Connect Search Console and Google Analytics

Connecting Google is the step that turns Blog AI from a writer into something that knows your site. Google Search Console is Google's free tool that reports how your site appears in Google search: which searches show your pages, how often, where they rank and how many people click. Google Analytics reports what visitors do on your site; Blog AI reads the visits that came from search.

With both connected, Blog AI can rank what to write or fix next, show what each post brought in, and write posts aimed at searches you already appear for.

What access Blog AI asks for

Blog AI asks Google for read-only access to Search Console and Google Analytics, plus your email address so it can show which Google account is connected. Read-only means Blog AI can't change anything: it can't add users, change settings, submit sitemaps or delete data in either tool.

You can use a different Google account from the one you sign in with. That's useful when Search Console lives under a work or agency account.

Connect Google

1. Open Sites. Go to Sites and find your site's card.
2. Click Connect Google. If you've already connected a Google account for another site, you can pick Use a connected account instead and skip Google's screen.
3. Choose the Google account that has access to your site's Search Console property.
4. Allow access, and tick every box. Google may show separate checkboxes for Search Console and Analytics. If you untick one, that data can't sync; the Sites page tells you which access is missing.
5. Pick your properties. Back in Blog AI, choose the Google Search Console property and the Google Analytics property for this site. Blog AI marks the Search Console properties that cover your site's address, and suggests the Analytics property whose web stream matches your site.
6. Save and sync. Click Save and sync. Nothing is saved until you do.

Choosing the right properties

Search Console

Search Console has two kinds of property:

• Domain properties (shown as "whole domain", for example example.com) cover every version of your site: http and https, with and without www., and all subdomains. Pick this if you have it.
• URL-prefix properties (shown as "this address only", for example https://www.example.com/) cover only addresses that start exactly that way.

Blog AI checks that the property you pick really covers your site's address and flags ones that don't. Only properties you've verified in Search Console are listed.

Google Analytics

Pick the GA4 property that collects data for this website. Blog AI reads visits whose channel is Organic Search, and for each landing page: sessions, engaged sessions, page views, conversions (key events) and engagement time. If you don't use Google Analytics, you can leave it unset: everything that relies on Search Console still works.

What happens after you connect

• The first sync brings in recent days, usually within a few minutes. The card then says "Google data synced" and keeps loading older history in the background: up to 16 months back on a paid plan (as far as Search Console keeps data), or the last 3 months on the free plan.
• Every day after that, Blog AI syncs the latest data automatically. Search Console usually runs two or three days behind; Analytics is usually up to date to yesterday.
• Sync now on the Sites card fetches new data straight away. It can be used once every 10 minutes per site.
• Your posts are matched to Google's pages by their web address, so each post gets its own numbers. Posts published later pick up their history automatically.

Once the first sync finishes, your Actions list fills in, the free AI-visibility snapshot can run, and the free post becomes available (once your voice is set too).

Changing properties later

Click Change properties on the Sites card. Changing a property deletes the data Blog AI synced from the old one, because it belongs to a different site in Google's eyes, and starts a fresh sync.

Disconnecting Google

You can disconnect a Google account from Blog AI at any time:

• On a site: click Disconnect Google next to the account on the site's card on Sites.
• For all sites at once: go to Connected accounts in Settings, which lists every Google account you've connected and the sites that use it, and click Disconnect Google.

Blog AI asks you to confirm first. When you do:

• Blog AI stops reading Search Console and Analytics for every site that used that Google account, and those sites show Connect Google again.
• We revoke our access at Google, so the account no longer lists Blog AI as an app with access. (If another of your Blog AI connections still uses the same Google account, access stays until you disconnect that one too.)
• Data already synced stays in Blog AI until you connect again or delete it. It just stops updating.
• You can reconnect any time with Connect Google on the Sites card.

To check for yourself, open Google's Third-party apps with account access page at myaccount.google.com/connections. You can also remove Blog AI from there; in that case your sites keep their data and Home asks you to reconnect.

Common problems and fixes

"This Google account has no verified Google Search Console properties"

The account you picked doesn't have access to Search Console for any site, or its properties aren't verified. Either connect a different account (Connect another Google account), or ask the property's owner to add your account as a user in Search Console.

A property says "doesn't cover" your site, or "… isn't part of …"

Your site's address in Blog AI and the Search Console property don't match: for example, the property is https://example.com/ but your site is https://www.example.com. A URL-prefix property must match exactly, including www. and https. Pick a domain property ("whole domain") if you have one, or the URL-prefix property that matches your address exactly.

"Google didn't grant offline access"

Blog AI needs to sync data while you're away. Remove Blog AI at myaccount.google.com/permissions, then connect again.

"… access was not granted, so that data can't sync"

You unticked Search Console or Analytics on Google's screen. Click Connect Google again and tick every box.

"Google access was not granted" or "The Google sign-in expired"

You declined on Google's screen, or the sign-in took too long or started in another browser. Start again from the Sites card.

"Use the numeric Google Analytics property ID"

Analytics properties have a number (found in Admin → Property details). The G- code is a measurement ID for a web stream, not the property.

"This Google account can't read that Google Analytics property"

The account has no access to that property. Ask its owner to add your account as a Viewer in Google Analytics (Admin → Property access management), or connect the account that has access.

"… needs reconnecting: Google says access was revoked or has expired"

Someone removed Blog AI from the Google account, changed the password, or the access expired. Data stops updating until you reconnect: see When Google needs reconnecting.

The sync says "Paused after N failed attempts"

Google refused several syncs in a row, often because your account lost access to the property. Blog AI retries automatically with growing gaps; Sync now retries immediately. If it keeps failing, check your access in Search Console. Google's own usage limits (too many requests) are retried automatically and don't need you to do anything.

A post shows no Google numbers

Blog AI matches each post to Search Console by its live address. It ignores http versus https, www., a trailing slash and anything after ?, but not the rest of the path, including capital letters. Numbers stay empty when:

• The post is new. Search Console runs two or three days behind, and a new post may take a week or two to appear in searches at all.
• The live address Blog AI has is wrong. For Strapi, Contentful and Sanity, this comes from the post address pattern; for a webhook, from the link your webhook returns or your blog address. Open the post's live link from Blog AI: if it doesn't load the post, the pattern is wrong. See Connection troubleshooting.
• The property doesn't cover the address, for example a URL-prefix property for https://www.example.com/ while the blog is on blog.example.com. Use a domain property.
• The post's canonical address points elsewhere. Google reports the canonical page, so Blog AI matches that.

Analytics shows fewer visits than you expect

Blog AI only reads visits whose channel is Organic Search, by landing page. Visits from social media, email or ads aren't counted here.

Next

Set your writing voice, so your first post sounds like you.