{"id":2765,"date":"2026-06-30T12:38:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grp-digital.com\/nl\/?p=2765"},"modified":"2026-06-30T12:38:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:38:29","slug":"ai-overviews-impressies-search-console","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grp-digital.com\/en\/kennisbank\/ai-zichtbaarheid\/ai-overviews-impressies-search-console\/","title":{"rendered":"What an impression in AI Overviews really means (and what Search Console leaves out)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your brand shows up more and more in Google’s AI answers, but in Search Console the numbers lag behind. How come? John Mueller of Google recently explained how Google counts impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode, and that explains exactly that gap. Worth understanding before you draw conclusions from your AI visibility.<\/p>\n

Let’s stay grounded: this is no reason for panic, and no reason to celebrate either. It’s a reason to read your data carefully.<\/p>\n\n

\"AI<\/figure>\n\n

An impression only counts when your link is visible<\/h2>\n

The core of what Mueller said: an impression is counted the moment a link to your site is actually shown in an AI Overview or AI Mode. Not when your brand name comes up somewhere, not when your favicon sits in a cluster, but when the link is really there.<\/p>\n

And here’s the catch: if a link is hidden behind a “show more” or the user has to expand something to see it, that impression only counts when the user actually does that. Many people expand nothing. So in practice your visibility may be higher than your Search Console shows.<\/p>\n\n

All sources share one position<\/h2>\n

Another difference from the classic search results: in an AI Overview all the links shown share one position. There is no spot 1, 2 and 3 like you’re used to. You’re either in it or you’re not, and the order says much less. That makes “average position” a lot less useful for AI features than you’d like.<\/p>\n\n

Clicks? Not yet<\/h2>\n

And then the uncomfortable part: the report currently only shows impressions for AI features, no click-through data. So you can see whether you’re shown, but not yet whether people actually click through. documentation about AI features in search results<\/a> is still incomplete and grows week by week, so treat these numbers as a direction, not as a final verdict.<\/p>\n\n

What this means for your reporting<\/h2>\n