Search Visibility Index and CTR by Position Explained: Which Numbers to Track
Impressions tell you Google showed your page. They do not tell you anyone could click it. Two numbers close that gap: the click rate at each position, and the share of your impressions that land where clicks almost never happen.
Both are published here with the data behind them. This guide explains each one, which part of AI search visibility it supports, and how to read it for your own site. The definition of the metric itself is in What Is Search Visibility?.
Impressions show that Google listed your page, not that anyone could click it. These four search numbers show which impressions can bring visitors and how to read them.
The Four Search Numbers and the Question Each One Answers
Four numbers do the work. Each one answers a plain question about your impressions.
| # | Number | The question it answers | Where it is published |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Click rate by position | How often do people click a result at each position? | CTR by position dataset |
| 2 | Relative weight | How much is a position worth compared with position 1? | CTR by position dataset |
| 3 | Page one share | What share of impressions land on page one? | Search Visibility Index |
| 4 | Dead zone share | What share of impressions land where clicks almost never happen? | Search Visibility Index |
Numbers 1 and 2 feed a weighted search visibility score. The formula and a worked example are in What Is Search Visibility?, and a real score is followed through in What Is a Good Search Visibility Score?.
Which Part of AI Search Visibility the Search Numbers Cover
These numbers measure Google results, not AI answers. They say nothing about whether an AI tool cited you or described you correctly, so they cannot replace the other tools.
They still belong beside them. A page has to be found before an AI tool can use it, and search results are one way pages get found. A page buried in them has one fewer way to be found. The difference between the two kinds of visibility is laid out in AI Search Visibility vs. Search Visibility.
Click Rate by Position: What the Curve Shows
Click rate is the share of impressions that become clicks. This curve comes from 155 websites and 496,768 impressions in the year to October 6, 2026. Across all of them, the overall click rate was 0.27 percent.
| Position | Click rate | Worth, compared with position 1 | Impressions behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17.17% | 1.00 | 2,138 |
| 2 | 14.17% | 0.83 | 1,426 |
| 3 | 5.49% | 0.32 | 1,694 |
| 4 | 2.49% | 0.15 | 2,571 |
| 5 | 1.56% | 0.09 | 4,218 |
| 6 | 0.74% | 0.04 | 3,927 |
| 7 | 0.94% | 0.05 | 3,518 |
| 8 | 0.63% | 0.04 | 3,310 |
| 9 | 0.70% | 0.04 | 4,457 |
| 10 | 0.88% | 0.05 | 3,630 |
| 11 to 20 | 0.49% | 0.03 | 24,808 |
| 21 to 50 | 0.15% | 0.009 | 129,152 |
| 51 and beyond | 0.03% | 0.0015 | 311,919 |
The table is refreshed each month, so the dataset page may show newer numbers. The shape stays the same.
The curve falls fast. Position 3 earns about a third of what position 1 earns. Position 10 earns about one-twentieth. A page on the second page of results earns about 3 percent.
How Much to Trust Each Part of the Curve
Look at the last column before you quote any row. The deep end rests on hundreds of thousands of impressions, so those rates are solid. The top rests on one to five thousand impressions each, so treat positions 1 to 10 as a snapshot, not a benchmark.
The ups and downs between positions 6 and 10 show why. Position 7 draws more clicks than position 6, and position 9 more than position 8. That is noise from small samples. The reason for the imbalance is simple: the sites in this set are young, and new pages start deep in the results.
Dead Zone Share: Visibility on Paper
The dead zone is every impression at position 21 or worse. Click rates there run from 0.15 percent down to 0.03 percent. Those impressions are counted and reported, and they look like growth, but they almost never bring a visitor.
In the curve above, 89 percent of all impressions landed in the dead zone and 6 percent landed on page one. The Search Visibility Index tracks the same split month by month. These are the readings so far, and October is a partial month:
| Month | Impressions | Page one share | Dead zone share |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | 4,908 | 10.17% | 87.65% |
| June 2026 | 17,583 | 4.23% | 94.55% |
| July 2026 | 77,589 | 4.25% | 90.31% |
| August 2026 | 145,470 | 2.66% | 93.73% |
| September 2026 | 122,017 | 6.61% | 88.04% |
| October 2026 (through October 6) | 32,721 | 8.98% | 83.65% |
Impressions grew about 30 times between May and August. Page one's share of them fell from 10 percent to under 3 percent, and the dead zone stayed between 88 and 95 percent. Read the impression count alone and it looks like growth. Read the split and you see a large base that has not yet turned into position.
Then the split started to move. By September page one held 6.61 percent, and in the first days of October it held 8.98 percent while the dead zone fell to 83.65 percent. October is a partial month, so the next full reading will show whether that holds.
How to Read These Search Numbers for Your Own Site
- Export your impressions by position from Search Console and group them the way the tables do.
- Track your dead zone share each month beside your total impressions.
- Treat a falling dead zone share with rising impressions as real progress. Treat rising impressions with a flat dead zone share as a bigger base, not better position.
- Borrow the deep-end click rates freely. Use your own numbers for the top of the curve once you have enough impressions there.
What the Search Numbers Cannot Show
This is a portfolio reading of young, niche and mostly business-to-business sites. It is not an industry benchmark, and Search Console reports an average position, so the bands are approximate at their edges.
The numbers also cannot show what AI tools say about you. For that, run the checker on a page and ask the real questions in the real tools.
Where the Search Numbers Fit Among the AI Search Visibility Tools
The AI Search Visibility Checker tests whether one page can be found, read and attributed. The AI bot data shows which crawlers came. The AI Readiness Score and the AI Symantix Audit read the search numbers together with the rest of your data. The guide to how to check AI search visibility shows where each one fits, and the search visibility glossary entry gives the short definition.
See the monthly readings
The Search Visibility Index shows where impressions land each month, with the date attached.
Open the Search Visibility IndexFrequently Asked Questions
What is dead zone share?
It is the share of search impressions that land at position 21 or worse. Click rates there run from 0.15 percent to 0.03 percent, so those impressions are counted but almost never bring a visitor.
What is CTR by position?
It is the share of impressions that become clicks at each ranking position. In our data it falls from 17.17 percent at position 1 to 0.88 percent at position 10 and 0.03 percent past position 50.
Why do my impressions rise while my clicks stay flat?
New pages usually start deep in the results, where almost no one clicks. Impressions can climb for months before enough pages reach page one. Tracking your dead zone share shows whether position is improving.
Can I use these click rates as a benchmark for my site?
Use the deep end freely and the top with care. The rates past position 20 rest on hundreds of thousands of impressions. The rates for positions 1 to 10 rest on a few thousand each, so measure your own when you can.
Do these search numbers measure AI search visibility?
No. They measure where Google lists your pages and how often people click. AI search visibility also depends on whether an AI tool cites the page and describes it correctly, which these numbers cannot show.