How to check your website ranking on Google (and read it honestly)

Why "what's my ranking?" is a tricky question

There isn't one ranking for your website. There's a position for each search, which changes with the searcher's location, their device, the time, and which results Google chooses to show (map pack, AI Overview, videos, People also ask). A clinic in Chennai can be third for "dentist in Adyar" when searched from Adyar and nowhere when searched from Tambaram.

So the honest question is: for the searches that bring me customers, where do I usually appear, and is it getting better? Here are three ways to answer it.

Method 1: Google Search Console (start here)

Search Console is free and uses Google's own data. If you haven't set it up, our 10-minute guide shows how.

1. 1Open Performance (Search results).
2. 2Turn on all four numbers: total clicks, total impressions, average CTR and average position.
3. 3Set the date range to the last 3 months.
4. 4Open the Queries tab to see each search and its average position.
5. 5Click a query, then open the Pages tab to see which page ranks for it.

How to read average position

Average position is averaged over every time your site appeared for that search, from all locations and devices. A position of 6.4 for "chartered accountant in Pune" means that, on average, your link was the sixth or seventh result shown. It's the best single number for comparing weeks, as long as you read it per search, not for the whole site. The site-wide average mixes your brand name (where you're first) with everything else, and can move simply because you started appearing for new searches far down the page.

What to look for

• Searches at about positions 8 to 20. You're close to page one; improving that page is your best chance.
• High impressions, few clicks. You're seen but not chosen; rewrite the title and description.
• Trends. Compare the last 28 days with the previous 28. One day's figure means little.

Method 2: A clean manual search

Sometimes you just want to see the page. To get a less personalised result:

• Use a private or incognito window, signed out of Google.
• Search from a phone if most of your customers do.
• Remember Google uses your location. Searching from your shop shows what nearby customers see; it doesn't show what someone across the city sees.

Treat it as a spot check: useful to see how the page looks (map pack, AI Overview, your title and description), not as a measurement. Checking ten times a day won't change anything except your mood.

You can also check whether a page is in Google's index at all by searching site:yoursite.com. If important pages are missing, read why your website is not on Google.

Method 3: A rank tracker

A rank tracker checks chosen searches every day from a fixed location and device, and draws the trend. That consistency is its value: it removes your personal location and history from the picture. It's worth it when:

• You care about a short list of specific searches.
• You want to see the effect of a change within days, with a date attached.
• You serve several areas and need positions from each.

Rank trackers are estimates of what one searcher sees at one moment; Search Console is Google's record of what actually happened. Use both, and when they disagree, trust Search Console for the trend.

Local businesses: check the map results too

For searches like "salon near me" or "plumber in Kukatpally", Google often shows a map with three businesses above the normal results. That map pack ranks your Google Business Profile, not your website, and uses relevance, distance and prominence. You can be first in the map and tenth in the blue links, or the other way round.

To check it, search on Google Maps from the area your customers are in, and look at your Business Profile's performance section, which shows how people found your profile and what they did (calls, website visits, direction requests). Our guide to local SEO for small business explains how to improve it.

And AI answers

Many searches now show an AI Overview above the results, and people also ask ChatGPT or Gemini directly. Google counts traffic from AI Overviews and AI Mode in Search Console's Performance report under the Web search type, but it doesn't separate it out. To see whether AI assistants name your business, read how to check if AI recommends you.

Common traps

• Panicking over daily swings. Positions move a little every day. Look at weekly trends.
• Checking only your brand name. You'll always rank for it. Check the searches a new customer would use.
• Comparing a tracker with your phone. Different location, device and time; they won't match.
• Ignoring clicks. A better position that brings no clicks needs a better title, or it's the wrong search.

A worked example

A salon in Kolkata (a made-up example) thinks it ranks first for "bridal makeup Salt Lake" because it shows up first on the owner's phone. Search Console shows an average position of 11 for that search: the owner's phone was searching from inside the salon. The salon improves its bridal page (prices, past work, booking steps) and adds bridal makeup as a service on its Business Profile. It then checks the average position for that one search every week in Search Console, with a note of when each change went live. See our page for salons and spas.