How do I verify Google Search Console with DNS?

Add a property of the Domain type, copy the TXT record Search Console shows you, add it at the company that runs your domain's DNS with the host field set to @ or left blank, then choose Verify. It often works within minutes, but Google says a new record can take two or three days to appear. DNS is the only way to verify a Domain property, and the record must stay in place afterwards.

Step by step

1. In Search Console, choose Add property, then Domain, and enter the domain without https:// or www.
2. Search Console shows a TXT record starting google-site-verification=. If your DNS provider appears in the list, you can pick it and sign in to it to add the record automatically; otherwise choose Any DNS provider and copy the value.
3. In your DNS provider's dashboard, add a new TXT record. Leave the host or name blank, or enter @, as your provider expects. Paste the full value, prefix included. The default TTL is fine.
4. Back in Search Console, choose Verify.
5. If it fails, wait a day and try again.

TXT or CNAME?

Almost everyone uses TXT. Google's help suggests checking the domain in the Google Admin Toolbox: if the name already has a CNAME record pointing at a parent domain, use the CNAME method instead. That gives you two values, a name and a destination containing dv.googlehosted.com, which you enter as a CNAME record.

Why verification fails

• The record is not live yet. "Your verification DNS TXT record was not found" usually just means waiting. You can check what the world sees with the Google Admin Toolbox.
• The value does not match. It must be the exact string Search Console gave you, with nothing added or missing.
• You edited the wrong DNS. If your domain's nameservers point elsewhere, such as to your hosting company or a CDN, records added at the registrar are ignored. Add the record where the nameservers point.
• The name is wrong. Some dashboards append your domain automatically, so typing the full domain in the host field creates the record under the wrong name.

After verification

• Leave the record in place. Google rechecks verification, and if the record disappears your ownership ends after a grace period.
• Several records are fine. Each verified owner can have their own TXT record; do not overwrite someone else's.
• Child properties come for free. URL-prefix properties you add under a verified domain are verified automatically, and verifying a URL-prefix property through DNS verifies the matching Domain property too.

Choosing between property types is covered in Domain vs URL-prefix properties, and the other methods in verification methods.

How AutoPSEO helps

AutoPSEO needs no verification of its own. Once your Google account can see a verified property, sign in to AutoPSEO with that account and the property appears, Domain and URL-prefix alike, ready for reports, indexing checks and the content engine. See connecting Search Console.

Sources: Google's Verify your site ownership help and Add a website property help.