Google Search Console doesn’t show data for featured snippets read by Google Assistant

You might already know that there’s no way to discern in Google Search Console which queries came in via voice search and which were typed, but were you aware that some data from voice search isn’t captured at all?

In the second episode of #AskGoogleWebmasters, Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller explained that voice searches conducted through Google Assistant and answered verbally do not show as an impression in Google Search Console.  

Using voice to search vs. voice search on Google Assistant. At the beginning of the episode, Mueller pointed out that there are multiple ways to search by voice. You can use voice as a keyboard by tapping the microphone icon, which is equivalent to a regular web search. “These queries are already logged in Search Console in the same way as all other queries are logged, just like you’d see queries that are entered by swiping on a mobile keyboard,” Mueller said. 

“It’s slightly different when you use Google Assistant to ask a question that’s answered through a snippet of text from the page,” Mueller explained, as an image of a Google Home unit appeared on-screen. “In cases like this, we’ll send a URL of the page to the user’s mobile phone to make it easier for users to go to those pages. However . . . the impressions of snippets for those queries . . . currently isn’t logged in Search Console.”

Why we should care. A user viewing a featured snippet on their mobile or desktop browser will result in an impression within the publisher’s Search Console. On the other hand, snippets read aloud by Google Assistant are not counted as impressions.

Although a URL is sent to a user’s mobile device when they search via Assistant, the user may not be inclined to click through because the answer they were looking for was already provided.

This may mean that you miss queries, query volume and visibility into the terms that potential customers and clients are using to find your content. If voice becomes a more common way to conduct searches, this may impact more site owners.

About The Author

George Nguyen

George Nguyen is an editor for Search Engine Land, covering organic search, podcasting and e-commerce. His background is in journalism and content marketing. Prior to entering the industry, he worked as a radio personality, writer, podcast host and public school teacher.