--- title: "Set Up Google Search Console for Your Nuxt Site" description: "Verify your Nuxt site in Google Search Console, submit your sitemap, and catch indexing and AI-visibility problems before they cost you traffic." canonical_url: "https://nuxtseo.com/learn-seo/nuxt/launch-and-listen/search-console" last_updated: "2026-07-16" --- ::key-takeaways - Use the Domain property for full coverage: it needs DNS verification only, and covers every subdomain plus HTTP and HTTPS together - Submit your sitemap at Indexing → Sitemaps, then use URL Inspection to request indexing for critical pages - Open the dedicated Generative AI features report, linked below the Performance chart, for AI Overview and AI Mode impression data to track citations in AI answers - The AI-powered configuration tool, rolled out in December 2025, lets you filter the Performance report with natural language :: [Google Search Console](https://search.google.com/search-console) shows which pages Google indexed, what queries bring traffic, and how you appear in AI Overviews. Every site needs it: without Search Console, indexing problems go unnoticed until traffic already dropped. ## Create a Search Console Property Visit [search.google.com/search-console](https://search.google.com/search-console) and add a property. You get two types: **Domain property** (`example.com`): - Includes all subdomains (`www`, `m`, `blog`) - Covers both HTTP and HTTPS - Requires DNS verification only **URL-prefix property** (`https://example.com`): - Single protocol and subdomain - Multiple verification methods - Better for subsections or testing [Use the Domain property](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9008080) unless you only control a subdomain. It captures all traffic variations without managing separate properties. ## Verification Methods Google needs proof you own the site. Pick one method and don't remove it: Google [checks verification periodically](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9008080), and a removed record or file can silently drop you back to unverified. ### DNS Verification (Recommended) Add a TXT record to your domain's DNS settings. This is the only method for Domain properties and the most reliable overall. **Steps:** 1. Google provides a TXT record like `google-site-verification=abc123xyz` 2. Add it to your DNS at your registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, [Cloudflare](https://cloudflare.com), etc.) 3. Click **Verify** in Search Console DNS changes take up to 48 hours, but verification works immediately once the record propagates. [Domain property verification covers every subdomain and protocol together](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9008080), so switching between `www` and non-`www` URLs doesn't require re-verifying. ::code-group ```txt [Cloudflare DNS] Type: TXT Name: @ Content: google-site-verification=abc123xyz TTL: Auto ``` ```txt [Route 53 DNS] Record type: TXT Name: example.com Value: "google-site-verification=abc123xyz" TTL: 300 ``` :: ### HTML Meta Tag Add a ``{lang="html"} tag to your site's homepage ``{lang="html"}. Works for URL-prefix properties. ```ts [app.vue] useHead({ meta: [ { name: 'google-site-verification', content: 'abc123xyz' } ] }) ``` The tag must appear in the HTML source. Check with **View Page Source** (not DevTools). Nuxt's SSR ensures the tag is present in the initial HTML response. ### HTML File Upload Upload `google-site-verification.html` to your site's root directory. Works for URL-prefix properties. **Steps:** 1. Download the verification file from Search Console 2. Place it in your `public/` directory 3. Verify it loads at `https://example.com/google-site-verification.html` 4. Click **Verify** in Search Console Don't delete this file after verification. Google re-checks it. ## Submit Your Sitemap After verification, tell Google where to find your pages: 1. Navigate to **Sitemaps** under **Indexing** 2. Enter your sitemap URL: `https://example.com/sitemap.xml` 3. Click **Submit** Status meanings: - **Success**: sitemap parsed, URLs discovered - **Couldn't fetch**: URL wrong or [blocked by robots.txt](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/build-sitemap) - **Pending**: processing in queue Check back in 24-48 hours for discovered page counts. If Google found 0 URLs but your sitemap has URLs, your XML syntax is broken or the URLs return non-200 status codes. ## Key Reports Explained ### Performance Report Shows search data for both traditional search and AI features: **Metrics:** - **Impressions**: how many times your pages appeared in search results - **Clicks**: how many users clicked through - **CTR (Click-Through Rate)**: clicks ÷ impressions - **Position**: average ranking position **AI Visibility:** Open the dedicated **Generative AI features** report, linked below the Performance chart. It shows how many impressions you're getting from AI Overviews and AI Mode, by page, country, and device. The same impressions stay in the main Performance total, so [don't add the two together](https://gscdump.com/learn-google-search-console/performance/generative-ai-performance-reports). High impressions here with low clicks is normal; users are getting the answer directly on Google. Google [counts an AI Overview as a single ranking position](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7042828): every link inside the block shares that same position, and it only counts as an impression once it's scrolled or expanded into view. The Performance report's UI [caps results at 1,000 