Clicks, Impressions and Positions from AI Mode in Google Search Console

Google has confirmed that Google AI Mode traffic data is in Google Search Console, but that there are no AI mode specific report. All the data get bundled in the performance report. In this article, I am interested in how the clicks are tracked, what gets counted as a position, what gets impressions, or not. Positions from clicks in AI Mode are showing up in Google Search Console in a more complex matter than for positions from clicks in AI Overviews.

Tracking AI Mode Clicks and Impressions in Google Search Console Data

For this experiment, I used Google Bulk Data Export, a Google data source that contains upsampled data from the Google Search Console performance report (yet still containing anonymized queries). Here is what I have tried out.

• Ran ‘xyzk’ queries, clicked links
• Searched for rarely visited pages
• Recorded screen to correlate searches
• Ran queries in multiple browsers
• Tested logged-in versus logged-out states
• Asked colleagues to run similar queries
• Targeted personal blog and dead websites
• Generated high volume to reveal queries
• Analyzed “Google Links” position impact
• Analyzed results on different websites

Summary of the AI Mode Click Tracking Case Study

• Clicks in AI Mode show up in Google Search Console, but the queries are anonymized.
• Clicks on Inline Links: tracked
• Clicks on sidebar citations: tracked
• Clicks on sidebar citations with view more: tracked
• Clicks on subsequent queries in a conversation: Tracked as a new page.
• Sometimes two links can be counted with same position
• Running 100s of impressions in AI Mode isn’t enough to trigger non-anonymized queries.

How Do Click Show Up in Google Search Console?

Clicks in AI Mode do appear in Google Search Console, but the specific queries are almost exclusively anonymized. Increasing volume (100+ impressions) does not force query data to appear. The caveat is that Google links are also considered in the Position calculation.

Google Links are Tracked in AI Mode

When I ran this query, I have realized that my clicks were considered as position 8 and 9 instead of 1 and two.

When I tried to figure out how this could have happened, I noticed that the only way that would work is if all links are considered as position.

Aggregated Traffic in Google Search Console

If you click on twice on the same URL for different queries, since they are anonymized, they will be combined together.

If you have your first Click on /abc url in position 1 and your second click on /abc url in position 5, you will get one row in Google Search Console showing the date, the path, the query = null, and an. average position of 3 ((1+5)/2).

See if I can Generate Enough Query Volume for the Queries not to be Anonymized

I ran the query “la patrie hotels” 500 times in separate browsers and behind VPN, separate tabs and click on links, to see if we have enough volume to make sure that the queries are not anonymized. It looks like it wasn’t enough. Led to 101 clicks and none of them had query data.

Citations Sidebar Clicks

1 rank = 1 position in GSC. All impressions and clicks are shown.

Show All Citations Sidebar (e.g. Links)

When you click on link icon, or show all, you get other links. Each link is tracked as a position.