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SpreadsheetMonthly tracking sheet
One row a month, filled in on the same day each month, gives you a record to look back on. We give no target numbers, because what counts as good depends on your business. Compare yourself with your own past months.
How to use it
- Download the file and open it in your spreadsheet program. In Google Sheets, use File, then Import.
- Pick one day a month, such as the first Monday, and put it in your calendar.
- Fill one row, using the explanations below. Leave a cell empty if you do not have the number; do not guess.
- Run your AI answer spot-check with the same prompts every time, and enter the counts.
- After three or more months, look for direction, not single readings. A number can move for reasons unrelated to anything you did.
What each column means
| Column | What to enter | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Month | The month the numbers describe, for example 2026-11. | You write it. |
| Date checked | The day you filled in the row. Reports are sometimes revised, so the date helps you compare like with like. | You write it. |
| GSC clicks | How often someone clicked a link from Google to your site. | Search Console, Performance report, set to the full month. |
| GSC impressions | How many times a link to your site was seen, or could have been seen, in Search, Discover or News. | Search Console, Performance report. |
| GSC average CTR | Clicks divided by impressions. | Search Console, Performance report. |
| GSC average position | An estimate of where your link appeared, using the highest position it held for each query, averaged across queries. | Search Console, Performance report (Google Search results only). |
| GSC top queries | The three to five searches that brought the most clicks, separated by semicolons. | Search Console, Performance report, Queries tab. |
| GBP metrics | The figures your Business Profile Performance screen shows for the month. Because Google can change which figures it offers, copy them as they appear and note the labels in the Notes column. | Your Google Business Profile Performance screen. Local businesses only; leave blank otherwise. |
| AI spot-check: prompts run | How many prompts from your fixed set you ran this month. | Your log from the AI answer spot-check. |
| AI spot-check: times mentioned | In how many of those answers your business was named. | Your log from the AI answer spot-check. |
| AI spot-check: times wrong | In how many answers something said about you was inaccurate or out of date. | Your log from the AI answer spot-check. |
| Visits from AI assistants | Sessions your analytics attributes to AI assistants. OpenAI says ChatGPT adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to referral URLs, so that is one thing to look for. Other assistants may not be identifiable. | Your analytics tool, if you use one. |
| Changes made this month | Anything you changed on the site, listings or content, with the date. This is what lets you look back later. | You write it. |
| Notes | Anything odd: a holiday closure, a press mention, a tool that changed its report. | You write it. |
Limits to keep in mind
- Search Console reports on Google Search, Discover and News, so it does not show other search engines or most other places people find you.
- Average position is an average across queries, so it can fall even when things improve, for example if you start appearing for more, harder searches. This is our reading of how the figure is built, not a Google statement.
- A manual AI spot-check is a small sample. Treat it as a pulse, not a measurement.
- Do not use any of these numbers to promise results to anyone, including yourself.
New to the tools? Start with Search Console for a small business, how to check whether AI mentions your business and how to see traffic from AI assistants.
Sources (accessed 2026-10-21):
- Google Search Console Help: Performance report (clicks, impressions, CTR, position) (no update date shown on the page)
- OpenAI: publishers and developers FAQ (referral parameter; page shows only a relative update date)
Column choices and the monthly routine are our own suggestion, not from these sources. We could not fetch Google's Business Profile metrics page, so we do not list those metrics. Want help reading your numbers? See the free program.