rows](https://gscdump.com/learn-google-search-console/limits/1000-row-limit) per query and only retains [16 months of history](https://gscdump.com/learn-google-search-console/limits/16-month-data-retention). To analyze every query your site has ever appeared for, and keep it past the 16 months, pull a complete export via [gscdump.com](https://gscdump.com). [Nuxt SEO Pro](https://nuxtseo.com/pro) builds on the same export to monitor your full query and indexing history continuously across every site you manage. **AI-Powered Configuration (Experimental):** [Rolled out in December 2025](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2025/12/ai-powered-configuration) and still expanding to more properties, this tool lets you filter the Performance report with natural language. Example: *"Show me all pages that got AI Overview impressions on mobile last week"* configures the correct filters automatically. ### Page Indexing Report Shows indexing status for all discovered URLs: **Categories:** - **Indexed**: pages in Google's index - **Not indexed**: pages excluded or rejected - **Crawled - currently not indexed**: pages Google saw but chose not to index Check this report for sudden drops in the Indexed count; they usually point to a crawl or content-quality problem worth investigating before it shows up in traffic. ### URL Inspection Tool Enter any URL to see: - Whether it's indexed - When Google last crawled it - Rendered HTML (what Googlebot saw after executing JavaScript) - Screenshot of the rendered page - Structured data found (critical for AI visibility) Click **Request Indexing** to ask Google to crawl the URL immediately. Google enforces a daily quota but has never published the exact number; [requesting the same URL repeatedly won't get it crawled any faster](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/ask-google-to-recrawl). ## Common Actions After publishing new content, open **URL Inspection**, enter the URL, and click **Request Indexing** to ask Google to crawl it sooner. To pull a URL from search results quickly instead, navigate to **Removals** under **Indexing**, click **New Request**, and enter the URL. Removals last [approximately 6 months](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9689846). ## Common Search Console Issues **"AI Mode" impressions but 0 clicks:** Common for informational queries where Google provides the full answer. Focus on brand impressions and ensuring your [Schema.org](/learn-seo/nuxt/mastering-meta/schema-org) is correctly attributed. **Sitemap shows "Discovered - currently not indexed":** Google found the URLs but hasn't crawled them. For new sites, this can take 1-4 weeks. If it persists, check your [internal linking](/learn-seo/nuxt/routes-and-rendering/internal-linking). **Page Indexing report looks frozen:** Google's reporting pipeline fell about two weeks behind for roughly a month between November and December 2025; [Search Engine Land covered the delay](https://searchengineland.com/google-search-console-index-coverage-report-delayed-465464) and the [fix that followed](https://searchengineland.com/google-fixed-month-long-delay-with-page-indexing-report-466419). Google confirmed crawling and indexing kept working the whole time, only the report lagged. If a report ever looks stale again, trust URL Inspection on individual pages over the aggregate. **Verification suddenly fails:** Common if you delete a DNS record or refactor your ``{lang="html"} tags. Re-verify using the original method. ## Bing Webmaster Tools [Bing Webmaster Tools](https://www.bing.com/webmasters) serves a similar purpose to Google Search Console for Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo search. Setup takes about 2 minutes because you can import your existing Google Search Console configuration directly. Bing holds [roughly 10-15% of US desktop search](https://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share/desktop/united-states-of-america) depending on the month, and powers DuckDuckGo results. For B2B sites where users are on corporate desktops, that share is significant. Bing also [captures the large majority of console search queries](https://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share/console/united-states-of-america), since it's the default engine on Xbox. ### IndexNow Bing Webmaster Tools is the gateway to [IndexNow](/learn-seo/nuxt/launch-and-listen/indexnow), which pushes instant indexing notifications to Bing, Yandex, Seznam, and Naver instead of waiting for them to recrawl your sitemap. If you're using the `@nuxtjs/sitemap` module, IndexNow pings happen automatically when your sitemap updates. ### AI Performance Report [Bing Webmaster Tools shipped an AI Performance report](https://searchengineland.com/bing-webmaster-tools-ai-performance-report-468751) in February 2026, showing how often your content gets cited in Microsoft Copilot and Bing's AI summaries: total citations, cited pages, and the queries that triggered them. Google Search Console shows AI Overview impressions but no citation counts, so pairing the two gives a fuller picture of your AI visibility. ## Checklist ::checklist{#nuxt-search-console} - Search Console property verified, ideally the Domain property via DNS - Sitemap submitted and showing a "Success" status - Critical pages checked with URL Inspection after publishing - Performance report checked for AI Overview and AI Mode impressions - Bing Webmaster Tools set up alongside Google Search Console :: ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](/sitemap.md) for all pages.