What Google Search Console is and how Kite works with it
Google Search Console is Google's free service for seeing how your site performs in Google Search. It reports the queries people used to find you, the pages that came up, and the clicks, impressions, click-through rate, and average position behind each one. It also shows which of your URLs Google has indexed and tracks the sitemaps you submit.
Kite reads that performance data and turns it into content decisions: which pages are close to ranking, which queries you appear for but rarely get clicked, and which pages are worth a rewrite. It also checks that Google has indexed your pages and keeps your sitemaps submitted, so new work gets crawled.
Connecting costs nothing. Google doesn't charge for Search Console, and Kite's free plan lets you connect your own Google account, which is all Kite needs to read your data. On a paid plan, Kite also handles the Search Console setup for sites it hosts on your own domain, so there's nothing to connect for those steps.
Marketing jobs Kite can do with Google Search Console
Search Console holds two kinds of useful information: how your pages perform in search, and whether Google can find and index them in the first place. Kite reads both to decide what to write and to get new work crawled. The jobs below involve the most vital performance data, plus the indexing and sitemap work behind it.
Turn your query and page performance into content decisions
Kite queries your Search Console performance and breaks it down by search query and by page. For each one, it reads clicks, impressions, click-through rate, and average position, and it can group the numbers by date, country, device, and search type.
That breakdown is the raw material for deciding what to write or rewrite. A page sitting near the bottom of the first results page for a high-impression query is often one good rewrite away from real traffic. A query with thousands of impressions and a low click-through rate usually points at a weak title or description. A page that picks up impressions for a question it only half answers is a candidate for a clearer section. Kite reads those patterns, picks the pages worth the effort, and proposes the change.
See which pages are indexed and catch indexing problems
A page can't earn search traffic until Google has indexed it. Kite inspects a URL and reads back its index status, whether it's eligible to appear in results, and the issues Google reports against it. It lists the verified properties on your account and reads each one's details so it works against the right site.
This matters most right after you ship. When Kite publishes a new page or a large rewrite, it can confirm that Google has actually indexed the URL instead of assuming it, and it can surface a page that has been dropped or blocked so you fix it before it costs you traffic.
Register your site and keep its sitemaps current
For a site Kite builds and hosts on your own domain, getting into Google's index is automatic on a paid plan. When you connect the domain, Kite verifies that you own it and registers it in Search Console as a domain property, which covers every version of the site. After every publish, it submits the sitemap so Google can discover every page. None of that needs a connected account, because it runs on Kite's own Search Console access.
Through your connected account, Kite also reads the state of your sitemaps: which ones you have submitted, when each was last submitted, and how many of their URLs Google has submitted and indexed, along with any errors or warnings. If you run your site on another platform, Kite can submit a sitemap to your property the same way and watch those counts afterward.
What Kite reads and changes in Google Search Console
Reading any of this requires a connected Google account. The two write actions are what Kite's built-in route performs automatically for a site it hosts on your own domain on a paid plan, and they are also available through a connected account.
Information Kite can read
- Search performance by query and pageClicks, impressions, click-through rate, and average position for the queries you appear for and the pages that rank, which Kite can split by date, country, device, and search type. This is what tells Kite which pages to improve.
- URL indexing statusWhether Google has indexed a given URL, whether it is eligible to appear, and the issues reported against it, so Kite knows a page is live in search before it measures it.
- Sitemaps and their healthThe sitemaps submitted for a property, when each was last submitted, and how many URLs Google has submitted and indexed, plus any errors or warnings.
- Verified propertiesThe sites on the connected account and each one's details, including the permission level the account holds, so Kite works in the right property.
Information Kite can create or change
- Site propertiesKite registers a new property in Search Console and verifies ownership, and it can remove a property it no longer needs to track.
- Sitemap submissionsKite submits or resubmits a sitemap so Google recrawls the pages it lists.
How Kite connects to Google Search Console
Kite is your AI marketer. It researches your business, builds a growth strategy, and ships the work that brings you new customers. You can work with Kite in your browser or in Slack.
