Key takeaways
- Search Console shows how Google itself sees your site, using its own index and crawl data rather than third-party estimates.
- The “Not indexed” reasons in the Page indexing report explain why expected pages are missing from search.
- Search Console changes often: the Mobile Usability report was retired in December 2023, and a generative AI performance report for AI Overviews and AI Mode arrived on June 3, 2026.
- Core Web Vitals, rich result, links, crawl stats and robots.txt reports catch problems that traffic charts only reveal later.
- A monthly walk through these reports catches issues before they cost traffic.
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| What does the Core Web Vitals report show? | Field data from real Chrome users, grouped into Good, Needs improvement and Poor for LCP, INP and CLS. |
| What do the rich result reports reveal? | Valid, warning and error counts for each structured data type Google supports, such as Product, Breadcrumb, Article and Video. |
| What does the Links report show that other tools miss? | Links as Google sees them, including top linking sites, top linked pages and top internally linked pages. |
| Why check the Manual actions report? | Because a manual action can suppress rankings for affected pages or the whole site until you fix the issue and request reconsideration. |
| What does the Security issues report flag? | Malware, phishing, hacked content and deceptive pages. |
| What replaced the Mobile Usability report? | Nothing inside Search Console. |
| What should you look for in the Sitemaps report? | Whether Google can fetch and read each sitemap, when it last did and how many URLs it discovered. |
| How do search appearance filters and the generative AI report change performance analysis? | Search appearance filters and the generative AI report show where your visibility comes from. |
| What do the Crawl stats and robots.txt reports show? | Both live under Settings. |
Most marketers open Search Console, check clicks and impressions and close it. The tool holds far more: why pages are excluded, how real users experience your pages, whether structured data broke and how Googlebot crawls your site. This Emulent guide covers 10 reports worth checking every month.
What does the Page indexing report tell you beyond the summary?
Why specific pages are not indexed. Open the “Why pages aren’t indexed” table rather than stopping at the indexed count.
- “Crawled – currently not indexed”: Google fetched the page but chose not to index it, often a sign of thin, duplicate or low-value content.
- “Discovered – currently not indexed”: Google knows the URL but has not crawled it yet, which on large sites can point to crawl capacity or weak internal linking.
- “Duplicate without user-selected canonical” and “Google chose different canonical than user”: check whether Google’s choice matches yours.
What does the Core Web Vitals report show?
Field data from real Chrome users, grouped into Good, Needs improvement and Poor for LCP, INP and CLS. This is the data Google uses for page experience, so a page that passes Lighthouse can still fail here. Data uses a rolling 28-day window, so allow about a month to confirm fixes.
What do the rich result reports reveal?
Valid, warning and error counts for each structured data type Google supports, such as Product, Breadcrumb, Article and Video. CMS updates and empty fields often break markup without anyone noticing; a Product template that loses its price field can drop rich results across a catalog. Note that FAQ rich results and their report were retired in 2026, and HowTo in 2023.
What does the Links report show that other tools miss?
Links as Google sees them, including top linking sites, top linked pages and top internally linked pages.
- Top internally linked pages show where your internal links concentrate. If the homepage and About page dominate while revenue pages barely appear, rebalance your linking.
- Top externally linked pages that earn little traffic may need content updates or internal links to pass their strength along.
The export is a sample, so pair it with a third-party backlink tool for full audits.
Why check the Manual actions report?
Because a manual action can suppress rankings for affected pages or the whole site until you fix the issue and request reconsideration. They are rare, which is exactly why people forget to look. Check it monthly and after any sudden drop.
What does the Security issues report flag?
Malware, phishing, hacked content and deceptive pages. Google may warn visitors before they reach a flagged site, which cuts traffic and trust immediately. Managed hosts such as Kinsta, which Emulent recommends for WordPress, add malware scanning, but Search Console is where Google tells you directly.
What replaced the Mobile Usability report?
Nothing inside Search Console. Google retired the Mobile Usability report and Mobile-Friendly Test in December 2023. Use Lighthouse in Chrome DevTools and the Core Web Vitals report instead, since mobile-first indexing means Google evaluates your mobile pages. Emulent builds responsive WordPress sites and tests them on real devices.
What should you look for in the Sitemaps report?
Whether Google can fetch and read each sitemap, when it last did and how many URLs it discovered. Click into a sitemap to see indexing for its URLs. A large gap between submitted and indexed URLs points to quality, duplication or crawl problems in that section.
How do search appearance filters and the generative AI report change performance analysis?
Search appearance filters and the generative AI report show where your visibility comes from. Filter the Performance report by search appearance to see clicks and impressions from features such as product snippets, review snippets and videos. Google’s generative AI performance report, introduced June 3, 2026, now isolates impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode, though AI feature data also stays in the main report totals.
What do the Crawl stats and robots.txt reports show?
Both live under Settings. Crawl stats show daily requests, average response time and response codes by file type and Googlebot type; rising response times or many non-200 responses deserve investigation. The robots.txt report, which replaced the old tester in November 2023, shows the robots.txt files Google found, when it fetched them and any errors.
How can the Emulent team help?
Emulent reviews these Search Console reports monthly for enterprise clients and smaller sites alike, catching indexing, markup and crawl issues before they affect traffic. A caveat: Search Console data is sampled and delayed in places, so pair it with analytics and crawl tools for a complete picture. Contact the Emulent team to set up regular Search Console reviews.