Click-through rate (CTR)
Click-through rate is the share of people who clicked after seeing you, calculated as clicks divided by impressions.
Appear 1,000 times and receive 30 clicks and your click-through rate is 3%.
It exists in both Google Ads and organic search and means the same thing in each.
In organic search it now carries extra weight, because AI Overviews can take clicks while impressions hold steady.
Ahrefs found 1 domain in its French panel with impressions up 183% while clicks fell 1.9%, which reads as growth on any report that leads with impressions.
Calculate it across a whole period rather than averaging daily rates, or a quiet day with 2 impressions carries the same weight as a busy one with 2,000.
A falling rate on steady rankings usually points to a change in the results page around you, such as a new AI Overview.
What this means for you
This is the headline number on the reports I send, in place of average position. It's the one that shows whether being found is still turning into visits.
This one sits under SEO.
Related terms
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