# Google: Search Console tracks AI Overviews position only as a block

Published: 2026-09-13T12:33:04.171Z · Source: Search Engine Journal (https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-admits-search-console-reporting-for-ai-search-is-inadequate/589236/)
Source date: 2026-09-13
Entities: search-console, google, ai-overviews

Responding to a Reddit thread, Google's John Mueller said Search Console reports AI Overviews position "as a block" rather than for individual links, because isolating a useful per-link position "is hard to do." Per Search Engine Journal, impression counts don't confirm a user saw the link, and links revealed only via a "Show More" expansion are undercounted. Mueller asked for input on what better tracking would look like, but described no fix in progress.

Why it matters: The tool AEO practitioners lean on for first-party AI-surface data doesn't do the one thing rank tracking is supposed to do: show where a given link actually sits.

## What this answers

**Does Search Console show the exact position of my link inside an AI Overview?**

No. Google's John Mueller says Search Console tracks AI Overview position as a block, the same way it handles other search features, rather than for each link individually, and links behind a 'Show More' expansion are undercounted.


Canonical: https://anythingengineoptimization.com/item/2026-09-13-google-search-console-tracks-ai-overviews-position-only-as-a-block/
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