How to set up Google Search Console and connect it with AI agents

Google Search Console shows AIM's AI agents what people typed into Google before they reached your site, which page they landed on, and where you ranked. It is how they choose article topics from real searches instead of guesses. The connection is read-only. The agents cannot change anything in Search Console.

Use this guide when you connect Search Console for the first time, or when your site does not appear after you sign in.

At a glance

Time: about 15 minutes for a new site, plus a few days before Google shows data. About 2 minutes if the site is already verified.
Access you need: any verified access to the site in Search Console (Owner, Full, or Restricted).
What AIM can do: read clicks, impressions, click-through rate, average position, and your top searches and pages.
What AIM cannot do: submit sitemaps, remove pages, change settings, or add users.

Before you start

A Google account you can sign in with.
A website you can prove you own, or a developer who can add a DNS record or a tag for you.
In AIM, the Owner, Admin, or Marketer role on the workspace.

Set up Google Search Console

Open search.google.com/search-console and sign in.
Click Add property. Choose Domain if you can add a DNS record: it covers every address on your domain, with and without www, on http and https. Choose URL prefix if you can only add a tag or upload a file: it covers that one address.
Verify the site the way Google shows you. For a Domain property, add the TXT record at your domain provider. For a URL prefix, the quickest ways are your existing Google Analytics or Tag Manager tag.
Wait for data. A new property is empty at first. Google usually shows the first searches within two or three days.
If a teammate will connect AIM, open Settings, then Users and permissions, and add their Google user. Restricted access is enough.

Connect Search Console with AIM's AI agents

Sign in to AIM and open Integrations, then Google Search Console.
Click Connect Google. Google asks you to approve read-only access to Search Console.
Sign in with the Google user that can open the site.
Choose the site for this workspace. If you see both a whole-domain entry and a single-address entry, choose the whole domain. A workspace uses one site at a time.
When the badge says Connected, the agents can read it.

What happens after you connect

Here is what AIM does with the connection, in plain terms.

Your access is stored privately. Google gives AIM a read-only access grant, not your password. AIM keeps it encrypted, uses it only for this workspace, and deletes it from AIM when you disconnect.
The agents read your search results on a schedule. AIM keeps each week's clicks, impressions, click-through rate, and average position, plus the searches and pages that brought the most clicks. You can also click Refresh insights on the Search Console page whenever you want the latest numbers.
Article topics come from real searches. SEO Manager looks for searches where you already appear just off the first page, and plans articles and page fixes for them.
Each week is compared with the one before. The agents see which searches and pages gained or lost clicks and position, and say so in their reports.
The newest days are provisional. Google takes two or three days to finish counting. AIM includes those days as they stand, so the latest week can still rise a little.
Everything is logged. The Agent work on Google Search Console list on the integration page records every time an agent read from this site.

Which AI agents use this connection

SEO Manager reads your searches and positions to plan keywords, articles, and page fixes.
Article Writer uses the questions people really search when it writes.
Analyst & Reporter reports search clicks and position beside your other results.
Strategist uses search demand when it plans the month.
Performance Optimizer checks whether changes to a page moved its position.

None of them can change anything in Search Console. That stays in Google.

If something looks wrong

The site list is empty. The Google user you signed in with has no verified site. Disconnect, then sign in with a user that can open the site in Search Console.
Choose an account. You signed in but have not picked a site yet. Open the page and choose one.
Sign in again or Expired. Google ended the access grant. This happens after a password change, or when access is removed in Google. Click Connect Google again.
Needs attention. AIM could not read the site. Open the Search Console page in AIM to see the reason.
The numbers are all zero. The property is new, or it is a URL-prefix property for an address your visitors do not use (for example http when your site runs on https). Check the Performance report in Search Console, and prefer a Domain property.
The numbers are lower than in Google Analytics. They measure different things. Search Console counts clicks from Google Search only; Analytics counts visits from everywhere.

What stays in your control

Disconnecting in AIM stops the agents immediately and removes AIM's access grant. Nothing in Search Console is changed or deleted. To revoke access on Google's side too, remove AIM under Third-party apps & services in your Google Account.

To see what visitors do after they arrive, connect Google Analytics as well. Search Console tells the agents how people find you. Analytics tells them what happens next.

Still need help setting this up?

If your site never appears after you sign in, or the numbers stay at zero after a week, contact the AIM team. Say you are connecting Google Search Console, and include your site address. We will help you finish the setup.