u/Digitad

I’ve been looking at click distribution data and one pattern keeps standing out: ranking on page one doesn’t seem to mean nearly as much if the result sits below the first few positions.

Across over 420 different Quebec-based websites, positions 4-10 captured only 10.8% of page-one organic clicks.

The Top 3 captured 89.2%.

Position #1 alone captured 63.6%.

Position #7 averaged a 2.6% CTR.

So no, people didn’t stop clicking organic results.

But they seem to click much less deeply into the page.

That makes me wonder if SEOs are still overvaluing “page one” as a reporting milestone.

When a keyword seems capped around positions 4-8, do you keep pushing for the Top 3, or move effort somewhere else?

What signals do you use to decide when a ranking is still worth chasing?

We looked at 10.4M clicks and 54M impressions across 419 Quebec-based SME websites over 16 months, then compared the current post-AI Overviews click distribution with pre-AIO CTR benchmarks.

The main pattern was not “SEO is dead”.

It was that organic clicks are getting much more concentrated.

Positions 4-10 lost around 70% of their click share compared to pre-AIO benchmarks.

That means they went from capturing around 30-45% of page-one clicks to 10.8% (post-AIO).

Barely 1 out of 10 clicks.

The pattern was pretty blunt:

- The Top 3 captured 89.2% of all page-one organic clicks
- Position #1 alone captured 63.6%
- Position #7 averaged a 2.6% CTR
- Positions 4-10 captured 10.8% of page-one clicks, compared to around 30-45% before AI Overviews

So users still click organic results.

They just seem to click much less deeply into the page.

That makes “ranking on page one” feel like a weaker metric than it used to be. If the ranking sits below the first few results and barely drives traffic, the strategic question changes.

It’s not only “how do we rank?”

It’s also “where else can this brand become visible, trusted and cited?”

Curious how others are adapting their SEO/GEO prioritization.

When a keyword seems capped around positions 4-8, do you keep pushing for the Top 3, or move effort toward long-tail keywords, AI citations, third-party mentions or brand demand?

And what signals do you use to decide when classic ranking work is still worth the effort?

We looked at 10.4M clicks and 54M impressions across 419 Quebec-based SME websites over 16 months, then compared the current post-AI Overviews click distribution with pre-AIO CTR benchmarks.

A few years ago, ranking around positions 5-8 could still feel like a decent win for a local business. You were on page one, visible enough, and usually getting at least some traffic from it.

But with AI Overviews, ads, local packs and other SERP features taking more space, weak page-one rankings seem to be losing a lot of their click value.

Positions 4-10 lost around 70% of their click share compared to pre-AIO benchmarks.

That means they went from capturing around 30-45% of page-one clicks to 10.8% (post-AIO).

Barely 1 out of 10 clicks.

The pattern was pretty blunt:

- The Top 3 captured 89.2% of all page-one organic clicks
- Position #1 alone captured 63.6%
- Position #7 averaged a 2.6% CTR
- Positions 4-10 captured 10.8% of page-one clicks, compared to around 30-45% before AI Overviews

So no, organic clicks didn’t disappear.

But users seem to click much less deeply into the page.

For local SEO, that makes me wonder if “page one” is becoming too broad as a goal. A ranking can look good in a report but still fail to move calls, forms, bookings or store visits.

Curious how local SEOs are adapting.

When a local keyword seems capped around positions 4-8, do you keep pushing for Top 3, or move effort toward local-intent queries, GBP visibility, reviews or conversion-focused pages?

What signals tell you the ranking is still worth chasing?

We looked at 10.4M clicks and 54M impressions across 419 Quebec-based SME websites over 16 months, then compared the current post-AI Overviews click distribution with pre-AIO CTR benchmarks.

What stood out wasn’t that organic clicks disappeared.

It was that they became extremely concentrated.

Positions 4-10 lost around 70% of their click share compared to pre-AIO benchmarks.

