How To Connect Google Search Console To BigQuery

Step 1: Open the Correct Google Cloud Project

Go to Google Cloud Console.

At the top of the page, click the project selector and choose the correct project.

The project name should be:

SEO Warehouse

The project ID should be:

seo-warehouse-your-company-name-here

You need to make sure you are working within the project, not just within the organization.

Step 2: Confirm Billing Is Enabled

In Google Cloud Console, go to:

Billing > Account management

Confirm that the project is linked to the correct billing account.

For this setup, the billing account is:

SEO Warehouse

BigQuery requires billing to be enabled, even when your usage stays inside the free tier. For most normal Search Console exports, your cost should remain very low.

Step 3: Enable the Required APIs

In Google Cloud Console, use the search bar at the top of the page.

Search for:

BigQuery API

Open it and click Enable, or confirm that it already says Manage.

Then search for:

BigQuery Storage API

Open it and click Enable, or confirm that it already says Manage.

We need both APIs enabled before the Search Console export can work correctly.

Step 4: Add the Google Search Console Export Service Account

In Google Cloud Console, go to:

IAM & Admin > IAM

Click:

Grant access

In the New principals field, add this service account:

[email protected]

This is the Google service account that Search Console uses to export your data into BigQuery.

Step 5: Give the Service Account the Correct Roles

Give the Search Console service account these two roles:

BigQuery Job User

BigQuery Data Editor

The technical role names are:

roles/bigquery.jobUser
roles/bigquery.dataEditor

This is important. BigQuery User is not the same as BigQuery Job User. For Search Console Bulk Data Export, the service account needs BigQuery Job User.

After adding the roles, click Save.

Step 6: Give Yourself the Correct BigQuery Permissions

Your own Google account also needs the correct BigQuery access if you want to run queries, preview data, or create test tables.

For setup and testing, give yourself these roles on the project:

BigQuery Job User
BigQuery Data Editor

BigQuery Job User allows you to run queries.

BigQuery Data Editor allows you to create and edit datasets and tables.

If another user only needs to view data and run SELECT queries, give that user:

BigQuery Data Viewer
BigQuery Job User

We should not grant normal users BigQuery Data Editor access to the Search Console dataset unless they really need it.

Step 7: Fix Domain Restricted Sharing if Needed

You only need this step if Google Cloud refuses to add the Search Console service account.

If you see an error mentioning:

iam.allowedPolicyMemberDomains

then the organization is blocking service accounts from outside the organization domain.

To fix this, go to:

IAM & Admin > Organization Policies

Search for:

Domain Restricted Sharing

Then, manage the policy at the project level only.

Use these settings:

Policy source: Override parent's policy
Policy enforcement: Replace
Policy values: Allow All

We should only do this for the Google Cloud project used for this setup:

seo-warehouse-your-company-name-here

Do not apply this broadly across the whole organization unless you fully understand the security impact.

Step 8: Make Sure the Search Console Account Is an Owner

This part is done inside Google Search Console, not inside Google Cloud.

The Google account used to configure Bulk Data Export must be an Owner of the Search Console property. He does not have to be the verified owner.

A Full user is not enough.

The current verified owner should do this:

1. Open Google Search Console.
2. Select the correct website property.
3. Click Settings.
4. Click Users and permissions.
5. Click Add user.
6. Enter the email address of the account that will configure the export.
7. Set the permission to Owner.
8. Click Add.

If the user is already listed as Full or Restricted, click the three-dot menu next to the user and change the permission to Owner.

Step 9: Open Bulk Data Export in Search Console

After the account has Owner access, open an incognito window and sign in with that account.

Then go to:

Google Search Console > Select property > Settings > Bulk data export

Fill in the form with the following values:

Then click Continue.

If the Continue button is greyed out, the signed-in account is probably not an Owner of the Search Console property.

Step 10: Wait for the First Export

After you click Continue, Google Search Console will validate the setup.

If the validation succeeds, property owners should receive a confirmation email.

The first export can take 24 to 48 hours to appear in BigQuery.

During this time, do not manually create the Search Console export tables. Let Google create them automatically.

Step 11: Check What Appears in BigQuery

After the first export runs, open BigQuery and expand the project:

seo-warehouse-your-company-name-here

You should see a dataset called:

searchconsole_your_website_name

Inside that dataset, you should see these tables:

ExportLog
searchdata_site_impression
searchdata_url_impression

The structure should look like this:

seo-warehouse-your-company-name-here
  searchconsole_your_website_name
    ExportLog
    searchdata_site_impression
    searchdata_url_impression

Step 12: Run a Sanity Check Query

Once the tables exist, run this query in BigQuery:

SELECT
  data_date,
  SUM(clicks) AS total_clicks,
  SUM(impressions) AS total_impressions,
  SAFE_DIVIDE(SUM(clicks), SUM(impressions)) AS ctr,
  AVG(position) AS avg_position
FROM `seo-warehouse-your-compnay-name-here.searchconsole_your_website_name.searchdata_site_impression`
GROUP BY data_date
ORDER BY data_date DESC;

If the export is working, you should see rows by date with clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position.

Step 13: Check the Export Log

You can also check the export log table with this query:

SELECT *
FROM `seo-warehouse-your-company-name-here.searchconsole_your_website_name.ExportLog`
ORDER BY data_date DESC
LIMIT 30;

This table helps you confirm that Search Console exports are running successfully.

Step 14: Optional, Set Partition Expiration

Once the Search Console tables exist, you can set partition expiration to automatically delete old data and control storage growth.

For around 16 months of data retention, use 488 days:

ALTER TABLE `seo-warehouse-your-company-name-here.searchconsole_your_website_name.searchdata_site_impression`
SET OPTIONS (partition_expiration_days = 488);

ALTER TABLE `seo-warehouse-your-company-name-here.searchconsole_your_website_name.searchdata_url_impression`
SET OPTIONS (partition_expiration_days = 488);

Do not change the table schema. Adding, removing, or renaming columns can break the Search Console export.

Step 15: Optional, Set a Budget Alert

To avoid unexpected costs, set up a small-budget alert in Google Cloud.

Go to:

Billing > Budgets and alerts > Create budget

A small alert, for example, 5 euros per month, is usually enough as a safety warning.

Common Problem: Continue Button Is Greyed Out

If the Continue button is greyed out in Search Console, the signed-in account is probably not an Owner of the Search Console property.

You can fix this by asking the current verified owner to add the account as an Owner.

Common Problem: Missing bigquery.jobs.create

If BigQuery says the user is missing:

bigquery.jobs.create

give that user this role:

BigQuery Job User

This allows the user to run BigQuery jobs, including SQL queries.

Common Problem: User Cannot Preview Table Data

If a user clicks a table or opens Preview and gets a permission error, give that user:

BigQuery Data Viewer

If the user also needs to run SELECT queries, give:

BigQuery Data Viewer
BigQuery Job User

Common Problem: BigQuery Location Error

If BigQuery shows an error saying the location is inconsistent, for example US versus europe-west1, open the query settings.

Set the processing location to:

europe-west1

This matches the Search Console dataset location:

Belgium (europe-west1)

Common Problem: Dataset Does Not Appear After 48 Hours

If the searchconsole dataset does not appear after 48 hours, check the Bulk Data Export page in Search Console.

Go to:

Search Console > Settings > Bulk data export

Also confirm that the service account still has these roles in Google Cloud IAM:

BigQuery Job User
BigQuery Data Editor

Check that the project ID was entered correctly:

seo-warehouse-your-company-name-here

Also check that the dataset location was set to:

Belgium (europe-west1)

Final Checklist