Estimating the Click Upside of a Better Ranking
Enter a monthly search volume, your current position and the position you are aiming for. The calculator applies average organic click-through rates by position to both and shows the difference in clicks — a rough sense of what moving up is worth.
The figures are broad averages across many keywords and many results-page layouts. Use the output to decide which keywords deserve effort, not as a promise of what any single keyword will deliver.
How to Use This Tool
Enter the search volume
Monthly searches for the keyword, from Google Keyword Planner or any keyword tool you trust. Search Console impressions work too, for queries you already rank for.
Enter your current position
Your average position from Search Console is the most reliable figure.
Enter your target position
Be realistic — the gap from 8 to 5 is far easier to close than the gap from 8 to 1.
Compare the two
The difference in estimated clicks is the upside. Compare it across keywords to decide where to spend effort.
What Organic CTR by Position Means
Click-through rate is the share of people who see a result and click it. Averaged across many searches, CTR falls steeply by position: the first organic result earns far more clicks than the second, and by the bottom of page one only a small fraction of searchers click. Page two gets very few clicks at all.
This calculator uses a curve of roughly 28% at position 1, 16% at position 2 and 11% at position 3, falling to about 2.4% at position 10 and lower beyond. Positions between the listed points are interpolated.
Why Published CTR Studies Disagree
Every study measures a different set of keywords, devices and results pages, so the numbers vary widely. Recent 2026 studies put position 1 anywhere from about 20% to about 28%, and several show much steeper drops after position 1 than older studies did. The curve used here sits at the generous end for positions 2 to 10.
The biggest recent change is AI Overviews. When Google shows an AI-generated answer above the results, studies consistently find fewer clicks go to the organic listings below it, especially for informational queries. Treat any single curve, including this one, as a rough guide.
Why Real CTR Varies So Much
- AI Overviews, featured snippets, People Also Ask boxes and ads above the organic results all pull clicks away from positions 1 to 3.
- Branded queries — searches that already name your business — get far higher CTR at any position than generic ones.
- Intent matters: informational queries often send more clicks to the top organic result than commercial queries, where ads and shopping results dominate.
- Mobile and desktop layouts differ, and mobile results pages push organic listings further down.
- Your own title and description decide whether someone picks your result over the one next to it — preview yours here.
A Better Use: Prioritisation, Not Prediction
The most reliable use of this calculator is comparing scenarios — “what is the click upside of going from position 8 to 3 on this keyword versus that one?” — to decide where to invest in content and links. The relative sizes are more trustworthy than either absolute number.
Keywords where you already rank between 4 and 15 usually offer the best return, because small improvements move you into positions that earn many more clicks.
Using Your Own CTR Data Instead
Search Console reports your real CTR and average position for every query you appear for, which beats any industry average. Export the Performance report and compare your CTR at each position with the averages here: queries well below average usually have a weak title or description, or a results page crowded with other features.
The GSC Quick-Win Analyzer does that comparison for a whole export at once and sorts the queries by how many clicks they are missing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do these CTR figures come from?
They are rounded, aggregated figures based on several public organic CTR-by-position studies. No single study is fully representative, so treat them as directional rather than precise.
What is the average CTR for position 1 on Google?
Recent studies put it at roughly 20% to 28%, depending on the dataset and whether an AI Overview or other features appear above the results. Older studies of simpler results pages reported 30% or more.
Why is position 1's estimate lower than I expected?
Modern results pages are crowded with ads, AI Overviews, featured snippets and other features that push down the first organic result and take clicks from it. The older 30–40% figures came from much simpler pages.
What is a good organic CTR?
It depends entirely on position and query type. Compare your CTR with the average for your position: well above it means a strong snippet or a branded query; well below it is worth investigating.
Do AI Overviews reduce organic clicks?
Studies consistently find they do, particularly for informational queries where the overview answers the question directly. The size of the effect varies a lot by query and industry.