Step 1: Create and verify a Google Search Console property
Posted on July 19, 2026 by Abhay khant
Key Takeaways
Create and verify a Google Search Console property (URL-prefix or Domain) so gsc-indexer can inspect your URLs without 403 errors.
Before gsc-indexer can inspect anything, Google has to know you own the
site. This guide gets you a verified property.
What is a "property"?
In Google Search Console, a property is a website (or part of one) you've
proven you control. You can only inspect URLs that belong to a property you
have access to. If the URL's host doesn't match the property, you'll get a
403 You do not own this site error later. so get this right now.
Sign in to Search Console
- Go to search.google.com/search-console.
- Sign in with the Google account that manages your site.
Add your property
Click Add property.
Choose the URL-prefix property type (the other type, Domain, needs DNS access and is overkill here).
Enter the exact prefix, including
https://andwwwif you use it:https://www.toolsura.com/
Exact match matters.
https://toolsura.com/andhttps://www.toolsura.com/are different properties. Inspect the URL exactly as it appears in the property prefix, or you'll hit a 403.
Verify ownership
The easiest method for most sites is the HTML file upload:
- On the verification screen, pick HTML file.
- Download the file Google gives you (it looks like
google1234567890abcdef.html). - Upload it to the root of your site so it's reachable at
https://www.toolsura.com/google1234567890abcdef.html. - Click Verify.
Other options (HTML tag in <head>, Google Analytics, DNS record) work too. pick whichever you can complete.
Confirm it worked
You should land on the property dashboard. That's it. the property exists and you own it.
What's next
You still can't run the tool yet. GSC property access uses your Google login, but the CLI runs unattended and needs a service account instead. Continue to create a service account and grant it access.
Sources
- Google Search Console
- URL Inspection API documentation
- Google Search APIs overview
- Service account OAuth (Google Identity)
- About service accounts (Google Cloud IAM)
- Verify site ownership
- Property types: URL-prefix vs Domain
- URL Inspection tool help
- Indexing API (JobPosting/BroadcastEvent only)
- Request indexing / inspect a URL
Frequently Asked Questions
Which property type should I create?
Use a Domain property if you want every subdomain and protocol covered by one property. Use a URL-prefix property (https://www.example.com/) when you only care about that exact prefix. gsc-indexer inspects against the property, so the prefix must match the URLs you submit.
Why do I get a 403 even though I own the site?
A 403 means the inspected URL is not part of the property you authenticated against. https://example.com and https://www.example.com are different properties, and so are http and https. Inspect the URL exactly as it appears in the property prefix, or the request is rejected.
How do I verify ownership?
Search Console offers several methods: a DNS TXT record for Domain properties, or an HTML file, meta tag, or Analytics association for URL-prefix properties. Pick the one your DNS or CMS makes easiest. Verification must complete before any inspection will succeed for that property.
Can one service account cover multiple properties?
One property per run, set with -site (it defaults to https://www.toolsura.com/). The service account needs Full access on every property you target, and all URLs in a single run must belong to that one property. Run the tool once per property if you manage several.
Do I need the property in the same Google account as the service account?
No. The service account is its own identity; it just needs to be granted Full user access to the property inside Search Console, regardless of which Google account created the property. The grant is what matters, not shared account ownership.