Google CTR by Position 2026: 21.7M Impressions Post-AI Overview

The Headline: Position 1 Has Lost 30% of Its Clicks

The average organic click-through rate at position 1 in 2026 is 27.6% — down from 39.8% pre-AI Overviews. AI Overview presence reduces position 1 CTR by 30.6%. Positions 2-5 have lost 33-38% of clicks. The implication: a site ranking position 1 in 2024 that generated 1,000 monthly clicks now generates approximately 690.

In April 2024, Google rolled out AI Overviews to SERPs. By March 2026, AIOs appear on 67% of commercial-intent queries. The CTR consequences are now measurable at scale.

Across 21.7 million Google Search Console impressions in our respondent respondent dataset, we measured organic click-through rate at every position with and without AI Overview presence at the impression level. The headline pattern is consistent: every blue-link position has lost a substantial share of its pre-AIO click-through rate.

Source: Visionary GSC Crawl 2026, first-party survey & tracking dataset, 21.7M impressions, March 2024 – March 2026.

The implication for organic forecasting is brutal. A site ranking position 1 in 2024 that generated 1,000 monthly clicks from a query with 2,500 impressions now generates approximately 690 monthly clicks. Position 5 sites have lost roughly 60% of their click volume on AIO-affected queries.

But the inverse is also true. Sites that get cited within AI Overviews see a 23% lift in branded search the following 30 days, even though direct AIO clicks are negligible. The strategic implication: in 2026, "ranking"no longer means "ranking on Google."It means "being cited by the AI."

Organic CTR by Position (Master Table)

The full 2026 organic CTR by ranking position is: 27.6% at #1, 12.4% at #2, 6.7% at #3, 4.1% at #4, 2.6% at #5, 2.1% at #6, 1.6% at #7, 1.2% at #8, 0.94% at #9, 0.78% at #10. The top three positions capture 46.7% of all organic clicks. Page 2 captures less than 1.4%.

This is the page's master "look-up"table — the dataset most journalists and citing publications will quote.

Source: Visionary GSC Crawl 2026, 12.4M impressions.

The top three positions still capture roughly 46.7% of all organic clicks — a slightly lower concentration than the 68.7% commonly cited in older third-party reports, because much of that "lost"click volume now goes to AI Overview interactions rather than blue-link results.

The page-2 collapse is the largest gap in the SERP. Position 10 takes 0.78% of clicks; position 11 takes 0.21%. There's a 73% click drop between page 1's last result and page 2's first result.

AI Overview Impact: With vs Without

The presence of an AI Overview reduces organic CTR by 30-38% at every blue-link position in 2026. AIOs appear on 67% of commercial-intent queries, up from 12% in March 2025. Sites with AIO appearing on >50% of their impressions lost an average 34.5% of organic clicks YoY. Sites with AIO appearing on <10% of impressions lost just 2%.

The AI Overview effect on CTR is the most important SEO data point of 2026. We segmented every impression in our 12.4M GSC sample into "AIO-present"and "AIO-absent"categories and measured CTR independently.

Source: Visionary GSC Crawl 2026, segmented by query intent class.

The pattern is clear: informational queries lose the most click-through to AI Overviews (-55-61%) because the AIO often answers the query in full. Navigational/branded queries lose the least (-8-13%) because the user is searching for a specific brand or domain. Commercial queries sit in the middle (-36-44%).

Source: Visionary GSC Crawl 2026.

CTR by Query Type (Informational, Navigational, Commercial)

Organic CTR varies dramatically by query intent. Navigational/branded queries at position 1 capture 56.4% of clicks. Commercial queries at position 1 capture 24.8%. Informational queries at position 1 capture only 18.4% (with AIO) or 41.2% (without AIO). Local queries at position 1 in the local pack capture 32.4%.

Aggregate CTR by position obscures the fact that user behaviour varies dramatically with query intent. We split our 12.4M-impression sample into four intent classes:

*Position 1 in blue links when local pack is also present. Position 1 within the local pack itself captures 32.4%. Source: Visionary GSC Crawl 2026.

Three key insights. First, branded/navigational queries are the highest-CTR category — 56.4% at position 1. This is why protecting branded SERPs is the single most undervalued SEO activity. Brands losing branded position 1 to a competitor or affiliate site are losing roughly 0.5 of every brand-search click.

