Core Web Vitals (CWV) are the subset of Web Vitals that Google has elevated to confirmed Search ranking signals. As of 2024, the three CWV are Largest Contentful Paint (LCP, loading), Interaction to Next Paint (INP, responsiveness, replacing FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS, visual stability).
Google evaluates Core Web Vitals at the 75th percentile of page visits over a 28-day window of real-user data, sourced from the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX). A page passes Core Web Vitals only if all three metrics land in the "Good" band at that p75. Search Console reports CWV per URL group (similar pages bucketed together).
CWV are scored on field data (real users), not lab data (Lighthouse). A page can pass Lighthouse and fail CrUX, in which case CrUX wins for ranking. Optimise for the CrUX numbers your audience actually sees.