Impressions are up. Clicks are down.
The rankings have not changed.
If this describes your last export to Search Console, you don’t have a content issue or a technical issue. You have a SERP that’s no longer sending you the clicks your positions were earning, and the playbook you’re running was designed for the one that was.
There are five changes currently restructuring how search visibility works. Each builds on the one before it, and each comes with work that you can begin before third trimester planning is finalized.
1. Don’t think of organic CTR decline as a seasonal decline
AI previews and zero-click results absorb clicks on queries where your positions are stable. If you’re reporting mixed CTR, a metric combines two different losses: clicks lost to AI insights on queries you still rank for, and clicks lost to competitors who now outperform you. Each requires a different solution.
How to know if AI insights or competitors are exploiting your clicks
The diagnosis starts from the data you already have. Segmented correctly, your query data falls into two groups with very different tasks: one shows you where competitors are gaining clicks that you can fight to win back, and the other shows you where the SERP itself has changed and your efforts belong in a new place. Knowing which group is causing your decline determines what your team spends in Q3.
In our next SEJ Live, 6 experts will spend 3 hours helping you identify, fix, and expand your AI search strategy for Q3.
2. Optimize to be visible, not just ranked
The first position on the SERPs no longer guarantees visibility.
LLMs and AI previews extract passages, synthesize between sources, and cite, which means your pages should be ready for extraction, not just ranking.
A page from which AI systems can obtain a clear answer becomes a citation asset, and a page that ranks well but cannot be extracted remains invisible at the answer layer, regardless of its position.
Knowing which group your best pages belong to is the first thing to sort out before rewriting anything, and that starts with understanding What “Discoverable Content” Really Means When AI Surfaces.
3. Strengthen your presence on platforms powering AI models
Reddit and LinkedIn have become sources of quotes, not just social networks.
In studies of AI outcomes, Reddit threads continue to appear. The same goes for LinkedIn posts from practitioners whose job titles, post history, and engagement demonstrate verifiable expertise.
Both now influence the brands mentioned, and you control neither property.
Start by finding out if trusted AI sources in your category mention your brand, your competitors, or neither.
4. Paid and organic plan in the same room
AI mode ads are currently rolling out. ChatGPT ad testing is evolving. The same AI surfaces now mix organic citations and paid placements, and if you only look at the organic half, you can’t tell where paid placements are getting the visibility you thought would guarantee your ranking.
5. Report Quotes Next to Clicks
Search Console clicks no longer measure your full search visibility. Being cited in AI responses is a second viewability metric that captures brand exposure clicks that were never recorded, and your leadership report almost certainly doesn’t include it yet.
Where to continue this work
Shifts 3, 4 and 5 are exactly what SEJ Live is covering on June 17: a free virtual event with three sessions designed to connect AI search, social, paid services and attribution into a single strategy.
- A fireside chat answering AI visibility and traffic questions you submit
- Reddit and LinkedIn experts on getting the quote signal confidence in AI models
- A multi-channel session on creating attribution you can actually act on
You shape these sessions: when you register, you can submit the question you most need answeredwhether it’s AI citation tracking, AI overview moving, PPC overlap, or content extractability. The most pointed questions shape the conversation on stage, and yours could be one of them.
Register for free for SEJ Live, June 17, 12 p.m. – 3 p.m. ET. Recordings included, so you can share each session with your team after the event.
