Google Search Console · Concept
What is Brand vs generic keywords?
Brand keywords are searches that include a company’s own name; generic keywords are everything else. Splitting the two is essential in SEO reporting because brand traffic reflects existing awareness while generic traffic reflects new discovery.
- Brand31%
- Generic69%
Split the queries that carry your name from the rest before reading growth.
- Data source
- Google Search Console
- Type
- Concept
Why it matters
Brand queries convert at far higher CTR, users searching a name intend to visit it, so mixing both in one average flatters the numbers and hides how the site really performs on open queries.
How to read it
The split is usually implemented with a regular expression filter on the query; any search containing the brand name (and its misspellings) counts as brand. In mature sites brand queries can be a large share of clicks with a small share of impressions; reporting them separately shows whether generic acquisition, the part SEO can grow, is actually improving.
In a Data Studio report
In Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio) the split is implemented once, as a calculated field or filter on the query dimension, and every chart can then be duplicated into a brand and a generic view. Reports that lead with the generic view show the real SEO trend; the brand view tracks awareness and protects the numbers from mixing.
Where to find it in Google Search Console
Search Console: Performance, then Search results, with a query filter (Query contains your brand, then Query does not contain it); the split is computed in the report.