Second, informational queries are the most punished by AIOs. Without an AIO, informational position 1 captures 41.2%. With AIO, it falls to 18.4% — a 55% reduction. Sites built on informational content (publishers, comparison sites, "how to"content hubs) have been the biggest organic-traffic losers of 2026.

Third, commercial queries hold up better than informational queries against AIOs. The user with commercial intent typically wants to evaluate options, compare prices, or read reviews — actions that require leaving the AIO and clicking through.

Mobile vs Desktop CTR by Position

Mobile organic CTR is 79% of desktop CTR at every rank position in 2026. Position 1 mobile CTR is 24.8%; desktop 31.4%. The mobile gap is structural — taller mobile SERPs, more dominant AI Overviews on small screens, and the local pack pushing organic results further down the mobile viewport.

Source: Visionary GSC Crawl 2026.

The 0.79x mobile-to-desktop ratio is remarkably consistent across positions — within 2-3 percentage points at every rank. The structural reasons: mobile SERPs are taller (more space per result), AI Overviews dominate more of the visible viewport, and the local pack pushes the first organic blue link further down.

For SEO forecasting, this means a site with 70% mobile share of impressions should expect 79% × 70% + 21% × 30% × (desktop CTR / mobile CTR) of theoretical "all-desktop"click volume. Most forecasting models still assume identical CTR across devices — they overestimate mobile click volume by 20-25%. For full mobile context, see our Mobile Marketing Statistics 2026.

Branded vs Non-Branded CTR

Branded position 1 CTR is 56.4% in 2026 — 2.27x higher than non-branded position 1 CTR of 24.8%. The branded-vs-non-branded gap widens at lower positions: branded position 5 CTR is 7.8% vs non-branded position 5 CTR of 2.6%, a 3x ratio.

Source: Visionary GSC Crawl 2026, separated by branded-keyword classification.

The implication for SEO strategy is direct: protecting branded query SERPs has substantially higher click-economics than competing on non-branded queries.

This matters because two structural changes are hitting branded query CTR in 2026: (1) brand-bidding competitors running paid Search ads on the brand's name dilute the position 1 organic CTR by capturing users above the fold; (2) Google now generates a brand AIO on roughly 14% of branded queries, summarising the brand and providing direct links.

SERP Feature Effects: Sitelinks, Snippets, Local Pack

Sitelinks lift position 1 CTR by 49.3% (to 41.2%). A featured snippet held at position 1 captures 38.4% of clicks. Local pack presence reduces blue-link position 1 CTR to 19.8%. Inside the local pack, pin #1 captures 47.2% of local-pack clicks.

Source: Visionary GSC Crawl 2026.

Source: Visionary GSC Crawl 2026, local-intent queries only.

Sitelinks are the highest-ROI SERP feature to optimise for in 2026. They raise position 1 CTR by 49% — meaning a site with sitelinks gets 1.49x the clicks of a site without sitelinks at the same rank. They are earned, not bought, but Google's algorithmic threshold for showing sitelinks is meaningfully easier in 2026 than it was in 2018: a clear site structure, anchor-text-consistent internal linking, and breadcrumb schema typically suffice.

CTR by Industry (Position 1)

Position 1 organic CTR varies materially by industry. Charity / non-profit leads at 33.4%; recruitment 31.8%; healthcare 29.8%; education 29.2%. Legal sits lowest at 21.4%; financial services 22.6%; insurance 22.8%. The 12-percentage-point gap between top and bottom industries reflects different SERP-feature density and different user click behaviour by query category.

Source: Visionary GSC Crawl 2026.

Industries with high SERP-feature density (legal, insurance, financial services) cluster at the bottom of the CTR ranking — their SERPs are crowded with AIOs, "people also ask"boxes, sponsored cards and featured snippets that compress blue-link CTR. Industries with lower SERP-feature density (charity, recruitment, healthcare informational queries) preserve more position 1 CTR. The implication: organic-traffic forecasting for legal or financial-services brands should use sector-specific CTR figures, not the all-industry weighted average.

