Google: Google Search Console AI Position Reporting Will Evolve Over Time

Google Search Advocate John Mueller said position and impression tracking for AI Mode, AI Overviews and Google Search will "evolve over time" as those products evolve, writing on LinkedIn in response to a question about how rankings are calculated in AI Mode. Mueller confirmed "there are edge-cases" in tracking these metrics and said the goal is not "a written-in-stone absolute truth for position counting (that's impossible), but rather to make something that's useful for site owners in terms of understanding how their site is shown." Mueller added that Google will "update the documentation when / if there are significant changes," after Kenichi Suzuki noted the Search Console documentation on AI Mode has not changed in some time.

Google's John Mueller said that he expects the position and impression tracking for AI Mode, AI Overviews and Google Search to "evolve over time" as Google Search, AI Mode and AI Overviews "evolve too," he wrote. He posted this on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7504082345466011648/?dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd comment%3A%287505673854736924672%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7504082345466011648%29 in response to how Google tracks positions in AI Mode within Search Console. John confirmed that "there are edge-cases" when tracking these metrics in Google Search, AI Mode and AI Overviews. "The goal is not a written-in-stone absolute truth for position counting that's impossible , but rather to make something that's useful for site owners in terms of understanding how their site is shown," John Mueller added. He also said that Google will "update the documentation when / if there are significant changes." "It's cool to see these evolutions in search, but it also means there will be some work required on your end when it comes to interpreting, understanding, comparing these metrics," he added. The question came from Kenichi Suzuki who asked: How are rankings calculated in AI Mode? Specifically, are individual link citations counted sequentially as standard web positions e.g., 1st, 2nd, 3rd link from top to bottom, as shown in the attached screenshot , or is the entire AI Mode response treated as a single block occupying position 1 similar to AI Overviews ? I couldn't find a clear explanation in the Search Console documentation. Could you clarify how impression and position tracking work for this layout? Here is the official documentation https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7042828?hl=en zippy=%2Cai-mode that has not changed in some time: Forum discussion at LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7504082345466011648/?dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd comment%3A%287505673854736924672%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7504082345466011648%29 .