GA4 guide
How to see conversions from organic search in GA4
Direct answer
GA4 organic conversions are key events counted in sessions from the Organic Search channel. Open Reports, Acquisition, Traffic acquisition and read the Key events column on the Organic Search row, or split key events by landing page in Explore. GA4 calls them key events now, and conversions is the older name. If the column is empty, no event is marked yet. Rankgaroo can run the same query from a chat.
Updated
On this page
Do it by handAsk your AI insteadWorked exampleLimits to knowQuestionsRelated guidesGA4 renamed conversions to key events, which is why guides and screens disagree. You just want to know what organic search produces, whether that is sign-ups, purchases or clicks on a button.
The example site has one key event set up, sign_up, and its data shows what you can and cannot conclude from a single event.
Do it by hand in GA4
- Open Reports, then Acquisition, then Traffic acquisition, and find the Organic Search row.
- Read the Key events column. If every row is 0 or the column is missing, no event is marked as a key event yet.
- For per-page numbers, open Explore and start a Free form exploration. Add Landing page as rows, and Sessions and Key events as values.
- Add a filter: Session default channel group exactly matches Organic Search.
- If nothing shows, open Admin, then Events, find the event that matters (a sign-up, a form submit, a button click) and switch on Mark as key event. If the event does not exist yet, create it in Admin under Events, or send it from your site with Tag Manager.
One report per event and period is fine, but comparing landing pages or two date ranges means redoing the exploration.
Ask your AI instead
With Rankgaroo connected to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor, paste a question like this:
Using my GA4 property for example.com, show key events from Organic Search for 2026-09-25 to 2026-10-22: the total, which event they are, and the top 10 landing pages by key events with sessions beside each. If no key events are set up, tell me what to configure.
What the AI calls
ga4_run_report(startDate: "2026-09-25", endDate: "2026-10-22", dimensions: ["eventName"], metrics: ["keyEvents", "eventCount"], filters: [{dimension: "sessionDefaultChannelGroup", matchType: "EXACT", value: "Organic Search"}], limit: 15)ga4_run_report(..., dimensions: ["landingPage"], metrics: ["sessions", "keyEvents"], filters: [{dimension: "sessionDefaultChannelGroup", matchType: "EXACT", value: "Organic Search"}], limit: 100)then the AI divides key events by sessions for each page and ranks them.
Worked example
| Landing page | Organic sessions | Key events | Key events per session |
|---|---|---|---|
| / | 2,010 | 118 | 0.06 |
| /pricing/ | 640 | 74 | 0.12 |
| /templates/invoice-template/ | 3,120 | 62 | 0.02 |
| /blog/freelance-invoice-checklist/ | 840 | 41 | 0.05 |
| /docs/zapier-integration/ | 212 | 27 | 0.13 |
| /ja/templates/invoice-template/ | 264 | 19 | 0.07 |
| /de/templates/stundenzettel-vorlage/ | 410 | 14 | 0.03 |
| /blog/invoice-vs-receipt/ | 720 | 9 | 0.01 |
| /blog/what-is-net-30/ | 540 | 5 | 0.01 |
| /es/templates/plantilla-factura/ | 188 | 2 | 0.01 |
What the answer says
Organic Search produced 402 key events from 13,480 sessions, and all of them are one event, sign_up. A sign-up is closer to revenue than a button click, but it is not a paying customer yet. Pages behave very differently: /templates/invoice-template/ brings the most sessions (3,120) but only 0.02 key events per session, while /pricing/ gives 0.12 on 640 sessions and /docs/zapier-integration/ gives 0.13 on 212.
Limits to know
- Key events count events, not people or sessions, so a visitor who clicks twice counts twice. The per-session column is events divided by sessions, not a conversion rate.
- GA4 credits a key event to the channel of the session it happened in, so an organic visit followed by a later Direct sign-up shows under Direct.
- Rankgaroo only reads what GA4 already records. It cannot mark events as key events or create them.
- GA4 may apply thresholds or sampling on small segments, and a landing page with a few sessions gives a ratio that swings wildly.
Questions
What is the difference between conversions and key events in GA4?
Key events are what GA4 now calls conversions. GA4 renamed them in 2024. The idea is the same: an event you mark as important, such as a purchase or a sign-up.
How do I mark an event as a key event in GA4?
To mark an event as a key event in GA4, open Admin, go to Events, find the event, and switch on Mark as key event. The event must already be recorded. It appears in the list after it has fired at least once.
Can I see which search queries lead to key events?
GA4 does not tie organic search queries to key events. Search Console shows queries and clicks, GA4 shows what happened after the click. Match them by landing page to see which pages turn search traffic into key events.
Why do my GA4 organic key events look low?
Organic key events look low when the event you care about is not marked as a key event, or when it is recorded in a later session from another channel. Check the Key events column on the Organic Search row, then check what the event is in Admin under Events.