How do I verify my website in Google Search Console?

Q: How do I verify my website in Google Search Console?

Add a DNS TXT record for a Domain property, or for a URL-prefix property use an HTML file, a meta tag, Google Analytics or Tag Manager. Then click Verify.

Search Console asks you to prove you control the site before it shows any data. For a Domain property the only way is a DNS record at your domain provider. For a URL-prefix property you can also upload an HTML file, add a meta tag to your home page, or use an existing Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager installation. Pick a method, follow the instructions shown, click Verify, and leave the record in place afterwards.

Which verification methods are there?

Google's verification help lists these:

Method	What you do	Property types
Domain name provider (DNS)	Add a TXT or CNAME record at your DNS provider	The only method for Domain properties; also works for URL prefix
HTML file upload	Upload a file Google gives you to the site's root	URL prefix only
HTML tag	Add a `meta` tag to the `<head>` of your home page	URL prefix only
Google Analytics	Use the existing Analytics tag on your home page	URL prefix only
Google Tag Manager	Use the existing Tag Manager container snippet	URL prefix only

Verifying a URL-prefix property through DNS also verifies you for the matching Domain property.

How to verify with a DNS record

Add the property and choose the DNS method. Search Console shows a TXT record value.
In a new tab, sign in to the company that runs your domain's DNS (often your registrar or your hosting company) and add a TXT record with that value.
Return to Search Console and click Verify.

If it fails, wait and try again: Google notes that a manually added record can take up to two or three days before your provider serves it.

How to verify with an HTML tag

Choose HTML tag and copy the meta tag shown.
Paste it inside the <head> section of your home page, before the first <body> tag. Many CMSs and SEO plugins have a field for it.
Publish the change, open the live home page source to confirm the tag is there, then click Verify.

The Google Analytics and Tag Manager methods need extra permissions: edit rights on the Analytics property (with the same Google account as in Search Console), or Publish or Admin permission on the Tag Manager container.

Why did verification fail?

Typical causes are a record or tag that is not live yet, a tag placed outside the <head>, a home page that redirects or requires a login, and verifying a different address from the one the tag sits on. Google Search Console verification failed goes through the error messages one by one.

After you are verified

Keep the token. Search Console checks it periodically. Removing the DNS record or file, for example during a site rebuild, costs you verification after a grace period.
Add a second owner. Several people can verify the same property, with the same or different methods, so one person leaving does not lock everyone out. Google's permissions help explains what happens when a property loses its last verified owner.
Add everyone else as users, not as extra owners, unless they need to manage the property.

For a closer look at each method, see Google Search Console verification methods, HTML tag verification and DNS verification.

How AutoPSEO helps

AutoPSEO does not verify properties; verification stays between you and Google. Once a property is verified, connect the Google account that can see it and AutoPSEO imports it automatically, without any tag or file of its own on your site (Connecting Search Console).