Google Search Console’s Performance report now builds itself. An AI-powered configuration feature that started as an experiment in December 2025 finished rolling out to every user by February 2026, letting anyone type a plain-language request instead of clicking through filters, comparisons, and metric toggles by hand.
What the AI Configuration Feature Actually Does
The feature lives inside the Search results Performance report, where a banner reading something like “New! Customize your Performance report using AI” opens a text box for a natural-language request. Google’s AI then handles three tasks that used to take several manual steps: applying filters by query, page, country, device, search appearance, or date range; configuring comparisons, including custom or year-over-year date ranges; and choosing which of the four available metrics—Clicks, Impressions, Average CTR, and Average Position—to display. Once it proposes a configuration, you review it before the report updates.
Example Prompts You Can Type
Google’s own examples give a sense of what the tool is built for:
- “Show me queries on phone searches that contain the word ‘sports’ in the last 6 months.”
- “Compare traffic for my pages that contain ‘/blog’ in this quarter to the same quarter last year.”
- “Show me the Average CTR and Average Position of my queries in Spain in the last 28 days.”
- “Show clicks for pages that include the word ‘google’.”
The same pattern works for spotting opportunities (“queries with high impressions but low CTR on mobile”), tracking content performance (“/blog” pages this quarter versus last year), or isolating a device-specific problem (“pages with a big drop in mobile clicks in the last 30 days”). Requests that used to take careful manual setup now take seconds.
Why It Matters for SEO Workflows
Before this update, building a nuanced view of Search Console data (mobile vs. desktop performance on one section of a site, say, or quarter-over-quarter blog performance) meant multiple manual steps with real risk of a setup error. Removing that friction changes what people actually do with the tool. Beginners and non-technical stakeholders can pull sophisticated views without learning every filter path, while experienced SEOs skip the repetitive setup and explore more questions in the same session. Because configuration is now nearly effortless, analysts are also more likely to test hypotheses they’d otherwise have skipped: long-tail query digging, underperforming-page isolation, or segment comparisons that used to feel like too much effort for a hunch. If you’re still getting comfortable with the basics of the Performance report, our Search Console 101 guide covers first-time setup and how to read the core metrics before layering AI prompts on top.
Current Limitations
Google has been upfront about where the feature stops. It only works in the Performance report for Search results—there’s no equivalent yet for Discover or News reports. The AI can also misread an ambiguous request, so the proposed filters and settings need a review before you trust the resulting data. And the tool only configures the report: it doesn’t sort tables, export data, or run calculations beyond what the standard report already supports.
How to Try It
- Log into Search Console and open the Performance report for Search results.
- Look for the AI configuration prompt or banner near the top of the report or the filter controls.
- Type a clear, specific request in everyday language.
- Review the AI’s proposed configuration before applying it.
- Apply it, then refine the prompt or ask a follow-up question if the first result isn’t quite right.
Start with a straightforward request to build confidence in how the tool interprets your phrasing, then move on to the more complex comparisons it’s designed for.
Part of a Bigger AI Push in Search Console
This update didn’t arrive in isolation. It landed alongside other Search Console changes tied to generative AI, including dedicated Generative AI performance reporting and controls for how a site shows up in AI Overviews and AI Mode. Those tools are about measuring and managing visibility inside AI-generated results; the AI configuration feature is aimed squarely at making traditional organic search analysis faster to work with. Together they reflect Google building for a moment where both search results and the tools used to understand them are increasingly AI-assisted—a shift that’s also reshaping how AI search adoption itself is playing out differently across markets.
The tool doesn’t replace strategic thinking about what your data means, but it does remove the mechanical friction that used to sit between a question and an answer. The fastest way to get a feel for it is to open the Performance report and describe, in plain language, exactly what you want to see.
When did Google Search Console’s AI configuration feature launch?
It started as an experimental rollout in December 2025 and became available to all Search Console users by February 2026.
Does the AI feature work in the Discover or News reports?
No. As of this rollout, it only works inside the Performance report for Search results.
Can the AI configuration feature sort or export my data?
No. It only handles filters, comparisons, and metric selection. Sorting, exporting, and any calculations beyond what the standard report supports still need to be done manually.