Reading Charts

What is it?

Prism shows your data as line charts, bar lists and funnels. This page explains how to read them, and what to watch out for.

Why use it?

Charts make it easy to spot a change. But two lines on one chart can come from different sources. Knowing how each chart is built stops you from drawing the wrong conclusion.

Understanding the screen

Sessions vs Clicks

You see this chart on the Analytics screen and as Sessions vs Clicks Trend in Category Breakdown.

• GA4 Organic Sessions — visits from Google Analytics 4.
• GSC Clicks — clicks from Google Search Console.

In Category Breakdown this chart is Site-wide, organic — not filtered to the categories above.

Why sessions and clicks don't match

GA4 sessions and Search Console clicks never match exactly. Prism says this on screen:

GSC clicks and GA4 sessions come from separate tracking systems (different attribution windows, bot filtering, consent handling) and won't reconcile exactly — shown side by side for context, not as one continuous count.

What this means:

• A click in Google may not become a GA4 session. For example, the visitor may not accept cookies.
• GA4 and Search Console decide differently which visit belongs to which day and source.
• Each tool filters out bots in its own way.

So look at the shape of the two lines. If both rise and fall together, all is well. If one line moves and the other doesn't, look into it.

Funnels

The Visibility Funnel (Category Breakdown) and the Organic Funnel (SEO Root Cause Analysis) show steps from impressions to conversions:

Impressions → CTR → Clicks → GA4 sessions → Sessions → Engaged sessions or conversion rate → Conversions.

The step between clicks and sessions is labelled GA4 sessions (separate tracking) or GA4 (separate tracking). It is a reminder that the funnel switches from Search Console to GA4 at that point.

Trend charts with branded lines

The Trend chart in SEO Root Cause Analysis has lines for Overall, Branded and Non-branded. You can group by Daily, Weekly or Monthly. Weeks run Monday to Sunday. Impressions and clicks are measured. The branded split of sessions and conversions is an estimate.

Position charts

In Position & CTR over time, the purple line is Position (higher on chart = better rank). The chart is flipped so that a better rank (a smaller number) sits higher.

Ranking distribution

Bar lists such as Ranking position distribution count how many pages or keywords sit in each position group. More items in the top groups is better.

Example

For example, your Sessions vs Clicks chart shows clicks rising 10% while sessions stay flat. Clicks come before the visit. So Google sent more people, but GA4 did not record more visits. Check whether a tracking tag or a consent banner changed on your site.

Tips

• Compare shapes, not exact numbers, when two sources share a chart.
• Use Weekly grouping to smooth out daily ups and downs.
• Read Understanding metrics for every metric name.

Common issues