App Indexing Analytics: Measuring Search Visibility

Setting up app indexing is a significant investment. You configure verification files, add structured data, implement deep link handling, and annotate your web pages. But without analytics, you cannot tell if it is working or where to improve.

App indexing analytics span two systems: Google Search Console (which shows how your app appears in search) and your in-app analytics (which shows what happens after users arrive). This guide covers how to measure both. For the app indexing setup, see app indexing and SEO for mobile apps. For deep link analytics, see deep link analytics.

Search Console: App Search Performance

Accessing App Data

In Google Search Console, navigate to Performance > Search Results. By default, this shows web clicks and impressions. To see app-specific data:

Click "Search Appearance" in the filters.
Select app-related appearances (if available for your property).
Compare app vs. web metrics.

Note: Google merged app and web data in the Performance report. You may not see a separate "App" filter. Instead, look at pages that have app link annotations and track their performance over time.

Key Metrics

Metric	What It Tells You	Target
Impressions	How often your app-linked pages appear in search	Trending upward
Clicks	How often users click your app-linked results	Higher CTR than non-app pages
CTR	Click-through rate for app-linked results	3-8% (varies by industry)
Average position	Where your app-linked pages rank	Top 10 for target keywords

Filtering by App-Linked Pages

Create a comparison between pages with and without app indexing:

In the Performance report, click "New" > "Page."
Enter URLs that have app link annotations (e.g., /products/).
Compare their performance with pages that do not have app links.

If app-linked pages have higher CTR than similar non-app pages, the app result format is driving more clicks.

URL Inspection for Individual Pages

Use the URL Inspection tool to verify app indexing status per page:

Enter a specific URL.

Check the "Enhancements" section for:

App link annotations detected.
Structured data (SoftwareApplication, ViewAction) parsed correctly.
Any errors or warnings.

What to Look For

Positive signals:

"Alternate: android-app" detected in the page.
Structured data with potentialAction parsed without errors.
Page is indexed and serving in search.

Warning signs:

"App link not verified": Your assetlinks.json or AASA file has issues.
"Structured data errors": Missing required fields or invalid values.
"Page is not indexed": Google has not crawled the page (submit for indexing).

Enhancement Reports

Search Console has Enhancement reports for specific structured data types. If you use SoftwareApplication or other schema types, check:

Navigate to Enhancements in the left sidebar.
Find your structured data type.

Review:

Valid items: Pages with correctly parsed structured data.
Items with warnings: Minor issues that do not block rich results.
Items with errors: Critical issues preventing rich results.

Track these numbers over time. A sudden drop in valid items indicates a deployment broke your structured data.

In-App Analytics: Post-Click Behavior

Search Console tells you about the search side. Your in-app analytics tell you about the app side.

Tracking Search-Originated Sessions

When a user opens your app from a search result (via a deep link), track the source:

// Android: detect if the app was opened from a search result
class DeepLinkActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

        val uri = intent.data
        val referrer = getReferrer()

        // Track the source
        analytics.trackEvent("deep_link_open", mapOf(
            "url" to (uri?.toString() ?: "none"),
            "referrer" to (referrer?.toString() ?: "none"),
            "source" to classifySource(referrer)
        ))
    }

    private fun classifySource(referrer: Uri?): String {
        return when {
            referrer?.host?.contains("google") == true -> "google_search"
            referrer?.host?.contains("bing") == true -> "bing_search"
            referrer == null -> "direct"
            else -> "other"
        }
    }
}

Key In-App Metrics

Metric	What It Tells You
Deep links from search	Volume of search-to-app traffic
Content match rate	Percentage of deep links that resolve to the correct content
Session duration from search	How long users stay after arriving from search
Conversion rate from search	Purchases, sign-ups from search-originated sessions
Bounce rate from search	Users who open the app and immediately leave

Building a Dashboard

Combine Search Console and in-app data for a complete picture:

Weekly Report

App Indexing Performance (Week of June 16, 2026)

Search Visibility:
  Pages with app indexing: 2,450 / 3,000 (82%)
  Search impressions: 45,000 (+8% WoW)
  Search clicks: 2,100 (+12% WoW)
  Average CTR: 4.7% (vs. 3.2% for non-app pages)

App Opens from Search:
  Deep links from Google: 1,850
  Content match rate: 94%
  Average session duration: 4:30 (vs. 2:15 from other sources)

Conversions:
  Purchases from search traffic: 185
  Revenue from search traffic: $12,400
  Search conversion rate: 8.8% (vs. 5.2% average)

Automated Data Collection

Use the Search Console API to pull data programmatically:

// Pull Search Console data via API
async function getSearchPerformance(siteUrl, startDate, endDate) {
  const response = await searchConsole.searchanalytics.query({
    siteUrl,
    requestBody: {
      startDate,
      endDate,
      dimensions: ['page', 'query'],
      dimensionFilterGroups: [{
        filters: [{
          dimension: 'page',
          operator: 'contains',
          expression: '/products/'
        }]
      }],
      rowLimit: 1000
    }
  });

  return response.data.rows;
}

Diagnosing Issues

Low Impressions

Your app-linked pages are not appearing in search:

Check indexing: Are the pages in Google's index? (URL Inspection tool)
Check verification: Are assetlinks.json and AASA files valid? (See verification guide)
Check markup: Are alternate link tags and structured data present? (Rich Results Test)
Check content: Are the pages thin or duplicate? (Review content quality)

Low CTR

Pages appear in search but users do not click:

Check title and description: Are they compelling? Do they include relevant keywords?
Check rich results: Is your structured data generating enhanced search results?
Check position: Are you ranking on page 2 or lower? (Most clicks go to top 5 results)

High Bounce Rate from Search

Users click from search, open the app, and immediately leave:

Content mismatch: The search result promises one thing, the app shows another.
Deep link failure: The deep link opens the app to the wrong screen.
Slow loading: The content takes too long to load in the app.

Tolinku Analytics Integration

Tolinku's analytics tracks deep link clicks, including those originating from search results. View click data, referrer sources, and conversion metrics in the Tolinku dashboard to complement your Search Console data.

For deep link analytics, see deep link analytics. For the app indexing setup, see app indexing and SEO for mobile apps.

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