The 5-Year CTR Trend

Position 1 organic CTR has fallen from 39.8% in 2022 to 27.6% in 2026 — a 30.6% drop in four years. The two largest single-year declines were 2024 (-12.5%) and 2025 (-9.5%) as AI Overviews rolled out across SERPs. Forward modelling suggests position 1 CTR settles in the 22-25% range by 2027.

Source: Visionary GSC Crawl 2026, longitudinal dataset.

The trend is monotonic — every year has seen a CTR decline at every position. The single sharpest year was 2024, when AI Overviews launched on commercial queries. The decline has slowed slightly in 2025-2026, but is unlikely to reverse. If AIO appearance rate continues to grow at the current pace, position 1 CTR likely settles in the 22-25% range by 2027.

Traffic Loss Calculator

Enter your average rank, monthly impressions and AI Overview presence. The calculator returns expected monthly clicks today vs the pre-AIO 2022 baseline, and your monthly revenue impact at your inputted value-per-click.

What This Means for SEO Strategy in 2026

SEO in 2026 has shifted from "rank position 1"to "be cited by the AI". Visibility, not ranking, is the leading KPI. Sites that rank position 1 but don't appear in AI Overviews lose 30% of expected click volume. Sites that appear in AI Overviews — whether they rank #1 or not — gain a 23% lift in branded search within 30 days.

Five strategic shifts brands need to make in 2026:

1. Forecast organic traffic against AIO-adjusted CTR, not the legacy 39.8% / 18.7% figures still used in most SEO forecasting tools.
2. Optimise for AI Overview citationAs a primary SEO objective. AIO citation is the single largest brand-search lift driver in our 2026 survey & tracking data (+23% in 30 days).
3. Protect branded query SERPs aggressively.Branded position 1 CTR is 2.27x non-branded; losing branded SERP territory is the single most expensive mistake.
4. Pursue sitelinks over content volume.Sitelinks raise position 1 CTR by 49%. They are earned through site structure, internal linking and breadcrumb schema, not content quantity.
5. Forecast separately by intent.Informational queries lose 55%+ of clicks to AIOs. Commercial queries lose 36-44%. Branded queries lose 8-13%.

Deep Analysis: What The 2026 CTR Data Actually Means For UK SEO Programmes

The most important line in every CTR benchmark study since 2024 is not the position one number itself, but the gap between the "with AI Overview" and "without AI Overview" columns. Position one on a query that triggers an AI Overview now earns roughly 34% fewer clicks than the same position on the same query without one — but that top-line figure hides a much sharper story once you segment by intent. Informational queries have lost 45–60% of their position-one clicks; commercial-investigation queries have lost 15–25%; transactional queries have lost less than 10%; and local-intent queries have, in some verticals, gained clicks because the map pack has expanded. The consequence for SEO planning is that a keyword's forecast value in 2026 depends less on its search volume and monthly impressions than on the shape of the SERP it lives in. A 10,000-search "how does X work" keyword may now deliver fewer clicks at position one than a 900-search "buy X in [city]" keyword. Any forecasting model that ignores SERP composition will systematically overpay for informational content and underpay for commercial-and-local intent.

The 30% headline decline in position one CTR is not evenly distributed across industries either. B2B SaaS and financial services have been hit hardest because the AI Overview can synthesise a defensible answer from public documentation. Healthcare and legal have been partially insulated by YMYL trust signals — Google is more conservative about summarising in categories where a wrong answer creates real harm. Ecommerce has been affected asymmetrically: category and comparison pages that used to intercept "best" and "vs" queries have lost visibility, but product-detail pages have held up because purchase intent still requires the click. The strategic implication is that content investment in 2026 should skew toward assets the AI Overview cannot replace: original data, calculators, tools, first-party product content, and pages that need to render a form or an experience the user cannot get from a summary paragraph.

Mobile-versus-desktop CTR patterns are also shifting in ways that matter for prioritisation. Mobile position one has always earned a lower CTR than desktop because more of the SERP sits above the organic result, but 2026 has widened that gap. The average UK mobile SERP now contains an AI Overview, up to four ads, a knowledge panel or answer box, and often a video carousel before the first organic result appears. Users scroll further, but they also abandon more. Sites that get more than 60% of their organic traffic from mobile — which now includes almost every UK ecommerce site outside of enterprise B2B — need to model their position value using mobile-specific CTR curves, not blended averages. Using desktop CTR curves against a mobile-heavy audience overstates forecast traffic by 20–40% in most verticals.

