 for on-site behaviour and key events, Business Profile performance for local actions, and often call tracking and a rank tracker. Google offers a Looker Studio template that shows Search Console and Analytics data together.
Is Google Search Console the same as Google Analytics?
No. Search Console reports what happened on Google's results page: clicks, impressions and positions. Analytics reports what visitors did on your site. Google says clicks and sessions are calculated differently, so the two will rarely match, and that's expected.
What does average position mean in Search Console?
It's the average position of your topmost result across the searches where you appeared. A page shown equally often in 2nd place for one search and 10th for another averages 6. Read it page by page; a site-wide average hides more than it shows.
What is a good SEO score?
There isn't an official one. "SEO scores" come from third-party tools, each with its own formula. They can flag issues to check, but enquiries and clicks from your own Google accounts are the better measure.
How often should I get an SEO report?
Monthly suits most small businesses. Weekly figures swing with weekends and weather, while quarterly leaves problems unspotted for too long.
Google's autocomplete suggested "seo reporting tools", "what should an seo report include", "is google search console the same as google analytics", "average position search console" and "what is a good seo score" when we searched from Australia on 4 October 2026.
Not sure what your report is telling you?
Our free audit includes a check of your tracking, so the numbers you're sent can be trusted.