The six metrics an SEO report actually needs
Thirty-page reports move nobody forward. Here are the six metrics that drive decisions, and why.
Quick answer
An effective SEO report is built around six metrics: organic conversions, organic revenue, indexed page ratio, target query visibility, Core Web Vitals field data and AI engine citation rate. Everything else exists to explain those six.
Why traffic is not enough
Organic traffic going up is not good news by itself. Traffic from the wrong intent does not convert, costs you infrastructure and flatters the report. The top-line metric should always be conversions or revenue.
The six
1. Organic conversions and revenue. The business itself.
2. Indexed page ratio. How much of what you publish is actually visible?
3. Target query visibility. Not all keywords — the ones that matter to you.
4. Core Web Vitals field data. Real users, not the lab.
5. Citation rate. How often are you a source in AI answers?
6. Refresh impact. What did updating existing pages return?
Related content
What is GEO? A practical introduction to generative engine optimization
Classic SEO competes for a ranking; GEO competes for a place inside the answer. Here is the difference and wha...
Four changes that actually reduce INP
INP can look fine in the lab and fail in the field. Here are the four interventions that work in production.
How to build a topic cluster: a worked example
Moving from a keyword list to a topic cluster is the step most content programmes skip. Here it is with a conc...