Yext receives a significant amount of Analytics data for Pages from Google. The primary source of this data is Google Search Console (GSC), a free service that provides a Performance Report detailing how a business's website performs in Google Search results.
GSC Performance Reports provide analytics on a website's Google Search performance, such as how often a website appears in search, where it appears, and how often users engage with it. GSC also allows you to slice these analytics by dimension, for example by specific site or by search query.
Yext pulls these analytics directly from GSC using the Search Console API and displays them as metrics and dimensions in the Yext platform.
Metrics and Dimensions from Google Search Console
All metrics and dimensions in Yext Analytics from Google Search Console include the prefix "Google Search," and can be found under the Pages sub-menu in Report Builder. For the full list of these metrics and dimensions, including field-level detail, see the Pages Metrics help article.
Google Search Console vs. Google Business Profile vs. Google Analytics
Google Search Console isn't the only Google service Yext uses to pull analytics data. The other services you may encounter in the context of Yext are Google Business Profile and Google Analytics (GA).
| Google Search Console (GSC) | Google Business Profile | Google Analytics (GA) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| General description | Monitor how your site performs in Google Search results | Manage and monitor how your business listing appears on Google Search and Maps | Monitor user-focused web analytics about your site, such as conversions |
| Scope of Google products | Google Search (also Discover and News) | Google Search, Google Maps | Not applicable, specific to your website |
| Provides analytics for | Pages | Listings | None |
| Yext metrics | Google Search Clicks, Impressions, Average Position, Click Through Rate | Google Customer Actions, Followers, Map Views, Phone Calls, Search Queries, Search Views | None |
| Yext dimensions | Google Search Query, Query Type, Country | Google Query Type | None |
The most important distinction to remember is which Yext product each service pertains to: GSC is a source of data for Pages, while Google Business Profile is a source of data for Listings. Yext does not receive any analytics directly from Google Analytics.
How Pages Metrics Differ from Listings metrics
Some Pages metrics (from GSC) and Listings metrics (from Google Business Profile) sound similar but represent different scopes of where results appear in Google. Two core differences apply to all Pages and Listings metrics:
- Pages metrics are counted by URL, when a URL to a Yext Page is returned. Listings metrics are counted by listing, when the entire listing or business profile is returned.
- Pages metrics are limited to Google Search. Listings metrics include both Google Search and Google Maps.
For the current set of Listings metrics and how they're defined, see the Location Listings Metrics help article.
Why Click and Impression Totals Change by Dimension
Depending on which filter or dimension you select in the Yext platform, the total number of clicks and impressions can change significantly. For example, dimensioning by Days might show a total click count of 1.1M for an account, while dimensioning by Page URL might show 850K for the same period.
These differences are an expected result of how Google aggregates and filters totals differently depending on the dimension used. Two primary causes explain this:
Aggregating by Property vs. Aggregating by Page
Depending on the dimension selected, Google returns either totals by property or totals by page. For example, consider two pages: [brand].com/new-york.html and [brand].com/dc.htm`. The property for each page is the same ([brand].com), but the page for each is different.
If both pages are returned in the same Google search and a user clicks on both:
- If GSC aggregates by property, it counts one impression and one click for that search, because there's only one unique property.
- If GSC aggregates by page, it counts two impressions and two clicks, one for each unique page.
Dimensions that aggregate by page generally show a higher total count of impressions and clicks than those that aggregate by property.
Filtering out Anonymized Queries
Google filters out anonymized queries from click and impression totals. Anonymized queries fall into two groups:
- Searches that contain personal information, which Google excludes to protect user privacy.
- Searches placed very rarely, which Google excludes primarily to save processing time.
Google doesn't publish specific criteria for what counts as an anonymized query, and what gets excluded can change depending on the dimensions selected. More granular dimensions, such as Page URL, and combining multiple dimensions together increase the effect of anonymized queries on your totals.
Deviation by Dimension
| Dimension | Aggregates By | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Time (Days, Weeks, and so on) | Property | Impressions and clicks are aggregated by property. Multiple pages returned or clicked in one search don't count as multiple impressions or clicks. Anonymized queries are also excluded. |
| Page URL | Page | Clicks and impressions are aggregated by page instead of property, typically increasing totals compared to dimensioning by Time. This may also exclude more queries as anonymized, which decreases totals. Because these effects point in opposite directions, the net result can be inconsistent. |
| All Entities | Page | Aggregated by page, similar to Page URL, but only counts clicks and impressions for pages with a corresponding entity in the Knowledge Graph. Totals are always lower than dimensioning by Page URL. |
| Other entity dimensions (Group, Folder, Label, and so on) | Page | Follows the same rules as All Entities. If investigating a discrepancy, also check whether your Folders, Labels, and so on match the entities you expect. |
| Google Search Query | Property | Aggregated by property, excluding anonymized queries. Typically shows a larger total than dimensioning by Time, since more queries may get filtered out when viewed day by day. |
| Google Search Query Type | Property | Follows the same rules as Google Search Query. Totals are the same whether dimensioning by Query or Query Type. |
| Google Search Country | Property | May result in more queries excluded as anonymized, causing totals to fall. |
| Platform | Property | May result in more queries excluded as anonymized, causing totals to fall. |
What Google Links Are Included in Impressions
GSC counts impressions and clicks by URL. Whenever the URL of a Yext Page is returned anywhere in Google Search, GSC counts the impressions and clicks for that page. This includes plain blue links as well as compound elements such as knowledge panels, expandable FAQs, and rich text snippets.
For most Yext use cases, a link only needs to be returned in the results page to count as an impression. When search results are grouped into pages of results, an impression counts after the item appears on the specific page the user is viewing. Results that require scrolling, such as image search on mobile, must be visible on screen before an impression counts. Other scrolling or expanding items, such as results carousels or expandable FAQ results, must be scrolled to or clicked to expand before an impression counts. Yext Pages are rarely shown in these formats.
Impressions are counted once per user search, so scrolling past an item multiple times doesn't double-count impressions.
Understanding Average Position
A higher average position value isn't necessarily bad. Position on most desktop searches can vary based on the layout of the results page. The knowledge panel on the right side of search results, for example, typically has a high average position, but a result shown in a knowledge panel shouldn't be considered as having a bad position.
For a given search, Google takes the topmost position occupied by your link, then averages this topmost position across every query in which your link appeared. All links within a compound element, such as an FAQ panel, share the same position.
Why Yext Analytics May Not Match Your GSC Performance Report
A few things can cause discrepancies between Yext Analytics and your GSC Performance Report:
- Filtering discrepancy: As described above, Google may aggregate clicks and impressions differently depending on the dimension selected.
- Subdomain change: Recently changed subdomains can cause differences between the GSC UI and Yext Analytics.
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Other reasons, from the Google Search Console Help Site:
- To protect user privacy, GSC doesn't show all data. For example, GSC doesn't track queries made a very small number of times or those containing personal or sensitive information.
- Some processing of GSC source data can cause these stats to differ from other sources, for example, to eliminate duplicates and bot visits.
- There can be a lag between when numbers are calculated and when they're visible in GSC. Collected data is normally available within 2-3 days.
- Time zones matter. The Performance report tracks daily data according to local time in California. If your other systems use different time zones, daily views may not match exactly. Google Analytics, for example, shows time in GSC's local time zone.