Average position

For each search, Google takes the highest spot any link to your site held. If one search showed you at 2, 4 and 6, it counts 2. If another showed you at 3, 5 and 9, it counts 3. The average of the two is 2.5.

Positions are counted from the top of the page. Ads don't take a position, and a block such as an AI Overview takes one position for all its links. A result only gets a position when it gets an impression: if you were on page 3 and the person stayed on page 1, that search isn't counted.

1. In Search Console, open the Performance report for Search results and click Average position above the chart. The chart value covers the whole site.
2. Open the Queries tab, or the Pages tab, to see the average for each search or each page.
3. Follow how it changes over time, especially sudden jumps, instead of reading one number on its own. That is what Google recommends.
4. Focus on the searches that matter for your business. Our guide to getting customers from Google without ads helps you pick them.

• Searching yourself and finding a different place. Results depend on location, device and search history, so your own search is one case and the report is an average.
• Reading the site average as your ranking. It mixes searches where you are first with searches where you are on page 4.
• Panicking when it gets worse. A page that starts appearing for new searches lower down can make the average worse while its clicks grow.
• Assuming 11 means the top of page 2. Google notes that the same number can mean different places depending on the device and the layout of the page.