The short answer: a monthly blog report from a content provider should fit on one page and answer three questions: what was published, whether it is being found by search engines and AI assistants, and whether it is producing enquiries. Ask for five numbers: posts published and indexed, impressions and clicks from Google Search Console, results of a consistent AI visibility check, and the enquiries or sales that can be traced to the blog.
If you are paying for a blog package, a retainer or a GEO service, the report is how you know whether the money is working. It is also where weak providers hide. A twelve-page document full of charts can say nothing, while a half-page summary with honest numbers can tell you everything you need. This piece sets out what to expect, what the numbers mean and how to read them with appropriate patience.
Number 1: Posts published and indexed
The first number is the simplest: how many posts were published this month, and how many of them are indexed by Google. A post that is not indexed cannot rank. In Google Search Console, the Pages report shows which URLs are indexed and which are excluded, with reasons.
What to expect: the number of posts matches what was agreed, and most are indexed within days to a few weeks. If posts sit in “Discovered, currently not indexed” for a long time, ask why. Possible causes include thin content, poor internal linking or crawling problems. If you are unsure how many posts you should be buying in the first place, our guide to how many blog posts you actually need offers a way to decide.
Number 2: Impressions and clicks from Search Console
Search Console reports impressions (how often your pages appeared in results) and clicks (how often someone chose them). For a new blog, impressions usually rise before clicks, and that is a healthy early sign: you are being shown even if not yet chosen.
Ask for these numbers for blog pages only, compared with the previous month and the same month a year earlier if the history exists. Also ask for the top five queries and pages. Watch the trend over three months, not the single month. Monthly figures bounce around, and the reaction to one dip should be curiosity, not panic.
Number 3: Average position, used carefully
Average position is a blunt figure. A new post appearing for many obscure queries at position 60 can drag the average down even when your key pages are improving. Ask instead for the position of a short list of target queries, five to ten that matter commercially, tracked consistently. This is more meaningful than a site-wide average.
If your provider reports “keywords tracked” or “keywords ranking” as a headline, ask how many are on page one and how many have buying intent. A thousand tracked keywords at position 80 is not progress.
Number 4: AI visibility, measured the same way each month
If the service includes generative engine optimisation, the report should include a repeatable check of how you appear in AI assistants: a fixed list of questions, asked in the same assistants, with a record of whether you are mentioned, cited or absent, and who else is named. Because answers vary between runs, a good report states the method and avoids claiming precision. We describe a lightweight version in our 45-minute monthly AI visibility check.
Be sceptical of any provider who reports a single “AI visibility score” without telling you how it is calculated. If you are choosing a provider, our guide on how to choose a GEO agency lists the questions worth asking.
Number 5: Enquiries or sales traced to the blog
This is the number that matters most and the one weakest reports leave out. Ask for:
- Contact form submissions, calls or bookings where the blog page was part of the visit.
- Where possible, the first page a visitor landed on before converting.
- A short note on how leads reported hearing about you, if you ask them.
Attribution for content is imperfect. Readers often arrive on a blog, leave, and return later by searching your name. That is why a “how did you hear about us” field in the enquiry form is a useful addition. We discuss imperfect measurement in how to measure blog ROI when AI answers take the click.
Which numbers should you treat with suspicion?
Some figures sound impressive and tell you little:
- Total word count delivered. Length is not value.
- Total site traffic without a split between blog, brand searches and everything else, and without a conversion figure.
- Domain rating or similar third-party scores as a headline: these are tool-specific estimates, not what Google uses.
- Social shares on posts meant to produce leads.
- “Optimisation score” or “SEO score” from a plugin, which measures box-ticking, not results.
None of these is forbidden; they are just not results.
What does a good one-page report look like?
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Published | Titles, dates, target question, index status |
| Search | Impressions, clicks, top queries, target query positions, compared with last month |
| AI visibility | The fixed prompt list, mentions and citations, changes since last check |
| Business | Enquiries and sales linked to the blog, with caveats |
| Notes | What changed, what was learned, what happens next month |
The notes section is the most useful part. A provider who explains what they observed and what they will do about it is doing their job. A provider who sends numbers and silence is not.
What timeline should you expect?
Blogs move slowly. As a planning assumption, expect the first signs, indexed pages and impressions, within the first one to two months. Clicks and ranking movement usually follow in months three to six, and enquiries traced to the blog often come after that, though in niches with quick buying cycles they can come sooner. This is general experience, not a guarantee, and it varies by market competition and domain age. If you want to judge whether a blog is worth doing at all, see our decision guide on whether blogging is still worth it.
What should you ask on the monthly call?
- Which post performed best and why do we think so?
- Which post has not been indexed or has not moved, and what are we doing about it?
- Are we gaining on the five to ten queries that matter commercially?
- What did the AI visibility check show that surprised us?
- What will you change next month because of this report?
A provider who welcomes these questions is likely to be accountable. One who deflects them with more charts is telling you something too. The best reports are short because the people writing them understand the work well enough to say what matters.
How should you handle a month with bad news?
Some months the numbers will be flat or down. A trustworthy provider reports that plainly and explains it: an algorithm update, a seasonal slump, a page that lost its ranking to a competitor, a technical issue. What you want to see is a diagnosis and a plan, not silence or a rearranged chart that hides the dip. If a report never contains a single negative figure across six months, it is likely edited for comfort rather than accuracy, and you should ask what is not being shown.
Finally, keep your own record. Save each report, and note at the start the baseline figures from the month before work began. After half a year you will be able to compare like with like, and you will have evidence if you decide to continue, change the scope or move on.