---
title: "What is Brand vs generic keywords in Search Console?"
description: "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."
url: https://kodalogic.com/glossary/brand-vs-generic-keywords
---

[Glossary](/glossary)/Brand vs generic keywords

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.

Clicks · 100%Brand31%

* 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](/glossary/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](/glossary/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](/glossary/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.

Shown in these dashboards

* [![Google Search Console Dashboard for Data Studio dashboard](https://kodalogic.com/cdn/templates_images/0202_01QJQ390R8S96SM7H8HUO890PKYJ5MHA_0000.webp)](/template/google-search-console-template-for-looker-studio)  
[Google Search Console Dashboard for Data Studio](/template/google-search-console-template-for-looker-studio)$129
* [![Web & SEO Dashboard for Data Studio — GA4 + Search Console dashboard](https://kodalogic.com/cdn/templates_images/0234_OWGD0CDWC95GHLYIXC8I0K97PT5ZRQVE_0000.webp)](/template/web--seo-performance-dashboard)  
[Web & SEO Dashboard for Data Studio — GA4 + Search Console](/template/web--seo-performance-dashboard)$214
* [![All-in-One Marketing Dashboard for Data Studio dashboard](https://kodalogic.com/cdn/templates_images/0235_VE78OLDV9VA3KZRHCCPIEFB0MQ7ZW8Y7_0000.webp)](/template/all-in-one-dashboard-looker-studio-web-seo-ads)  
[All-in-One Marketing Dashboard for Data Studio](/template/all-in-one-dashboard-looker-studio-web-seo-ads)$289
[See the dashboards](/templates)

![Brand vs generic keywords on the Brand vs generic page of the Google Search Console Dashboard for Data Studio](/informes/2026-09-02/google-search-console-template-for-looker-studio/02.webp)

Page 2, Brand vs generic, of the [Google Search Console Dashboard for Data Studio](/template/google-search-console-template-for-looker-studio).[Open the live demo](https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/reporting/e8ebacd4-1831-49ea-89e0-a0888225d653/page/p%5F8fiespkekd) to see it with real data.

## See it in a report

[GSC dashboard with brand vs generic](/template/google-search-console-template-for-looker-studio)

## Related terms

* [Impressions](/glossary/impressions)
* [CTR](/glossary/ctr)
* [Looker Studio](/glossary/looker-studio)
* [Keyword ranking](/glossary/keyword-ranking)
* [Keyword ranking report](/glossary/keyword-ranking-report)
* [Average position](/glossary/average-position)

[← Average position](/glossary/average-position)[All 49 terms](/glossary)[Google Data Studio →](/glossary/google-data-studio)