Google Search Console is a free tool from Google available to anyone with a Google account. There are no restrictions on who can sign up, but you must verify that you own or manage the website you want to track. This prevents random people from accessing data about sites they don't control. Verification typically happens through one of five methods: uploading an HTML file to your root directory, adding a DNS TXT record through your domain registrar, connecting an existing Google Analytics account, using Google Tag Manager, or adding a meta tag to your homepage. The DNS method is cleanest for agencies managing multiple clients because it doesn't clutter the site code, though it requires registrar access. HTML upload works for anyone with FTP or cPanel access. Once verified, you get full access to search performance data, indexing status, Core Web Vitals, mobile usability reports, and manual action notifications. You can also add other users as owners or viewers, which is how agencies like Ottawa SEO give clients read-only access while maintaining control. Properties can have up to 1,000 users, so there's no practical limit for teams. The catch is that Search Console only shows data for sites you verify. You cannot spy on competitors' organic traffic or rankings through GSC. For that, you'd need third-party tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush, which estimate data by crawling the web and tracking SERPs. GSC data is also limited to the last 16 months and shows only queries where your site appeared in search results, not total search volume. At Ottawa SEO, we verify every client site during onboarding using DNS records when possible. We set up automated email reports for critical issues like indexing drops or manual penalties, because GSC doesn't push notifications aggressively enough. The Performance report becomes the single source of truth for what Google actually sees, versus what analytics tools infer from clicks.