That means they went from capturing around 30-45% of page-one clicks to 10.8% (post-AIO).

Barely 1 out of 10 clicks.

The pattern was pretty blunt:

- The Top 3 captured 89.2% of all page-one organic clicks
- Position #1 alone captured 63.6%
- Position #7 averaged a 2.6% CTR
- Positions 4-10 captured 10.8% of page-one clicks, compared to around 30-45% before AI Overviews

So no, SEO isn’t dead.

But the useful click value of page one seems to be shrinking toward the very top.

That makes GEO feel less like a separate “AI visibility” trend and more like a practical response to SERP compression.

If ranking below the Top 3 drives less value, the next question becomes: can the content still earn visibility through AI citations, branded search, forums, reviews or other discovery paths?

Curious how others are thinking about this.

When a keyword seems capped around positions 4-8, do you still push the ranking, or shift effort toward making the brand/content more citeable?

And what signals tell you that GEO work is worth prioritizing over classic ranking gains?

We looked at 10.4M clicks and 54M impressions across 419 Quebec-based SME websites over 16 months, then compared the current post-AI Overviews click distribution with pre-AIO CTR benchmarks.

The biggest takeaway wasn’t “SEO is dead”.

People still click organic results.

They just seem to click much less deeply into the page.

Positions 4-10 lost around 70% of their click share compared to pre-AIO benchmarks.

That means they went from capturing around 30-45% of page-one clicks to 10.8% (post-AIO).

Barely 1 out of 10 clicks.

The pattern was pretty blunt:

- The Top 3 captured 89.2% of all page-one organic clicks
- Position #1 alone captured 63.6%
- Position #7 averaged a 2.6% CTR
- Positions 4-10 captured 10.8% of page-one clicks, compared to around 30-45% before AI Overviews

So the question for me is not just “can we rank?”

It’s “is this ranking still useful if it doesn’t get clicked, cited, or searched for directly?”

With visibility spreading across Google results, AI answers, forums, reviews, social platforms and branded search, I’m curious how other SEOs are adapting.

When a keyword seems capped around positions 4-8, do you keep pushing for the Top 3, or move effort toward long-tail keywords, AI citations or entity/brand visibility?

And what signals do you use to decide when a ranking is still worth chasing?

We looked at 10.4M clicks and 54M impressions across 419 Quebec-based SME websites over 16 months, then compared the current post-AI Overviews click distribution with pre-AIO CTR benchmarks.

The pattern was pretty blunt:

- The Top 3 captured 89.2% of page-one organic clicks
- Position #1 alone captured 63.6%
- Positions 4-10 captured 10.8%
- Position #7 averaged a 2.6% CTR

Before AI Overviews, positions 4-10 usually captured around 30-45% of page-one clicks.

Now, in this dataset, they captured 10.8%.

Barely 1 out of 10 clicks.

So no, SEO isn’t dead.

But weak page-one rankings are getting weaker (nothing new, but like… by a lot).

That changes how I’d think about keyword prioritization. If a keyword is realistically capped around positions 4-8, it may not be enough to say “we’re on page one” anymore.

Curious how other SEOs are handling this.

When do you keep pushing for Top 3, and when do you move effort toward long-tail keywords, AI citations or brand demand instead?

What signals tell you a ranking is still worth chasing?

We looked at 10.4M clicks and 54M impressions across 419 Quebec-based SME websites over 16 months, then compared the current post-AI Overviews click distribution with pre-AIO CTR benchmarks.

A few years ago, ranking around positions 5-8 could still feel like a decent SEO win. You were on page one, visible enough, and usually getting at least some traffic from it.

But that middle/bottom part of page one seems to be losing a lot of practical value.

Positions 4-10 lost around 70% of their click share compared to pre-AIO benchmarks.

That means they went from capturing around 30-45% of page-one clicks to 10.8% (post-AIO).

Barely 1 out of 10 clicks.

