What is a good organic CTR?

It depends heavily on position and the SERP layout — top results earn far more than lower ones, and AI Overviews and features lower the whole curve. Compare to your own Search Console data by position.

Why is my organic CTR falling at the same ranking?

Because AI Overviews, ads, and SERP features increasingly sit above or answer the query before a click, so the same position now earns fewer clicks.

How do I improve organic CTR?

Within a position, stronger titles and meta descriptions and earning rich results help; structurally, target queries less dominated by answer features.

Growth Marketing Glossary

Organic CTR

organic CTRnoun

The clicks ranking actually earns — top of page one is a different world from the bottom.

Schematic — organic CTR by position

Measures: clicks per impression, organic
Falls with: lower SERP position
Shrinks under: AI Overviews, ads, features
Source: Search Console

Forms & parts of speech

organic CTR · noun

Organic clicks ÷ organic impressions for a query or page.

"Our organic CTR at position one dwarfs anything on page two."

What it measures

Organic CTR is the share of people who see your organic result in search and click it — clicks divided by impressions. It is reported per query and per page in Google Search Console.

The dominant driver is position. The top organic result earns a large share of clicks, and CTR drops steeply down the page; by the bottom of page one, and certainly page two, the clicks are a fraction of the top spot's.

Why it is shrinking

The classic position-by-position CTR curves are eroding. AI Overviews, ad blocks, and SERP features like featured snippets and shopping carousels push organic results down and answer queries before a click happens.

So a number-one ranking earns fewer clicks than it once did. Title and meta-description quality still move CTR within a position, but the bigger story is that the same rank now sits in a more crowded, answer-first results page.

Worked example. Suppose a page holds the top organic spot for a query. Historically that earned a large slice of clicks. Now an AI Overview and a couple of ad units sit above it, and a featured snippet answers part of the query outright.

The page's organic CTR falls even though its ranking never changed. Reading CTR by position in Search Console — and noticing where features have invaded the SERP — explains a traffic dip that a rank tracker alone would miss.

Failure modes to watch. Using old position-by-position CTR benchmarks as if SERPs had not changed; judging a page on traffic without checking whether features ate the clicks; and ignoring title and description tests that still lift CTR within a position.

Benchmarks

Published CTR-by-position curves vary by study and are eroding as SERPs change. Use your own Search Console CTR by position rather than a borrowed curve.

Position 1

far higher than lower spots

Down the page

drops steeply

Under features

whole curve lowers

Ranges are illustrative; every published figure is cited from a named public source or labelled “RGM analysis.”

Synonyms & antonyms

Synonyms

organic click-through rateSERP CTR

Antonyms

paid CTR

Usage trends

Search interest for this term over the last five years:

View interest-over-time on Google Trends →

Common questions

What is a good organic CTR?: It depends heavily on position and the SERP layout — top results earn far more than lower ones, and AI Overviews and features lower the whole curve. Compare to your own Search Console data by position.
Why is my organic CTR falling at the same ranking?: Because AI Overviews, ads, and SERP features increasingly sit above or answer the query before a click, so the same position now earns fewer clicks.
How do I improve organic CTR?: Within a position, stronger titles and meta descriptions and earning rich results help; structurally, target queries less dominated by answer features.

Related tools & calculators

toolRGM benchmarks compendium
toolRGM benchmarks compendium

Resources & people to follow

referenceFirst Page Sage — organic CTR research
referenceBacklinko — search behaviour studies

Curated, non-competitor resources verified per term.

Sources

trendsGoogle Trends — "organic ctr"