What It Gives You
Google Search Console is Google's own service for website owners. It records which Google searches your pages appeared for, how often they were shown and clicked, and their average position. A crawl cannot measure this: only Google has the data. When you connect it, SEO Auditor shows it next to everything else the app measures.
Everything else in SEO Auditor works without it. Connect only if you want your own site's real Google search data.
Top Queries (28 Days)
Up to 25 searches your site appeared for in the last 28 days, each with clicks, impressions, click-through rate (CTR) and average position.
Keyword Rank Tracking
Pick keywords and follow their average Google position over time, with clicks, impressions and the change since the last reading.
Competitor Topic Opportunities
In a competitor analysis, topics your competitors write about are matched with your own searches, so you see where you already get impressions but sit at position 4 or worse.
Why You Have to Sign In
Google only shares a site's search data (clicks, impressions and positions) with the site's verified owner and the people the owner has added in Search Console. No outside tool can read it for you. So you sign in with the Google account that has your site in Search Console, and the app reads your data on your behalf.
If your site is not in Search Console yet, add it and verify that you own it first: see Google's guide to verifying site ownership.
What the App Can and Cannot Access
- Read-only access: the app asks Google for the
webmasters.readonlypermission, so it cannot change anything in Search Console or your Google account - It reads two things: your list of Search Console properties, and search performance (queries, clicks, impressions, CTR and average position) for the property you pick
- You sign in on Google's own page in the iOS sign-in sheet; the app never sees your Google password. The sign-in uses OAuth with PKCE
- The sign-in tokens are stored only in this device's Keychain. Requests go straight from your iPhone to Google; there is no SEO Auditor server in between
- Your Client ID, chosen property and tracked keywords are saved on the device. They are not part of iCloud sync
- "Disconnect Google account" in the Search Console screen deletes the sign-in tokens from the device. To remove the app's access on Google's side as well, use your Google Account's third-party access page
See also the privacy policy, section 4.4.
Before You Start
You need two things:
- Your website added and verified in Google Search Console, with the Google account you will sign in with
- An iOS OAuth Client ID from your own Google Cloud project. SEO Auditor has no Google sign-in of its own, because there is no server: you create the Client ID once and paste it into the app. The steps are below
Create Your OAuth Client ID
Do this on a computer at console.cloud.google.com, signed in with your Google account. The menu names below are from Google Cloud Console's current "Google Auth Platform" pages.
Create a Project
Open the project picker at the top, choose New project, give it a name (for example "SEO Auditor") and click Create. Make sure the new project is selected before you go on.
Enable the Google Search Console API
Go to APIs & Services → Library, search for Google Search Console API, open it and click Enable.
Set Up the Google Auth Platform
Go to Google Auth Platform and click Get started. Enter an app name and your support email, choose External as the audience, add your contact information, accept Google's user data policy and click Create. This only describes your own project; nobody else will see it.
Add Yourself as a Test User
Open Audience, find Test users and add the Google account that owns your site in Search Console. While the project is in Testing, only test users can sign in.
Create an iOS Client
Open Clients → Create client. Choose iOS as the application type and enter the Bundle ID exactly as written here: tech.t1mcode.SEO-optimize. Click Create.
Copy the Client ID
Copy the Client ID. It ends in .apps.googleusercontent.com. You can find it again later under Clients. An easy way to get it onto your iPhone is to send it to yourself in Notes or Messages.
Paste It in the App
In SEO Auditor, open Settings → Google Search Console, paste the Client ID into the field and tap Sign in with Google (optional).
Sign In and Allow Read-Only Access
iOS asks whether SEO Auditor may use google.com to sign in: tap Continue. Choose the Google account you added as a test user. Google may warn that it hasn't verified the app; that is expected for your own project in Testing, so continue. Allow the read-only Search Console access. Back in the app, your properties load.
Signed Out After a Week?
While your Google project's publishing status is Testing, Google lets the sign-in expire after 7 days (see Google's OAuth documentation). The app then shows the Connect screen again. Your Client ID is still filled in and your tracked keywords are kept, so just tap Sign in with Google (optional) again.
Why iOS as the type: the app returns from Google's sign-in through an address built from your Client ID (com.googleusercontent.apps.…), the form Google uses for iOS clients.
How to Use It
Pick Your Property
The Property picker lists every Search Console property your account can see, and selects the first one for you. Choose the one for the site you work on. A URL-prefix property (https://www.example.com/) covers that exact address; a Domain property (sc-domain:example.com) also covers its subdomains.
Read Your Top Queries
Top Queries (28 days) shows up to 25 searches with clicks, impressions, CTR and average position. The position is green at 10 or better and amber above 10. If the list says "No query data for this property yet", Google has no search data for that property in the period, or another property holds it.
Track Keywords
Swipe left on a query and tap Track, or type a keyword under Keyword Rank Tracking and tap the plus button. A keyword is matched exactly against the searches Google records, so a keyword nobody searched for in the last 28 days shows "–". Swipe left on a tracked keyword to remove it.
Come Back to See the Trend
Positions refresh when you open the Search Console screen, and when you add a keyword. Each refresh saves one reading per keyword per day (a second refresh the same day replaces it), and the app keeps up to 90 readings. A small trend chart appears once a keyword has two readings, and the change since the previous reading is shown in green (better) or red (worse). Each reading is Google's 28-day average position, not the position on that single day. Nothing updates in the background: this is tracking on your iPhone, not a cloud service.
Search Console in Competitor Analysis
When you run a comparison in the Compare tab, the app reads your and your competitors' sitemaps and pages and builds a topic gap: phrases of one to three words from titles, headings and URLs, weighted by how distinctive they are. You find it in the Keywords tab of the results. If Search Console is connected, it adds your own search data:
- It is used only when the property selected in the Search Console screen covers the site you compare
- The app reads up to 1,000 of your searches from the last 28 days and, for each competitor phrase, finds your search with the most impressions that contains the whole phrase
- Search Console Opportunities lists up to 15 competitor topics where you already get impressions at an average position of 4 or worse, with the most impressions first
- Topics in Topics You Don't Cover also show your average position when one of your searches matches
- Without Search Console, the topic gap still works; the app tells you to connect Search Console to see where you already rank
The same topic gap appears in the Competitor Monitor dashboard (free for 10 days from first use, then part of Pro). If you ask for an AI competitor brief with your own Claude or OpenAI key, up to 10 of these opportunities (the search, average position, impressions and clicks) are sent to the provider you chose. Exported competitor reports include them too.
What It Doesn't Do
- It shows Google's average position for searches where your site actually appeared, not a live rank for any keyword you type
- It only covers sites you have in Search Console. It cannot show competitors' search data
- It doesn't promise better rankings. It shows where you stand, so you can decide what to work on
Ready to connect Search Console?
Download SEO Auditor, then open Settings → Google Search Console.
Download free from the App Store