Verify your site with Google, Bing and others

Search engines and some social networks ask you to prove you own a site before they show you its data. One common way is an HTML meta tag on your home page. RankKit SEO adds these tags for you: paste the code once and it stays in place, even when you change themes.

Supported services

Field	Meta tag RankKit SEO adds
Google Search Console	google-site-verification
Bing Webmaster Tools	msvalidate.01
Yandex	yandex-verification
Pinterest	p:domain_verify
Baidu	baidu-site-verification

Add a verification code

1. In the service (for example Google Search Console), add your site and choose the HTML tag verification method. You get a tag like this:

   <meta name="google-site-verification" content="abc123XYZ" />
   

2. Copy only the value inside content="…", here abc123XYZ.

3. In WordPress, go to RankKit SEO → Settings → Webmaster tools.

4. Under Webmaster verification ("Paste only the content value of each verification meta tag."), paste it into the matching field.

5. Click Save changes.

6. Go back to the service and click Verify.

The tag is added to your home page only, which is where the services look for it. To check, open your home page, view the source and search for the tag name.

Important Paste the code, not the whole <meta> tag. HTML is stripped when you save, so a pasted tag ends up as an empty field and no verification tag is output.

Keep the code in place after you verify. Most services check again from time to time and remove access if the tag disappears.

Google Search Console without a tag

If you connect Google in RankKit SEO → Analytics, you work with a Search Console property that you already have access to; RankKit SEO does not need a verification tag for that connection. The tag is only for proving ownership to Google in the first place. See Connect Google Search Console and GA4.

Google also supports DNS verification for a Domain property, which covers all subdomains and protocols. That is done at your domain registrar, not in WordPress.

Google Analytics tag

The same settings page has a Google Analytics tag card for adding GA4 to your site. See Add the Google Analytics 4 tag.

FAQ

Verification fails even though I saved the code.

Check that you pasted only the content value, that you saved, and that the tag appears in your home page's source. If you use a page cache or CDN, clear it so the service sees the new version of the page.

I moved from another SEO plugin. Do I need to re-enter my codes?

If you imported from Squirrly SEO, its verification codes are copied across. For other plugins, copy the codes from the old plugin's settings into these fields before you deactivate it.

Can an AI agent add verification codes?

Yes. A connected agent can set them with the update_verification_codes tool, and the change waits for an administrator's approval in the Change Log.