How to know if SEO is working
Here is how to know if SEO is working: check your own data for impressions, clicks and enquiries from search, in equal calendar months. These checks work whoever does your SEO, since the figures come from Google.
What to look at
What to look at starts with your own access. Your business should have its own access to Google Search Console and to its analytics.
The data then comes straight from Google, and you can read it without anyone in between. With trueSEO, the accounts stay yours and the reports are built on your own Search Console data.
The numbers usually move in the order below, and each one tells you something different.
- Impressions rise first. An impression counts each time your site appears in Google results.
- Clicks follow, as more of those people open your site.
- Enquiries from search come last, as calls, form requests and orders.
- The searches and pages that bring the clicks matter as much as the total.
- Searches without your business name show SEO reaching new buyers. Searches with your name mostly come from people who already know you.
- Visits from AI assistants such as ChatGPT show in your analytics as their own source. They count alongside search.
Together, these measures make one monthly check. That monthly check is the core of SEO analytics, the part of SEO work that measures results.
Where to find each number
- Impressions and clicks are in the Performance report of Google Search Console.
- The same report lists the searches (Google calls them queries) and the pages that brought each click.
- A filter on queries separates the searches that contain your business name from the rest.
- Visits from ChatGPT and other AI assistants appear in your analytics among the referral sources, under the assistant's own address.
- Calls, form requests and orders are yours to count. Note for each one where the buyer found you.
Compare equal calendar months
Comparing equal calendar months is the fair way to read the numbers: a whole month against a whole month. A week against a month says little, and so does a hand-picked day.
People search differently on weekdays, at weekends and around holidays. A few days do not show the trend; a whole calendar month evens out those swings.
A business with seasons needs one more step. A month against the month before can mislead when a season ends. The same month a year earlier is the fairer comparison, when your site has that data.
A worked example: one project from zero
One client project on our results page shows steady growth in whole months. It is a new site where SEO started from zero.
Clicks from Google search were 13 in March 2026 and 559 in September 2026. Every month was higher than the one before.
This is one measured project, and its monthly figures are on our page of SEO case studies.
Questions owners ask
My average position improved. Is that a good sign?
Not on its own. Average position is an average over every search and day your site appeared. It can improve while traffic falls, and get worse when the site appears for many new searches. Clicks and enquiries say more.
Why do my own searches show a different position?
Google results differ by place, device and person. One search shows one result, on one device, at one moment. A month of Search Console data counts every search your site appeared for.
Why should I have my own access to Search Console?
Your own access to Search Console means the data comes straight from Google, and you can check every figure in a report yourself. With trueSEO, the accounts stay yours, and our reports are built on your own Search Console data.
The numbers are not moving. What now?
Look at impressions first, because impressions move before clicks. Impressions that stay flat over whole months mean the site needs a full check of what holds it back. That full check is a site audit.
Do visits from ChatGPT and other AI assistants count?
Yes. Visits from ChatGPT and other AI assistants show in your site's analytics as their own source, and they count alongside search. Compare them in whole calendar months, as you do with search, and note which pages they reach.
How often should I check?
Check once a month, in whole calendar months. Day-to-day swings say little. Compare the last whole month with the month before, or with the same month a year earlier, and see whether impressions, clicks and enquiries rise.