Reading Search Rankings and AI Overviews

The five stats

Tracked is how many keywords you follow. Top 3 and Top 10 count the checked keywords where your best page ranks inside those positions. Under Top 10 a line says how that count moved: Up, Down or No change this week, or No week-old check to compare yet. That comparison is each keyword's newest check against one at least seven days older.

AI Overview shown on counts keywords whose latest check showed an AI Overview. AI Overview cites you counts those where the Overview's sources included your domain. Both carry the note that AI Overviews vary run to run. Each stat also names its source and date, for example Google, US, checked Oct 21.

The table, column by column

Keyword is what you track. Rank is your best page's position, such as #4, or Not in top 10 when none of your pages is among the first ten results, or Not checked yet. Change compares the newest check with the one before: Up or Down by a number, No change, Entered top 10, Left top 10, or New when there is only one check.

Our page is the address of your best ranking page, or None in top 10. AI Overview says Shown or Not shown. Cites you says Yes or No when an Overview was shown, and No AI Overview when none was. #1 domain is whoever holds the top spot, even when it is you. Checked on is the day of the latest check.

Click Keyword, Rank, Change, #1 domain or Checked on to sort. Rows with nothing to compare always sink to the bottom. On a phone the rows become cards with the same facts.

History and freshness

Press Show history on a checked keyword to see up to eight weeks of ranks, oldest first, with a bar where longer means better. With a single check it says Only one check so far, so there is no history to show yet.

Ranks are refreshed weekly. A site is due when its newest check is seven or more days old, or it has none, and an hourly job queues all its keywords in small batches. A keyword is checked at most once a day. A failed check writes nothing, so a timeout never shows up as Not in top 10. If the newest check is more than 14 days old, a banner says the ranks are out of date and gives the last check date.

Why AI Overviews vary

Google does not show the same AI Overview every time, and may show none on a repeat of the same search. One check is a single sample. Read the AI Overview columns across several weeks rather than from one row. Each check records whether an Overview was shown, and whether your domain is among its cited sources.

Under the stats, the AI Overview impact card uses your Search Console data to compare queries that had an AI Overview with queries that did not. It gives one of four plain verdicts, such as AI Overviews are taking clicks or Not enough data for a verdict yet, with the numbers and caveats beneath.

Managing keywords and files

Manage keywords opens a drawer. Add keywords by typing them, by pressing Add top Search Console queries, or by uploading a .csv or .txt of up to 1 MB. In a file, put one keyword per line or in the first column. A header row such as keyword or query is ignored, repeats are dropped and a keyword over 120 characters is left out. You see a preview before anything is added, and the file is sent in groups of 50.

The drawer lists what you track, with its source, From Search Console, Added by you or From keyword lab, and a Remove button for each.

Download rankings CSV appears once there are ranks. For long lists the file may hold only the first rows, and it says so.

FAQ