Automations
How Does the Automations Tool Work?
SEO Utils allows you to automate actions when rank tracking completes. When an Organic Rank Tracker or Google Business Rank Tracker snapshot finishes, you can automatically export PDFs, send emails to clients, or trigger webhook URLs.
The automation system processes actions sequentially. If one action fails, subsequent actions that don't depend on its output will still run. Only actions requiring output from failed actions will be skipped.
How to Create an Automation
To get started, head to Automations in the left sidebar. Then, click the Add Automation button.

The automation form has three steps:
Step 1: Basic Information
Name: Give your automation a descriptive name like "Send GMB Report to Client"
Description: Optional notes about what this automation does
Active Status: Toggle whether the automation should run
Step 2: Configure Trigger
Select when the automation should run:
Trigger Type: Choose between Organic Rank Tracker or GMB Rank Tracker completion
Run On: Select "All Reports" or choose specific reports
Run Once: Enable this to run the automation only once per report, preventing duplicate actions like sending multiple emails when re-running the tracker

Step 3: Define Actions
Add one or more actions that execute in sequence. Each action type has specific configuration options.
Using Variables in Actions
Variables allow you to use dynamic data from your rank tracking reports. Variables are wrapped in double curly braces {{variable_name}}
.
Click the Variables button in any text field to search and insert variables quickly. You can search by typing keywords like "action 1" or "email" to find relevant variables.

GMB Rank Tracker Trigger Variables:
{{trigger.reportID}}
- ID of the GMB rank tracker report{{trigger.reportType}}
- Type of report (google-business-rank-tracker){{trigger.fromDate}}
- Date of the comparison snapshot (based on automation's comparison days setting){{trigger.toDate}}
- Date of the current snapshot that triggered this automation{{trigger.ranOn}}
- Date when the snapshot was created{{trigger.snapshotID}}
- ID of the current snapshot{{trigger.businessName}}
- Business name being tracked{{trigger.address}}
- Business address{{trigger.comparisonDays}}
- Number of days between snapshots
Example: GMB Report Email Automation
Here's a practical template for automatically sending GMB ranking reports to clients:
Action 1: Export PDF
Action Type: Export PDF
Export Folder:
/Users/yourname/Downloads
(or your preferred folder)
Output Variables (automatically available for next actions):
exportDate
- Date when the file was exportedexportTime
- Full timestamp of exportfileName
- Name of the PDF filefilePath
- Full path to the exported PDF filefileSize
- Size of the file in bytes
Action 2: Send Email
Action Type: Send Email
SMTP Credential: Select your configured credential or leave empty for default
Recipients:
[email protected]
CC Recipients: (optional)
Email Subject:
GMB Rankings Report - {{trigger.businessName}} - {{trigger.ranOn}}
Email Body:
Hi,
Your Google Business ranking report for {{trigger.businessName}} is ready.
Comparison Period: {{trigger.fromDate}} to {{trigger.toDate}}
Location: {{trigger.address}}
The detailed report is attached to this email.
Best regards,
Your SEO Team
Attachments: Use the Variables button to insert the file path from Action 1. It will look like:
{{action.act_[actionId].filePath}}

Monitoring Automation History
The Automation detail page shows comprehensive execution history:
Execution Statistics
Total Runs: How many times the automation has triggered
Successful/Failed/Partial: Breakdown of execution results
Execution History Tab
View each automation run with:
Status: Completed, Failed, or Partial (some actions failed)
Duration: How long the automation took
Actions: Number of actions executed
Trigger Data: The snapshot or report that triggered it

Retrying Failed Automations
When an automation fails or partially completes, you have two retry options:
Click the vertical three dots next to the execution
Choose your retry method:
Retry All Actions: Runs the entire automation from the beginning
Retry Failed & Cancelled Actions: Only retries actions that failed or were cancelled
The system will:
For "Retry All": Execute all actions from the start
For "Retry Failed & Cancelled": Skip completed actions and only retry failed/cancelled ones
Use the original trigger data (not current automation settings)
Execution & Action Status Types
Automation Execution Status
Running: Automation is currently executing
Success: All actions completed successfully
Failed: All actions failed
Partial: Some actions succeeded, others failed or cancelled
Individual Action Status
Running: Action is currently executing
Completed: Action executed successfully
Failed: Action encountered an error
Cancelled: Action was stopped before completion
Last updated