Guide 6 of 15 in Level 1: Get set up
Connect Google Search Console to Blackbox
To connect Google Search Console to Blackbox (blackbox.plus), you need a verified property and a Google account with access to it. In Blackbox, open Data, click Connect a channel, choose the Google Search Console tile and Continue to Google. Google asks to view your Search Console data — a read-only request with no version that can change anything — so approve it. There is nothing to pick afterwards: your verified properties appear after the first sync. Blackbox backfills as much history as Google keeps, roughly sixteen months, so the first sync takes longer than later ones. It reads daily clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position, the search queries your site appears for, and the pages that earn them. It cannot change anything, submit or remove URLs, edit sitemaps, or see properties your Google account cannot already read. Properties where your access is unverified are skipped, and this connection is separate from Google Ads.
- You'll need
- A verified property — The site must already be verified in Google Search Console — Blackbox can’t verify one for you.
- Access to that property — The Google account you sign in with must own it or have full access. Owning the domain is not the same thing.
- Time
- About 2 minutes 3 steps Updated
- You'll end with
- Search Console connected, with up to 16 months of search queries and clicks in Blackbox
How to connect Google Search Console to Blackbox
Step 1:Open Data
In Blackbox, click Data in the left menu.
You'll see: Your channels, with Connect a channel at the top right.
Step 2:Pick the Google Search Console tile
Click Connect a channel, then the Google Search Console tile under Social & search.
You'll see: What you need and what happens next, with Continue to Google below.
Step 3:Approve on Google
Click Continue to Google and approve the request to view your Search Console data.
You'll see: You’re back on Data, with Google Search Console under Social & search.
Blackbox can read
- Your daily clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position
- The search queries your site appears for, and how each one performs
- Which pages earn those impressions and clicks
Blackbox will not
- Change anything at all — this connection is read-only, and there is no write path in Blackbox for it
- Submit or remove URLs, edit sitemaps or alter your Search Console settings
- See properties your Google account cannot already read
Good to know
- New to Blackbox? Setup connects your first channel as one of its steps — see How to get started with Blackbox.
- The request is read-only: there is no version of it that can change anything.
- There is nothing to pick. Every verified property that login can read is found on the first sync.
- The first sync backfills about sixteen months, so it takes longer than later ones.
If something doesn't work
My property is missing
Blackbox skips properties where your access is unverified, because Google refuses every request against them. Verify the property, or ask its owner for full access, then reconnect.
I see both a domain property and a URL property
They are separate properties with separate data. A domain property covers every subdomain and both http and https; a URL-prefix one covers only that prefix. Use whichever you report on.
Yesterday's numbers changed
Google revises recent days for about three days. Blackbox re-reads them, so the last couple of days settle rather than staying wrong.
Data older than about 16 months is missing
Google only keeps roughly sixteen months, and Blackbox backfills all of it on the first sync. Anything older is not available from Google at all.
Google Ads is connected, but there are no search queries
Search Console is a separate connection with its own permissions, even on the same Google account. Connect it from the Data page; disconnecting one leaves the other working.
Previous: Connect your Meta ad account to Blackbox
Stuck at any step? Send us a message and we'll do it with you on a call. All of Level 1: Get set up