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Does Search Console report AI Overview clicks? What Google says

2026-10-21

Short answer: AI Overview clicks are counted in Search Console, but they aren't reported separately. They're mixed into your regular Web search clicks. Since 2026 there's also a Generative AI performance report, but it reports impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode, not clicks, and it has no query data.

Below is what Google's documentation actually says, quoted and linked, so you can check it yourself.

1. AI Overview data is part of the Web search type

Google's guide for site owners says: "Sites appearing in AI features (such as AI Overviews and AI Mode) are included in the overall search traffic in Search Console. In particular, they're reported on in the Performance report, within the 'Web' search type" (Google Search Central, AI features and your website).

Google's changelog shows this has been the documented position since at least August 2024, when Google clarified that AI Overview data is logged in the Performance report. In June 2025 it added that AI Mode data counts toward Search Console totals too (Google Search Central, documentation updates).

So if a searcher clicks your link inside an AI Overview, that click is in your Performance report. You just can't filter for it.

2. How clicks, impressions and position work for AI Overviews

Google's help page on Performance report metrics has a section on AI Overviews (What are impressions, position, and clicks?). The key rules:

  • Position: "An AI Overview occupies a single position in search results, and all links in the AI Overview are assigned that same position."
  • Click: "Clicking a link to an external page in the AI Overview counts as a click."
  • Impression: "Standard impression rules apply." In other words, the same rules as for any other result.

The same page covers AI Mode, which follows similar rules. It also notes that data from Search Labs experiments isn't included.

What this means in practice: if your link is in an AI Overview at the top of the page, it can record a very good position even if almost nobody clicks it. If your blue link sits below an Overview that doesn't cite you, your position can stay the same while your clicks fall.

3. The Generative AI performance report

On 3 June 2026 Google announced new Search Console reports for generative AI features (Google Search Central Blog). Search Engine Land reported the reports, along with a new control for AI features, were available globally from 31 August 2026 (Search Engine Land).

According to Google's help page for the report (Generative AI performance report (Search)):

  • It shows impressions from AI Overviews and AI Mode, combined.
  • You can break the data down by Pages, Countries, Dates and Devices.
  • You can filter by web search type (text-based or multimodal).
  • You can export it, and the usual 1,000-row table limit applies.
  • It may not appear if your site has too few impressions in AI features.

What it doesn't include matters just as much. The documented dimensions and metrics don't include clicks, CTR, average position or queries. Search Engine Land puts it directly: the report "does not include click data." Google's announcement says it plans to add more metrics over time, but none had been announced as of 20 October 2026.

There's also a known data issue. In a Search Central Help Community thread from August 2026, Google confirmed a reporting bug that affected impressions in this report from mid-August (Help Community thread). Check Google's data anomalies page before reading too much into sudden changes.

4. What Search Console doesn't tell you

Put together, this is what Search Console gives you about AI Overviews today:

QuestionAnswered in Search Console?
Are AI Overview clicks counted in my totals?Yes, inside Web search
How many of my clicks came from AI Overviews?No
How often did my pages appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode?Yes, as impressions by page (Generative AI report)
Which queries showed an AI Overview?No
Which queries lost clicks because of an AI Overview?No
Did an Overview appear without citing me?No

The gap is the last three rows. Search Console doesn't separate AI Overview clicks, and it doesn't show which queries lost clicks. To answer that, you compare periods in the standard Performance report and look for queries where position and impressions held but CTR fell. Our guide on how to find the queries losing clicks to AI Overviews covers the method.

5. What about Google Analytics?

Analytics doesn't fill the gap either. Ahrefs notes that clicks from AI Overviews generally arrive as ordinary Google organic traffic, or sometimes with no referrer. Separating them is "nearly impossible" without workarounds like tracking text-fragment links (Ahrefs, How to Track AI Overviews). Those workarounds catch only some AI Overview clicks, and they can't show clicks that never happened.

6. What Google says about AI Overview clicks overall

Google says clicks from pages with AI Overviews are "higher quality", meaning users are more likely to spend more time on the site (AI features and your website). In August 2025, Google's Head of Search wrote that total organic clicks were "relatively stable" year over year (Google). Google hasn't published the underlying click data for either claim.

Independent studies measure a lower CTR when an Overview appears. Pew found users clicked a traditional result on 8% of visits with an AI summary, against 15% without (Pew). Industry averages, though, don't tell you about your own queries.

See it in your own data

The free AIO Delta check reads a Search Console Performance export made with Compare dates. It lists the queries or pages where your position and impressions held but CTR and clicks fell, with an estimate of the missed clicks. No login is needed. It's an estimate built from your own Search Console data, not a number Google publishes, and it isn't affiliated with Google.

FAQ

Are AI Overview clicks counted in Search Console? Yes. Google says a click on an external link in an AI Overview counts as a click, and AI Overview data is included in the Web search type of the Performance report. It is mixed in with regular clicks, not shown separately.

What does the Generative AI performance report show? Impressions from AI Overviews and AI Mode combined, broken down by page, country, device and date. Google's documentation doesn't list clicks, CTR, position or queries for this report.

When did the Generative AI report become available? Google announced it on 3 June 2026, rolling out gradually, and Search Engine Land reported it was available globally from 31 August 2026. It may not appear for sites with very few AI-feature impressions.

What position does an AI Overview link get? Google says an AI Overview occupies a single position in the results, and all links inside it get that same position.

Can Google Analytics show AI Overview clicks? Not reliably. Ahrefs notes that AI Overview clicks generally show up as normal Google organic traffic, so analytics can't separate them without workarounds.

Sources