Google: Search Console tracks AI Overviews position only as a block
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.
The record: Google Search ConsoleGoogleGoogle AI Overviews
Glossary: AI Overviews
Posted to the wire September 13, 2026. Edited by Joe Balewski.