5

Our company's domain already has a google-site-verification= TXT record on it, so I guess somebody else set up Google Search Console at one point. However, I'm not sure who in the company that might be.

I need to get access into Search Console for our domain, but I would rather not lock out somebody else in the process, and I definitely don't want to risk destroying any history accumulated in Search Console.

So what happens if I add a second TXT record with a different google-site-verification token? Will that allow multiple accounts in Search Console, or would there be problems keeping both accounts verified?

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7

Adding multiple TXT records will function correctly. You can see some high profile companies doing that e.g. microsoft.com

$ dig -t txt @8.8.8.8 microsoft.com

; <<>> DiG 9.10.6 <<>> -t txt @8.8.8.8 microsoft.com
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 42907
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 13, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 512
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;microsoft.com.         IN  TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
microsoft.com.      2744    IN  TXT "adobe-idp-site-verification=8aa35c528af5d72beb19b1bd3ed9b86d87ea7f24b2ba3c99ffcd00c27e9d809c"
microsoft.com.      2744    IN  TXT "google-site-verification=yUE_SrjKKb4FHH1H04VWidfwstTGeS1FLx3Mcsnijjs"
microsoft.com.      2744    IN  TXT "adobe-sign-verification=c1fea9b4cdd4df0d5778517f29e0934"
microsoft.com.      2744    IN  TXT "docusign=d5a3737c-c23c-4bd0-9095-d2ff621f2840"
microsoft.com.      2744    IN  TXT "FbUF6DbkE+Aw1/wi9xgDi8KVrIIZus5v8L6tbIQZkGrQ/rVQKJi8CjQbBtWtE64ey4NJJwj5J65PIggVYNabdQ=="
microsoft.com.      2744    IN  TXT "v=spf1 include:_spf-a.microsoft.com include:_spf-b.microsoft.com include:_spf-c.microsoft.com include:_spf-ssg-a.microsoft.com include:spf-a.hotmail.com ip4:147.243.128.24 ip4:147.243.128.26 ip4:147.243.1.153 ip4:147.243.1.47 ip4:147.243.1.48 -all"
microsoft.com.      2744    IN  TXT "atlassian-domain-verification=jbey7I2+3Wyl+PZ0QUCC6fCz2Gu5KO7GQPcy/0c4za7ebQxar/qqujJH4kZLVQHZ"
microsoft.com.      2744    IN  TXT "google-site-verification=8-zFCaUXhhPcvN29EVw2RvtASDCaDPQ02L1HJ8Om8I0"
microsoft.com.      2744    IN  TXT "facebook-domain-verification=gx5s19fp3o8aczby6a22clfhzm03as"
microsoft.com.      2744    IN  TXT "google-site-verification=6P08Ow5E-8Q0m6vQ7FMAqAYIDprkVV8fUf_7hZ4Qvc8"
microsoft.com.      2744    IN  TXT "facebook-domain-verification=bcas5uzlvu0s3mrw139a00os3o66wr"
microsoft.com.      2744    IN  TXT "docusign=52998482-393d-46f7-95d4-15ac6509bfdd"
microsoft.com.      2744    IN  TXT "facebook-domain-verification=m54hfzczreqq2z1pf99y2p0kpwwpkv"

;; Query time: 45 msec
;; SERVER: 8.8.8.8#53(8.8.8.8)
;; WHEN: Tue Jun 25 23:29:46 CST 2019
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 1258
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  • 2
    Thanks, this is a great example. This gave me the confidence to move ahead, and now I can confirm that having multiple google-site-verification TXT records works just fine. – Nic Jun 25 '19 at 21:21
2

A simple workaround is to use a different form of identification. Google enables you to verify yourself using different methods, such as uploading a file to the server, or changing a meta tag. You can check all the available methods here:

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9008080?hl=en

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  • 2
    "you can't have multiple TXT records with the same name" no generic rule here for TXT records, it just depends on how they are handled by the application consuming them, so it is really per case.Google documentation says: "Verification confirms whether a specific user has control of a specific property. Every Search Console property requires at least one verified owner, though it can have more." property=website or app, in their jargon so that sentence hints there could me more than one... – Patrick Mevzek Jun 24 '19 at 22:47

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