Does Google Analytics Show Keywords?

If you've spent any time looking at your organic traffic reports in Google Analytics, you've probably felt the frustration of staring at the single most useless keyword: "(not provided)." This article will explain exactly why that happens, what limited keyword data you can still find in Google Analytics, and the best ways to uncover the valuable organic keyword insights you need to grow your traffic.

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Why You Don't See Most Keywords in Google Analytics Anymore

There was a time when Google Analytics showed you every single organic keyword people used to find your website. It was a treasure trove of information for SEOs and marketers. But in 2011, Google began to change everything.

Citing user privacy, Google started encrypting the search traffic of users who were logged into their Google accounts. This meant that the keyword data, which used to be passed from the Google search result to your website and picked up by Google Analytics, was now hidden. The result was the infamous "(not provided)" label showing up in your keyword reports.

Over the years, this shift from unencrypted (HTTP) to encrypted (HTTPS) search became the standard for all users, not just those who were logged in. Today, you can expect somewhere between 95% and 99% of your organic keywords in Google Analytics to be lumped into the "(not provided)" bucket. Essentially, the organic keyword report inside Google Analytics itself is no longer a reliable source for SEO insights.

So, does this mean keyword data is gone forever? Not at all. It just means you need to look in a different place - and that place is Google Search Console.

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The #1 Alternative: Uncovering Organic Keywords with Google Search Console

While Google Analytics is designed to tell you what users do on your website, Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool built to tell you how your site performs in Google Search results. This is now the primary source for understanding which organic keywords are driving traffic to your site.

Best of all, you can integrate it directly with Google Analytics 4 so you can see key GSC data within your Analytics reports, giving you a more complete picture of your acquisition performance.

How to Connect Google Search Console to GA4

Linking these two powerful tools is straightforward. If you haven't already set up Google Search Console for your website, you'll need to do that first by verifying your site ownership. Once that's done, linking it to GA4 takes only a minute.

1. In your Google Analytics 4 property, click on Admin in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the Property column, scroll down to Product Links and click on Search Console Links.
3. Click the blue Link button.
4. If you manage the GSC property with the same Google account, you'll see it listed. Click Choose accounts, select the checkbox for the correct property, and click Confirm.
5. Click Next, select the web data stream for your site, and click Next again.
6. Finally, review the settings and click Submit.

That's it! Your accounts are now linked. It can take up to 48 hours for data to start appearing in your GA4 reports.

Finding GSC Keyword Reports Inside GA4

Once the integration is active, GA4 automatically adds two new reports to your collection. This gives you a convenient but simplified view of your GSC data right inside Analytics.

Here’s how to find them:

1. Go to Reports on the left-hand navigation menu.
2. Look for the new Search Console card in the Acquisition overview report, or find the new Search Console collection in the navigation menu. (Note: you may need to add it to your report library by going to Library and publishing the Search Console card.)
3. Click on the Google Organic Search Queries report.

Inside this report, you’ll see your top keywords along with these crucial SEO metrics:

• Organic Google search clicks: The number of times people clicked on your site from a search result for that keyword.
• Organic Google search impressions: The number of times your site appeared in search results for that keyword.
• Average position: Your website's average ranking in the search results for that query.
• Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of impressions that resulted in a click (Clicks ÷ Impressions).

While convenient, this report is a bit limited. For deeper analysis, it's best to go directly to the source.

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Using the Performance Report Directly in Search Console

The real power comes from using the Performance report inside Google Search Console itself. It provides much more robust filtering and comparison capabilities.

Here are a few actionable ways to analyze your keyword data in GSC:

• Find "striking distance" keywords: These are terms where you're ranking on the second page of Google (positions 11-20). With a little bit of on-page optimization, an internal link, or a new backlink, you can often push these pages onto the first page for a significant traffic boost. To find them, go to the Performance report, click "+ New" filter, select "Position," and set it to greater than 10.9. Then sort the results by position.
• Identify content with high impressions but low CTR: If Google is showing your page to lots of people (high impressions) but few are clicking (low CTR), it's a sign that Google finds your content relevant, but your page title and meta description aren’t compelling enough to earn the click. Try experimenting with a more benefit-driven or curiosity-inducing title to improve your CTR. Find these by sorting your keyword list by impressions, then look for queries with a CTR below your site's average.
• Discover new content opportunities: Filter your queries to see what questions people are asking. Click "+ New," filter by "Query," and choose "Queries containing." Type in words like "how," "what," "why," or "best." This can reveal user problems you can solve with new blog posts or FAQ sections.

What About Keyword Data from Paid Ads?

While organic keywords are hidden, Google Analytics gives you full visibility into the keywords you're bidding on in your Google Ads campaigns. Seeing your ad keywords alongside on-site behavior is crucial for understanding campaign ROI.

To see this data, you first need to link your Google Ads account to GA4. The process is very similar to linking GSC.

Finding Your Google Ads Keywords in GA4

Once your accounts are linked, you can dive into your paid keyword performance.

1. In GA4, navigate to Reports > Acquisition > Acquisition overview.
2. Find the card titled Sessions by Session Google Ads campaign and click the View Google Ads campaigns link at the bottom.
3. This report defaults to showing Campaign data. To see keywords, click the drop-down arrow next to the primary dimension (Session Google Ads campaign) and select Session Google Ads keyword text.

Now you'll see a list of your paid search keywords alongside key Google Ads metrics (Cost, Clicks, Cost per click) and Google Analytics engagement and conversion metrics (Conversions, Revenue, Engagement rate), giving you a full-funnel view of which keywords are actually driving results.

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A Clever Source You Might Be Ignoring: Internal Site Search

One of the most underutilized sources of keyword data is hiding in plain sight: your own website's search bar. The queries that people type into your internal site search box are a goldmine.

Why? These aren't just random searches – these are from people who have already landed on your site and are looking for something specific. They are telling you, in their own words, what they need, find confusing, or can't locate.

Fortunately, GA4's Enhanced measurement feature tracks site search data automatically. You can find this data by going to Reports > Engagement > Events and clicking on the view_search_results event. On the following page, a card will display the terms entered into your search bar under the search_term parameter.

Analyzing this data can help you:

• Find content gaps: Are people searching for topics you haven't covered yet? It's a clear signal to create a new page or blog post.
• Identify confusing navigation: If people are constantly searching for a page that's prominent in your main menu, your navigation labels might be unclear.
• Understand user language: Do your customers use different slang or terminology than you do? Align your content with their language to improve resonance and SEO.

Final Thoughts

While Google Analytics no longer directly shows the vast majority of organic keywords people use to find your site, you're not flying blind. By combining the powerful organic query data from Google Search Console, the paid performance data from Google Ads, and the user-intent data from your internal site search, you can piece together a comprehensive view of the keywords that matter to your business.

At our core, we believe getting insights shouldn't be so complicated. That’s why we built a tool to help you connect and analyze all your data in one place – no more jumping between Search Console, Google Analytics, Google Ads, and your other marketing platforms. With Graphed, you simply connect your sources and ask questions in plain English, like "Show me my top 10 organic keywords by clicks from last month" or "Compare the conversion rate of branded vs. non-branded keywords." We instantly build live, interactive dashboards that answer your questions, giving you more time to act on insights instead of chasing down data.