Connect your analytics: how it works and why it's safe
One viewer invite, no OAuth, no passwords. What we read, what we never touch, and how connected data makes Return real.
Updated 2026-09-13
On Brand Echo Pro you can connect Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console, and HubSpot, and Return stops estimating from public signals and starts scoring your real customers, deals, branded clicks, and returning visitors.
Most tools do this with an OAuth dance that asks for broad account access. We deliberately don't.
How it works: one viewer invite
For the Google products, we run a single read-only service account (its email is shown on your connections page). You add that email as a Viewer on your GA4 property and as a user on your Search Console property, the same way you'd share access with a colleague. That's the entire setup:
- No OAuth grant. You never click "Allow" on a broad permissions screen.
- No passwords. We never see or ask for your Google credentials.
- Revoke anytime. Remove the viewer from your property and the connection is dead that instant, entirely under your control.
For HubSpot, you create a private app in your own portal with three read-only scopes and paste its token once. The token is stored encrypted and never displayed again.
What we read (and what we never touch)
We read a small, fixed set of aggregates, nothing else:
- GA4: total users, returning-visitor share, direct and organic sessions, over the last 28 days.
- Search Console: branded vs non-branded clicks, impressions, average position, last 28 days.
- HubSpot: contact and customer counts, company count, and closed-won deals from the last 90 days.
We never read individual contact records, personal data, email content, or anything with a name on it. The connectors pull counts and totals, feed them to the Return scoring, and every figure on your dashboard is attributed to its source.
The domain rule
Connected data applies only when you scan your own brand's domain, the one saved on your connections page. Scan any other site and it's scored from public signals like everyone else. Your numbers sharpen your score and nobody else's, ever.
Set up each connection
Each takes about two minutes, and each article covers the one trap that catches most humans. You'll find the connect cards at Connect your data in your account menu.
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