Annotations let you mark important events directly on your Google Search Console performance charts. Use them to track algorithm updates, content changes, technical fixes, or any event that might impact your search performance.
When analyzing search performance changes, it's crucial to understand what happened and when. Annotations help you:
Correlate changes: See how content updates or technical fixes affected your traffic
Track algorithm updates: Google algorithm updates are automatically added as annotations
Document your work: Keep a record of SEO changes for future reference
Share context: When reviewing data with others, annotations explain what happened
Annotations appear as small triangle markers at the bottom of your GSC performance chart.
Enable Annotations
Click the notebook icon in the chart toolbar to open the annotations menu. Annotations are shown by default.
Filter by Type
Use the checkboxes to show or hide specific annotation types:
Custom
Annotations you create manually
Google Update
Automatically tracked Google algorithm updates
System
System-generated annotations
View Annotation Details
Hover over any triangle marker to see a tooltip with the annotation details. Click the marker to open the full annotations panel for that date.
Open the Annotations Menu
Click the notebook icon in the chart toolbar.
Click Add Annotation
Select "Add annotation" from the dropdown menu.
Fill in the Details
Title: A short description of the event
Date: When the event occurred
Description (optional): Additional context or notes
Click "Save" to add the annotation.
Annotations are linked to the GSC property, so they'll appear whenever you view that property's performance chart.
Click "View all annotations" in the annotations menu to open a panel showing all annotations for the current property.
View
See full annotation details
Edit
Modify title, date, or description
Delete
Remove the annotation
Google Update and System annotations cannot be edited or deleted—they are automatically maintained by SEO Utils.
Use the filters in the annotations panel to find specific annotations:
Date Range: Filter by when annotations occurred
Type: Show only custom, Google updates, or system annotations
Search: Find annotations by title or description
SEO Utils automatically tracks confirmed Google algorithm updates and adds them as annotations. This helps you understand if traffic changes correlate with known algorithm updates.
Google Update annotations are added automatically—you don't need to track them manually.
Be specific: Use clear titles like "Published new pricing page" instead of "Content update"
Add context: Use the description field to include links or additional details
Annotate promptly: Add annotations when you make changes, not weeks later when you've forgotten the details
Review regularly: When analyzing performance drops or gains, check annotations first to understand what changed
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