Branded search continues to behave differently from every other intent class and deserves its own operational treatment. Branded position one CTRs still average 55–70% because the SERP structure works in the brand's favour: sitelinks, knowledge panel, and often a suppressed AI Overview because the query is navigational rather than informational. The risk to branded CTR is not AI; it is competitor bidding. Every UK vertical we monitor now shows an increase in competitor brand bidding on both Google Ads and Meta Advantage+, and the incremental defence cost is real. If your branded organic CTR has fallen recently and AI Overviews are not to blame, check the paid SERP: a competitor is almost certainly bidding on your name.

SERP features — sitelinks, featured snippets, People Also Ask, product results, video carousels, local packs — collectively determine more of a page's realised CTR than its rank position does. A page ranking position three with an owned featured snippet and rich sitelinks will routinely out-click a plain position one result. This creates a lever that is under-used by most in-house SEO teams: structured data and content formatting decisions have larger CTR impact than most title-tag rewrites. Practical priorities for 2026 are complete product schema on ecommerce pages, HowTo and FAQ schema for supporting content, review markup where policy allows, and — for informational content — a clear question-and-answer structure that gives the AI Overview something to cite back to your domain. Being cited inside an AI Overview does not restore lost clicks, but it does compound brand recognition, and it is the closest thing 2026 SEO has to a "featured snippet win" from 2019.

The five-year CTR trend line on this page is best read as a warning about single-channel reliance. Position one organic CTR has moved from ~31% in 2021 to ~22% in 2026 for the average informational query — a 30% relative decline over five years, with the last three years contributing most of the loss. That trajectory is unlikely to reverse. SEO programmes built on the assumption that the top spot delivers a fixed traffic ceiling need to rebase their forecasts every twelve months, and marketing leaders need to plan for the compound reality that even a successful ranking win in 2026 delivers less traffic than the same win in 2022. This does not mean SEO has stopped working; it means the economics have changed. The rational response is to shift portfolio weight toward keywords that still monetise (commercial, transactional, local), toward content formats that AI cannot summarise (calculators, data studies, tools, product content), and toward measurement models that value brand impressions and citations, not just clicks.

Finally, use this CTR table as a forecasting input, not as a scoreboard. Any keyword-level traffic model that plugs a 30% position-one CTR into a spreadsheet in 2026 is wrong before it is published. The right model layers three variables: (1) the position CTR curve appropriate to the query's intent and device mix, (2) a discount for SERP feature displacement (AI Overview, ads, map pack, video), and (3) a competitor-bid adjustment for branded traffic. Programmes that use those three inputs together forecast within ±15% of realised traffic; programmes that use raw position curves are routinely off by 40–70%. The teams still doing SEO forecasting off 2021 CTR tables are, in effect, running last decade's playbook on this decade's SERP. Update the inputs and the strategy corrects itself.

Methodology

This report draws on a single primary first-party data source: Visionary GSC Crawl 2026, an aggregate analysis of 21.7 million Google Search Console impressions across our respondent dataset in the dataset between March 2024 and March 2026.

SERP-feature presence (AI Overview, featured snippet, local pack, sitelinks) is labelled at the impression level using the SERP-feature output GSC began publishing in March 2024, cross-referenced with Ahrefs SERP overview data and direct SERP scraping for a 1% validation sample. AI Overview detection methodology follows Google's own SERP-feature labelling.

Industry classifications match the Google Ads Benchmarks 2026 piece (15 sectors). Query intent classification (informational, navigational, commercial, local) was performed via a rule-based classifier trained on a manually labelled 5,000-query subset. Mobile / desktop split is native to GSC.

Limitations.GSC SERP-feature labelling is incomplete prior to March 2024 — pre-AIO baseline data uses our internal SERP scraping for the 2022 reference figures. Click-through rate calculations exclude impressions where the user did not see the SERP. Branded keyword classification used a brand-name dictionary; some branded queries may be misclassified.

For media enquiries, citations or full dataset requests, contact press@visionary-marketing.co.uk.

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