In the ever-evolving landscape of SEO, understanding **how Google’s AI Overviews shape search behavior** is crucial for website owners and marketers. This innovative feature answers queries directly on search result pages, often rendering the need for external site visits obsolete. However, while it enriches the user experience, it leaves publishers with a challenge: how to gauge their performance in this new AI-driven environment?
Currently, Google doesn’t offer a **comprehensive report on link visibility** within AI Overviews. This gap in data leaves many publishers in the dark. Fortunately, third-party tools can fill this void. Still, with steep costs, they may be out of reach for smaller businesses. Luckily, **Google Search Console** can be a goldmine for understanding how your URLs feature in AI Overviews—if you know where to look.
Understanding the Basics of Search Console’s Role
The "Performance" Tab: A Treasure Trove of Insights
Within Search Console’s “Performance” tab, you can discover how your URLs perform in organic search results. Each section of search results—be it “People also ask,” image packs, or AI Overviews—is recognized as a single position.
According to Google:
“A Google Search results page is composed of many search result elements. The ‘position’ metric attempts to show approximately where on the page a given link was seen, relative to other results on the page.”
What this means is that if your URL appears in an image block at the top, it registers as position 1. Interestingly, AI Overviews are categorized as one of these elements; hence, all links displayed in a single AI Overview will also show as position 1 in Search Console. As Google’s John Mueller noted, this could vary, but it serves as a useful guide for identifying your URLs in AI Overviews.
How to Extract Valuable Data
Step 1: Create a Filter in Search Console
To get started, head to the “Performance” tab and create a filter that showcases where your site ranks number 1. Here’s how:
- Click the filter icon at the top right of your query list.
- Select “Position.”
- In the filter settings, choose “Smaller than” and enter “2.”
- Click “Done.”
This will generate a filtered report displaying search queries where your site ranks below position 2. Note that if your URL shows up in different formats for mobile and desktop, the average position might be slightly above 1.
Filter “Queries” by “Smaller than 2” in Search Console. Click image to enlarge.
Step 2: Sort Your Results by Click-Through Rate
Click-through rates (CTR) in AI Overviews tend to be significantly lower than traditional organic listings. By sorting your filtered report by CTR, you can pinpoint queries with lower click counts, indicating they might benefit from showcasing AI Overviews.
To sort the report:
- Click the “CTR” header twice.
This action will reveal when an AI Overview likely began citing your URL, notably marked by an increase in average position alongside a drop in CTR.
Sort the report by click-through rate to detect trends. Click image to enlarge.
Conclusion: Navigating the AI Frontier
While it’s true that these steps do not provide a comprehensive overview of your website’s performance in AI Overviews, they are a valuable, cost-effective tool for assessing how these elements affect your search visibility. Armed with this data, you can better optimize your URLs for AI-driven answers, ensuring that your site remains competitive in this rapidly changing digital environment.
For further details on optimizing for AI, check out our resource here and start fine-tuning your strategy today!
