Use striking-distance to find query-page combinations whose retained GSC
average position falls from 11 through 20. This range can surface useful review
candidates, but it is a heuristic boundary. Average position varies by search,
device, country, and day, so the report does not prove that a URL consistently
ranks on a literal second results page or predict how many clicks a change will
produce.
Run the report
With MCP, call seo_list_reports with {"category":"diagnosis"}, call
seo_describe_report with {"id":"striking-distance"}, then call
seo_run_report with only described parameters. Example:
{"id":"striking-distance","params":{"site":"sc-domain:example.com","days":28,"minImpressions":50,"limit":10,"includeBrand":false,"verifyContent":true,"verifyLimit":5}}.
The CLI has exact registry parity:
seo reports describe striking-distance --json
seo reports run striking-distance --params '{"site":"sc-domain:example.com","days":28,"minImpressions":50,"limit":10,"includeBrand":false,"verifyContent":true,"verifyLimit":5}' --json
Add brandTerms, JavaScript rendering, or bounded fetch-rate controls only
after inspecting the schema and when the investigation needs them.
Interpret the output
Check range, rangeDays, dataStatus, and source before the item list.
source.possiblyTruncated and retained-row completeness limit any all-clear.
Use selection to see what was invalid, outside the position range, branded,
below thresholds, eligible, returned, or limited. methodology explains the
priority heuristic.
For each item, read the observed query, URL, clicks, impressions, CTR, average
position, recommendation evidence, and optional contentVerification.
verification reports requested, attempted, verified, technical, and failed
counts; unverified or failed pages must keep lower confidence. Groups and
templates show repeated patterns only within retained candidates.
Act safely
Audit a small number of high-impression candidates. Fix verified technical problems first; otherwise compare intent, title framing, page coverage, and internal links against observed query evidence. Do not rewrite a page solely because it sits inside the position band, and do not present the priority score as expected traffic or ranking lift.