TL;DR Summary:
Search Console Shift: Google Search Console cannot show a clean AI ranking because Generative AI results do not fit the old numbered position model used for traditional search listings.Why It Breaks: Features like AI Overviews, featured snippets, and people-also-ask boxes appear and behave differently from standard blue links, so a single rank number no longer captures visibility.What Site Owners Get: Google tracks AI impressions in aggregate instead of exact positions, so site owners should focus on impressions and clicks rather than trying to read a precise AI rank.Why can’t Search Console show a clean ranking for AI results the way it does for regular search? Google’s John Mueller addressed this on Reddit on September 10, 2026, explaining why Google Search Console position tracking for Generative AI does not follow the old ranking format. This matters now because more searches show AI Overviews and other new features instead of a plain list of ten blue links, so site owners need to know how Google measures their visibility.
What Mueller Said About Google Search Console Position Tracking for Generative AI
Mueller posted his explanation on Reddit on September 10, 2026. He said Google already documents how impressions get counted for Generative AI in a Search Console help center page. He described that page as “a giant doc.” His main point: Google Search Console position tracking for Generative AI does not map to the old “position 1-10” format, because search results pages now include far more than a ranked list.
Why the Old Position Model Breaks Down
Mueller pointed to AI Overviews, featured snippets, and people-also-ask boxes as examples of features that don’t fit a numbered list. AI Overviews often sit at the top of a results page and pull in multiple citations from different sites at once. A featured snippet can appear above position one. People-also-ask boxes expand and shift as you click on them. None of these behave like a fixed slot you can label “position 3” or “position 7.” This is why Google Search Console position tracking for Generative AI treats these elements differently from standard organic results.
How Google Tracks These Impressions Instead
According to Mueller, Google tracks Generative AI impressions as a block, similar to how it already treats other search features. This data does not get separated out in the Gen-AI performance report inside Search Console. In practice, this means you see combined numbers for how often your site showed up in AI results, but you don’t get a breakdown showing your exact position within that AI Overview. Mueller called position data “hard to do in a way that makes it useful” for site owners. Given this gap, some site owners have turned to platforms like Screpy to see how their pages are being crawled and surfaced by AI bots alongside traditional Search Console metrics, since a single position number no longer tells the full visibility story.
What This Means for Site Owners Watching Rankings
If you rely on position data to judge how your site performs in search, this change affects your reporting. You can still see impressions and clicks tied to Generative AI results, but you can’t point to a specific rank the way you could with traditional listings. Mueller did not announce any timeline for changing this. He also did not confirm any specific product update beyond the current setup. Treat this as an open question inside Google, not a finalized policy.
What Google Is Asking From the Community
Mueller asked site owners directly for feedback on what position tracking should look like going forward. He said he wants to hear ideas and is willing to discuss them with his team. This is not a formal survey or a confirmed roadmap item. It’s a genuine request for input, and it suggests Google Search Console position tracking for Generative AI may evolve based on what site owners tell Google they actually need.
Watch the Search Console help center page for updates, since Mueller referenced it as the current source of truth on this topic. If you have opinions on how AI result tracking should work, Mueller’s Reddit thread is an open channel to share them directly with Google. For now, judge your AI visibility using impressions and clicks, not position numbers. If you want a clearer picture of your search performance while Google works out how to report AI visibility, tools like Screpy combine Search Console data with AI crawler and bot tracking in one dashboard, so you’re not relying solely on position numbers to judge your visibility.