Google Search Console works two ways with Kite. The route most teams start with is connecting your Google account through OAuth, which you can do on any plan, including the free one. Kite then works with the properties that account can access, at the permission level Google grants it. This route covers any site you already track in Search Console, whether Kite hosts it or it runs on Webflow, WordPress, or your own stack. You point Kite at the property you want it to work in, and it reads the queries, pages, index status, and sitemaps from there.
The second route is built in. When a team on a paid plan connects its own domain to a site Kite builds and hosts, Kite verifies the domain and registers the property on its own credentials, then submits the sitemap after each publish. That route only writes. It's how a new Kite-hosted site starts showing up in Google, and you connect your account when you also want Kite to read how the site performs.
How-to guides using Google Search Console
- How to submit your sitemap to Google Search Console The steps to submit a sitemap by hand, and how Kite checks the sitemap first, submits it, and then confirms which of your important pages Google actually indexed.
- How to get a weekly Google Search Console report in Slack Kite compares each week's clicks, impressions, and positions with the week before, works out why each slipping page lost traffic, and posts the report with the fixes it recommends.
- How to check whether a redesign hurt your Google rankings with Search Console Kite compares your Search Console numbers before and after a launch, pairs each old page with the page that replaced it, and ranks what lost traffic and why.
- How to compare AI mentions with Google search performance using Search Console Kite pulls your query and page performance from Search Console, takes a fresh reading of where your brand shows up in AI answers, and lines the two up so you can see where you win clicks in Google but go missing in AI answers.
- How to compare AI mentions, search performance, and competitors with Search Console and Semrush This one adds Semrush. Kite combines your first-party Search Console numbers with Semrush's view of the keywords and competitors around them, then sets both next to your AI-answer visibility to find the gaps worth closing first.
- How to turn Search Console data into Webflow content updates Kite reads your Search Console performance, picks the pages worth improving, writes the changes into your Webflow CMS, publishes them, and checks the numbers again after Google recrawls.
- How to turn Search Console data into self-hosted WordPress content updates The same loop for a self-hosted WordPress site: Kite finds the underperforming pages in Search Console, updates the posts in WordPress, and remeasures once the changes are live.
Where Google Search Console fits in Kite's marketing work
Limits and product-specific details
- Reading needs a connected account. Kite's built-in route only registers a property, verifies it, and submits a sitemap, which it does for sites it hosts on your own domain on a paid plan. Reading your query and page performance, index status, or sitemap health requires connecting your Google account.
- Search Console reports on a delay. Index status and sitemap counts can lag the live site by a few days, so Kite waits for Google to reprocess before it reads a result again.
- Average position is a weighted average. The position Search Console reports is averaged across every impression in the range, so Kite treats it as a trend to move rather than an exact rank.
- Kite works at your account's permission level. It acts only on the properties your connected account can access, and only as far as the permission Google grants that account.
Common questions
Is the Google Search Console integration free?
The Google Search Console integration costs nothing to connect or use within Kite's free plan. Google doesn't charge for Search Console itself, and on Kite's free plan you connect your Google account and Kite reads your queries, pages, index status, and sitemaps, with a set amount of usage included and no recurring subscription. When that included usage runs out, you can upgrade to the Growth plan, which costs $100 a month per workspace and includes $100 in AI credits. A paid plan also turns on the automatic Search Console setup for sites Kite hosts on your own domain.
Can Kite read Search Console data for a site it does not host?
Yes. Connect the Google account that owns the property and Kite reads its search performance, index status, and sitemaps no matter where the site runs, whether that is Webflow, WordPress, or your own code. The built-in route is only for the sites Kite hosts; the connected account covers everything else.
How fresh is the data Kite works with?
Search Console reports on a few-day delay, so the clicks, impressions, and index status Kite reads reflect the last processed days rather than the live minute. Kite accounts for that when it measures a page before and after a change, waiting for Google to recrawl and reprocess before it reads the result again.
Does Kite write anything to Search Console?
Very little. Its only writes are registering a property, verifying ownership, submitting a sitemap, and removing a property it no longer needs. Everything else Kite does with Search Console is reading and interpreting your performance data.