What is PLS by Search Engine
PLS by Search Engine reveals how fast your website feels to load for users arriving via different search engines — such as Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, and others.
Because these visitors are often landing on your site for the first time, perceived load speed (PLS) plays a key role in their decision to stay, engage, or bounce. A slower perceived experience from any engine can directly impact traffic quality and conversion potential.
Healthy PLS by Search Engine sample
Should you worry
In a healthy view, PLS remains fast and consistent across all search engines. Whether users land from Google or a privacy-focused engine like DuckDuckGo, they experience similarly quick page rendering and visual completeness.
This suggests your landing pages and first impressions are optimized for performance, regardless of how users discover you.
If you notice one or more search engines consistently showing higher (slower) PLS values. These may represent issues with how certain engines handle link redirection, preloading behavior, or how your pages are cached.
A slow PLS can cause users to abandon the visit before they interact with the content — especially on mobile or lower-tier devices.
Unhealthy PLS by Search Engine sample
An unhealthy PLS by Search Engine lens may reveal slower perceived speeds specifically for Google Search, Bing, or other engines. This could be due to redirect chains, heavier landing page templates, or performance bottlenecks not visible when coming from direct or internal traffic.
These slower sessions often correlate with increased bounce rates and lower engagement from organic traffic — exactly where performance matters most.
Resolving unhealthy PLS by Search Engine
Go-to action plan to resolve an unhealthy PLS by Search Engine:
Ask Uxi to analyze your PLS by Search Engine and suggest improvements.
Use Filters to break down by landing page, device, and location for those engines.
Simulate LCP of the suspected lens to see if fixing it will resolve the PLS by Search Engine. If yes, this is where the resolution focus should be.
Use an automated optimization tool like Navigation AI to improve your PLS by Search Engine.
Once you’ve improved PLS, set an alert to be the first to know if it starts worsening again.
Try it yourself
Discover how your website performs with real user data.