Are AI Overviews taking your clicks? How to measure it in Search Console
To see whether AI Overviews are costing you clicks, use two Search Console reports together. The Generative AI performance report shows which pages get link impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode. The Performance report shows clicks, impressions and position for the same pages. A page whose AI impressions grew while its position held and its CTR fell is the clearest sign. Compare the same page over the same periods, and check the queries by hand before deciding.
What Search Console can and cannot show
Since June 2026, Search Console has a Generative AI performance report with link impressions from AI Overviews and AI Mode, by page. The main Performance report still counts clicks, impressions, CTR and position for Google Search as a whole.
Neither report tells you how many clicks a page would have had without an AI Overview. So you cannot measure lost clicks directly. You can see the pattern that suggests it, page by page, and check it against what the results look like.
Measure it in four steps
Write down the dates and filters you used. You will want to repeat the same view next quarter.
- In the Generative AI performance report, sort pages by link impressions for the last 3 months. These are the pages AI features show.
- For each page, open the Performance report, filter to that page, and compare the last 3 months with the 3 months before, or with the same months last year.
- Look at the four numbers together: position, impressions, clicks and CTR.
- For the page's top queries, search Google yourself and note whether an AI Overview appears and whether it links to you.
Read the pattern
Read position first. If the page still ranks where it did, a falling CTR points at something on the results page, and AI Overviews are one candidate among several.
| What you see | What it probably means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Position steady, impressions steady or up, CTR down, AI impressions up | The overview answers the question, so fewer people click | Offer what a summary cannot: a tool, data, a worked example, a comparison |
| Position down, clicks down | Ranking loss, with or without an overview | Treat it as decay or a technical issue first |
| AI impressions up, clicks up | The overview links to you and sends visitors | Keep the page current; it is working |
| No AI impressions, CTR down | Not AI Overviews; another result type or a weaker title | Check the result page and your title and snippet |
What to change when an overview takes the click
If the question is fully answered in two sentences, the overview will often satisfy it, and chasing the click may not be worth it. Make sure the overview cites you, so the brand still appears, and move effort to searches where people need more than a summary.
If the searcher does need more, make that clear in the page and its title: a calculator, a template, current prices, a comparison table, original data. These are the things people click through for.
See what the overview says about you
Search Console shows impressions, not what the overview said. To see the answer itself and which sources it cited, check the queries directly. RankEcho's free AI Overview checker runs a query and shows whether an overview appears and which sources it links to.
SEO/GEO/AEO Intel in RankEcho connects to Search Console with Google's read-only permission, collects up to 16 months of site and page data and the latest 90 days of queries, and shows clicks, impressions, CTR and position for every page and query, with period and year-over-year compares, and flags pages in the top 10 whose CTR is well below your site's normal for their position. Paid RankEcho plans also record Google AI Overview answers and their sources for the questions you track. Your team reviews and publishes every change. It is free for 3 days on one site, with no card.
Sources reviewed
Search and publication principles below were checked against primary documentation. The worked examples are fictional; these sources do not establish a traffic outcome or a guaranteed ranking.
3 claim-level source records
| Claim reviewed | Official source | Review record |
|---|---|---|
| Search Console's Generative AI performance report shows link impressions from AI Overviews and AI Mode. | Google Search Console: Generative AI performance report | Checked 2026-11-02 · Google public documentation, reviewed 2 November 2026 · Impressions are not clicks. The report does not estimate clicks lost to AI features. · Confidence: High |
| The Performance report shows clicks, impressions, CTR and average position, filterable by query, page, country, device, search appearance and date, with period comparison. | Google Search Console: Performance report | Checked 2026-11-02 · Google public documentation, reviewed 2 November 2026 · Defines the numbers used here. Thresholds on this page are RankEcho's, not Google's. · Confidence: High |
| Google describes how AI features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode work and what site owners can do, including controls on how content is used. | Google Search Central: AI features and your website | Checked 2026-11-02 · Google public documentation, reviewed 2 November 2026 · General guidance. It does not say how often any page is shown or clicked in AI features. · Confidence: High |
Frequently asked questions
Not directly. It shows AI link impressions and overall clicks, CTR and position. Lost clicks can only be inferred by comparing the same page over time.
Yes, clicks from Google Search results count in the Performance report. The Generative AI performance report is where AI impressions are broken out.
Think carefully first. Controls that keep a page out of AI features can also limit how it appears in Search. For most sites, being cited is better than being absent.