Rising impressions with falling clicks usually means your pages are being shown more often in places people are less likely to click. That can be AI Overviews answering the question, new low-click searches, lower positions, changes to how your listing looks, or seasonality. It isn’t automatically bad news. The Queries and Pages tabs in Search Console will show which cause is behind it.
It’s one of the most common things business owners ask me about, usually with a screenshot of two lines heading in opposite directions. Here’s how I work out what’s actually going on.
How Search Console counts impressions and clicks
Search Console counts an impression whenever a link to your site appears on the current page of results, even if the searcher never scrolls down to it. A click is counted when someone clicks through. Average position is the topmost position your site held, averaged across every search you appeared in.
Google’s help page on impressions, position and clicks explains the detail, and three points matter here:
- Impressions don’t mean someone saw you. An impression is generally counted whenever your link appears on the current page of results, whether or not it’s scrolled into view.
- Average position is an average. It’s the topmost position your link held, averaged across all the queries you appeared in, so appearing for new searches at position 40 drags the average down even if nothing else changed.
- AI features are included. Google’s AI features documentation says traffic from AI Overviews and AI Mode is counted in the Performance report, within the Web search type.
With those rules in mind, “impressions up, clicks down” becomes a set of questions rather than a mystery.
The six most common causes
The pattern usually comes from one of six causes: AI Overviews answering the search, appearing for new searches with naturally low click-through rates, falling positions, a change to your title or snippet, other results-page features pushing you down, or seasonal demand. Several often happen at once.
| Cause | What you’ll see in Search Console | How to confirm it |
|---|---|---|
| AI Overviews answering the question | Impressions and position steady or up, CTR down, mostly on question searches | Search the queries and check whether an AI Overview fully answers them |
| New low-CTR searches | Many new queries with impressions but almost no clicks, often at low positions | Filter queries with impressions but zero clicks, compare with the previous period |
| Positions falling | Average position worse on the queries that used to bring clicks | Compare position per query, not site-wide |
| Title or snippet change | CTR down on specific pages without a position change | Check the live result for a rewritten title or missing description |
| Other results features | CTR down where ads, maps, videos or shopping results now appear above you | Search the queries and note what sits above your listing |
| Seasonality | The same dip at the same time last year | Compare against the same months a year earlier |
Google’s guide to debugging Search traffic drops lists algorithmic updates, technical issues, security issues, site moves, seasonality and reporting glitches as the main causes of falling traffic. Those are worth ruling out before blaming any one change.
How to find the cause in 20 minutes
Compare the same period year on year in the Performance report, then look at queries and pages separately. Sort by lost clicks, check whether position fell or held, and search the biggest losers yourself. The pattern across the top twenty queries almost always points to the main cause.
- Open the Performance report in Search Console and turn on clicks, impressions, CTR and average position.
- Compare the last three months with the same three months last year. Comparing with the previous three months mixes in seasonality.
- Go to Queries and sort by click difference. Note the twenty queries that lost the most clicks.
- Check position for each. If position fell, it’s a ranking problem. If it held, move on to the next step.
- Search each query yourself on google.co.uk. Note whether there’s an AI Overview, ads, a map pack or videos above you, and how your title and description look.
- Filter for queries with impressions but no clicks, and check whether most are new. If so, rising impressions are mostly low-value visibility, not a problem.
- Switch to the Pages tab to see whether the losses sit on a few pages or spread across the site.
A sudden, site-wide drop in clicks across every type of search points somewhere else entirely: a technical problem, a tracking change, a migration or an algorithm update.
What it looked like on real sites
On two sites I work on, the same chart had different causes. Kwiat’s education pages lost impressions mainly to AI Overviews and stronger competitors. condoms.uk’s declining posts had a mix of causes, where AI Overviews were only one factor alongside outdated content and broken links.
When Search Console showed 20 of Kwiat’s education pages losing impressions, the main causes were AI Overviews answering the questions and competitors improving their content. The same data turned up something else: several high-impression pages earning very few clicks, where checking the live results showed page titles displaying template placeholders instead of the page name. The ranking was there. The title was stopping the click. The Kwiat case study covers both fixes.
On condoms.uk, 29 blog posts were losing clicks. AI Overviews answering simple questions played a part, but so did outdated product information, thinner content than competitors and broken internal links. Each post was refreshed for its actual problem, as covered in the condoms.uk case study.
What to do about each cause
Fix what’s fixable first: titles and snippets that don’t earn the click, positions lost to stronger competitors, and outdated content. Accept that some question searches will send fewer clicks because of AI answers, and make those pages worth visiting for what a summary can’t give.
- AI Overviews: add what a summary can’t, such as first-hand detail, comparisons, photos, tools and clear next steps. Put a direct answer near the top so you’re more likely to be the source cited.
- New low-CTR searches: usually no action needed. It often means Google is testing your pages for more searches, which can lead to better ones.
- Falling positions: compare your page with what now outranks it, and improve the content, internal links and freshness.
- Title or snippet problems: rewrite titles so they describe the page clearly. Google’s guidance on title links explains why it sometimes rewrites them.
- Other results features: consider whether Google Ads, a Google Business Profile or video can earn a place in those features.
- Seasonality: compare like for like and don’t act on it.
What I learned
The chart looks the same on almost every site, but the cause rarely is. I’ve seen it come from AI Overviews, a broken title template, and a site simply appearing for thousands of new searches. Checking the live results for the top twenty queries has settled it more often than any report.
It’s also worth remembering that falling click-through rate with rising impressions can be a healthy sign. When a site starts appearing for more searches, the new ones usually begin at low positions with few clicks. The question is always whether the searches that used to bring clicks are still bringing them.
If you’d like an expert read of your data, a Search Console audit separates these causes page by page.
FAQ
Is it bad if impressions go up but clicks go down?
Not necessarily. It often means your site is appearing for more searches, many at low positions with few clicks. It becomes a concern when the queries that used to bring clicks are losing them, which can point to AI Overviews, falling positions or a title that no longer earns the click.
Do AI Overviews count as impressions in Search Console?
Yes. Google says clicks and impressions from AI Overviews and AI Mode are included in Search Console’s Performance report within the Web search type. They aren’t reported separately, so you have to infer their effect from queries where position holds steady while clicks and click-through rate fall.
Why has my average position dropped when my rankings look the same?
Average position is averaged across every search your site appears for. If you start appearing for many new searches at low positions, the average falls even when your rankings for existing searches haven’t changed. Check position for individual queries rather than relying on the site-wide figure.
What is a good click-through rate in Search Console?
There isn’t a single good figure, because click-through rate depends heavily on position, the type of search and what else appears on the results page. Compare each query’s rate with its own history and with similar queries on your site, rather than against a general benchmark.
More on Search Console and AI search:
If you’re looking at this chart for your own site, get in touch or ask for a free assessment.
Sources
- What are impressions, position, and clicks?, Search Console Help, accessed 15 September 2026. Supports: how impressions, clicks and average position are counted.
- AI features and your website, Google Search Central, accessed 15 September 2026. Supports: AI Overviews and AI Mode counted in the Performance report within the Web search type.
- Debug Google Search traffic drops, Google Search Central, accessed 15 September 2026. Supports: the main causes of traffic drops.
- Influencing your title links, Google Search Central, accessed 15 September 2026. Supports: how Google uses and rewrites titles.
- Kwiat and condoms.uk, Google Search Console data and content audits, 2026. Supports: the education page losses, title placeholders and the 29 declining posts.