Should search rankings remain the primary SEO metric?
Ranking first on Google has traditionally been one of the main goals of SEO campaigns, especially for long-tail keywords with specific search intent.
However, the search results page is changing as AI Overviews appear above organic listings for many detailed queries.
A Brainlabs analysis found that long-tail searches were two to three times more likely to trigger AI Overviews than shorter head terms.
For example, someone searching for the best laptop for video editing under a specific budget might receive an AI-generated summary comparing several models before reaching the organic listings.
A page ranking first organically still receive clicks, but its position within the overall search experience now deserves closer attention.
Measuring AI Overview appearances, brand citations, organic clicks, and rankings together can help SEO teams understand how their content performs for these searches.
Are you still using keyword rankings as your primary SEO success metric, or have you started tracking AI Overview visibility as well?
Replies
Rankings are still my first filter, but I stopped treating them as the success metric. Average position hides a lot: a page can hold #3 and lose clicks to an AI Overview above it, while a page at #8 quietly grows impressions every week.
What I watch now per page: impressions, clicks and position together, plus whether the brand gets named in AI answers at all. Rankings still feed that indirectly. In a study we ran on 960 answers from 4 models, brands mentioned on 0 third-party pages in Google's top 10 were recommended in about 19% of answers, on 6+ pages in 71% (brand awareness is a confounder, so not pure cause and effect).
Has anyone here seen a page keep its position but lose a big share of clicks right after an AI Overview appeared for the query?