Documentation
GA4 Overview dashboard
Ten GA4 headline metrics with their change, a two-metric trend chart and top-ten tables for channels, sources, pages, countries, devices and events.
The GA4 Overview is the first screen under Google Analytics (exp.) once a GA4 property is coupled to the site. It answers "how did the site do?" from Analytics' side: ten headline metrics with their change against the comparison period, a trend chart you configure, an e-commerce panel when there are sales, and short tables for each breakdown, each linking to its full report.
The ten headline cards
| Card | GA4 metric | What it counts |
|---|---|---|
| Sessions | sessions | Sessions that began in the period |
| Active Users | activeUsers | Distinct users who visited |
| Total Users | totalUsers | Distinct users who logged at least one event |
| New Users | newUsers | Users on their first visit |
| Page Views | screenPageViews | Pages viewed, repeat views included |
| Engagement Rate | engagementRate | Engaged sessions as a share of all sessions |
| Avg. Session Duration | averageSessionDuration | Average session length |
| Bounce Rate | bounceRate | Sessions that were not engaged; a fall is shown as an improvement |
| Events | eventCount | Every event GA4 recorded |
| Key Events | keyEvents | Occurrences of the events you marked as key events |
The definitions are Google's (Data API schema). A session is engaged when it lasts longer than 10 seconds, includes a key event, or has at least two page or screen views (Engagement rate and bounce rate). The badge on each card compares the period with the comparison you picked in the toolbar; with comparison disabled, the badges disappear.
The trend chart
Pick any two of twelve metrics from the two menus above the chart: the ten on the cards plus Revenue and Transactions. It opens on Sessions against Active Users, and the second metric gets its own axis on the right. Group by switches between days, weeks and months. Auto uses days for ranges up to 90 days, weeks up to 200 days and months beyond that.
The annotations menu overlays your property notes, your account-wide notes and Google's update history as separate layers you can switch on and off (Annotations). Seeing a drop in sessions next to a core update reads very differently from seeing it next to a site release.
The e-commerce panel
When GA4 recorded any revenue, transactions, purchases or add-to-carts in the period, a panel appears with Revenue, Transactions, Add to Carts and Purchases and a short products table. Without such activity it stays hidden. The full breakdown is in E-commerce.
The breakdown tables
Seven tables follow, each showing its first ten rows with a search box: Channels, Sources, Pages, Landing Pages, Countries, Devices and Events. Show all opens the full report: Channels, Sources, Pages, Landing Pages and Countries. The Events table links to Key Events. Devices (desktop, mobile and tablet) has no report of its own, so this is the place to read it.
Why the numbers can differ from the GA4 interface
- Segment: the overview opens on all traffic. When GA4 filters is set to organic search or a custom source / medium list, every card, chart and table follows that segment.
- Dates: ranges end yesterday, and GA4 can take 24 to 48 hours to finish processing a day (Data freshness), so the newest day may still grow.
- Cache: AutoPSEO answers identical requests from a cache for up to six hours.
- Property: check the id in the header. A site with several GA4 properties is easy to couple to the wrong one; How to connect a GA4 property shows how to change it.
Ask for it in plain language
Through MCP, ga4_overview returns sessions, active and new users, page views, engagement rate, average session duration, key events and revenue for any period with their change, so your AI assistant can quote the same numbers. See MCP & ChatGPT app.