The pattern was pretty blunt:

- The Top 3 captured 89.2% of all page-one organic clicks
- Position #1 alone captured 63.6%
- Position #7 averaged a 2.6% CTR
- Positions 4-10 captured 10.8% of page-one clicks, compared to around 30-45% before AI Overviews

So no, people didn’t stop clicking organic results.

But “we rank on page one” feels weaker as a success metric when the ranking sits below the first few results and barely drives traffic.

For SEO growth, this makes keyword prioritization way more important than simple ranking gains.

Curious how others are handling this in reporting and strategy.

When a keyword seems capped around positions 4-8, what makes you keep pushing for the Top 3 instead of reallocating that effort elsewhere?

And what signals do you use to decide when a ranking is still worth chasing?

At least, that’s what the data seems to suggest.

We looked at 10.4M clicks and 54M impressions across 419 Quebec-based SME websites over 16 months, then compared the current post-AI Overviews click distribution with pre-AIO CTR benchmarks.

A few years ago, ranking around positions 5-8 could still feel like a decent SEO win. You were on page one, visible enough, and usually getting at least some traffic from it.

But with AI Overviews, ads, local packs and everything else taking more space in the SERP, weak page-one rankings are getting weaker (nothing new).

But like, by a lot.

Positions 4-10 lost around 70% of their click share compared to pre-AIO benchmarks.

That means they went from capturing around 30-45% of page-one clicks to 10.8% (post-AIO).

Barely 1 out of 10 clicks.

The pattern was pretty blunt:
- The Top 3 captured 89.2% of all page-one organic clicks
- Position #1 alone captured 63.6%
- Position #7 averaged a 2.6% CTR
- Positions 4-10 captured 10.8% of page-one clicks, compared to around 30-45% before AI Overviews

So no, people didn’t stop clicking organic results.

But they seem to click much less deeply into the page.

That’s what makes AI search interesting to me. It’s not just “fewer clicks” or “SEO is dead”. It feels more like the useful part of organic visibility is getting squeezed toward the very top, while discovery keeps spreading across AI answers, forums, social platforms, reviews, branded search, etc.

Curious how other SEOs are handling this.

When a keyword seems capped around positions 4-8, do you keep pushing for the Top 3, or move effort toward long-tail keywords, AI citations or brand demand instead?

And what signals do you use to decide when a ranking is still worth chasing?

At least, that’s what our data seems to suggest.

We looked at 10.4M clicks and 54M impressions across 419 Quebec-based SME websites over 16 months, then compared our current post-AI Overviews click distribution with pre-AIO CTR benchmarks.

A few years ago, ranking around positions 5-8 could still feel like a decent SEO win. You were on page one, visible enough, and usually getting at least some traffic from it.

But with AI Overviews, ads, local packs and everything else taking more space in the SERP, weak page-one rankings are getting weaker (nothing new).

But like, by a lot.

Our data shows that positions 4-10 have lost around 70% of their click share compared to pre-AIO benchmarks.

That means they went from capturing around 30-45% of page-one clicks to 10.8% (post-AIO).

Barely 1 out of 10 clicks. Crazy.

The pattern was pretty blunt:
- The Top 3 now captured 89.2% of all page-one organic clicks
- Position #1 alone captured 63.6%
- Position #7 averaged a 2.6% CTR
- Positions 4-10 captured 10.8% of page-one clicks, compared to around 30-45% before AI Overviews

So no, people didn’t stop clicking organic results.

But they seem to click much less deeply into the page.

“We rank on page one” might not mean much anymore if the ranking sits below the first few results and barely drives traffic.

Curious how other SEOs are handling this.

With the Top 3 becoming the “new page one”, and holistic search taking up more space (AI answers, social platforms, forums, blogs, reviews, branded search, etc.), how are you adjusting keyword prioritization?

When a keyword seems capped around positions 4-8, do you keep pushing for the Top 3, or move effort toward long-tail keywords (even tho they sometimes drive less traffic)?

And what signals do you use to decide when a ranking is still worth chasing?