{"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":"2026-11-02T11:44:52","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T10:44:52","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 explained on Bluesky in June how Google counts impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode, and that explains part of that gap. Worth understanding before you draw conclusions from your AI visibility.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s stay grounded: above all, it\u2019s 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<\/a>: impressions are based on links to your site that are actually shown in an AI Overview or AI Mode. So a brand name without a link doesn’t earn an impression. On a lone favicon in a cluster he was careful: he didn’t know whether such an icon is linked, but if it links to a page on your site, it counts.<\/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. Not everyone expands them. So your site may appear as a source in AI answers more often than Search Console shows, but anyone who doesn’t expand hasn’t seen that link either.<\/p>\n\n

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

Another difference from the traditional search engines 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 separate generative AI report<\/a> in Search Console currently only shows impressions, no clicks. Clicks on a link in an AI Overview or AI Mode do count in the regular Performance report, but there they’re lumped together with all your other clicks. So you can see whether you’re shown, but not yet how many people actually click through from AI features. Google itself says<\/a> that more metrics may be added over time, so treat these numbers as a direction, not as a final verdict.<\/p>\n\n

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