Introducing Position: the new metric built for today's and tomorrow's SERP

We're making important updates to how Rank Tracker reports keyword rankings.

Today's search results pages rarely look like a simple list of ten organic blue links. AI Overviews, Featured Snippets, People Also Ask, and other SERP features now appear across the large majority of searches. 

To keep your rankings reflecting where your brand truly shows up, we’re introducing Position: a single ranking metric, with a configurable Position Calculation setting, that replaces both Organic Position and Universal Position.

This means you can expect:

• A default position that reflects real visibility across the full SERP, excluding only Ads
• Full control to customize which SERP surfaces count toward your ranking

Overview of changes

Rank Tracker is consolidating Organic Position and Universal Position into a single metric called Position. Neither legacy metric continues to exist after this change.

Out of the box, every campaign counts all SERP surfaces toward its ranking - including AI Overviews, Featured Snippets, People Also Ask, and other organic SERP features that now shape real-world visibility - with only Ads excluded. This default is new; it is not identical to either legacy metric (Organic Position excluded these surfaces, and Universal Position also counted Ads, which the new default does not).

This update applies across all historical data, exports, and API endpoints.

Customize your position calculation

Every campaign comes with its own Position setting - an exclusion list that puts you in control of exactly what counts toward your ranking. 

Match position to your priorities

1. Chasing pure organic visibility? Exclude every non-organic surface and track blue-link rankings only. 
2. Prioritizing AI Overview citations? Keep AI Overview in the mix and strip out the surfaces that don't matter to your business. 
3. Migrating from another rank-tracking tool? Mirror its legacy definition to keep your historical trends consistent. 

However you define winning in search, you can set up Position to match it. See "How to Configure Your Position Calculation" below to get started.

Comparing positions across campaigns 

Because this setting is configurable per campaign, "Position" can represent a different set of included SERP surfaces from one campaign to the next - the metric name itself doesn't indicate which surfaces are counted. 

Check a campaign's Position Calculation setting before comparing its Position numbers against another campaign, a previous export, or another tool.

Why are we making this change?

In today's search landscape, a page of purely organic, unaffected results is the exception rather than the rule:

• AI Overviews & Featured Snippets: increasingly sit above traditional listings and capture a significant share of clicks
• People Also Ask & Related Questions: expand the page well beyond ten organic listings
• Shopping, Video, Local, and other surfaces: add further placements competing for visibility

The new Position metric is built to be configurable from day one and to keep working as new SERP surfaces appear, so instead of locking in a fixed, legacy definition, you get one consistent number now, full control over what counts toward it, and a metric that adapts automatically as Google introduces any SERP features going forward.

Key benefits

• Report on real-world visibility: Defaulting to this new Position definition reflects where your brand actually appears across today's SERP, not a shrinking definition of organic-only results. 
• Future-ready foundation: As Google introduces more new SERP features, they're already captured in your default Position.
• Tailored to your business priorities: The Position Calculation setting lets you decide exactly which SERP surfaces count, so Position can match how you actually define ranking success - not a one-size-fits-all default.

What this means for existing campaigns 

Every existing campaign automatically receives the default Universal configuration on release, and all historical Rank Tracker data is recomputed to align with it.

You may notice shifts in historical averages or ranking distributions; this is expected and ensures consistent comparisons going forward. If the default configuration doesn't match how you want to measure performance, you can change it for any campaign at any time. 

How to configure your position calculation

You can review or update the Position Calculation setting for any campaign at any time, before or after release.

1. Go to the relevant Rank Tracker campaign.
2. Open Settings (gear icon) and select Edit Campaign.
3. Under General settings, find Position Calculation, located directly above Email Digest.
4. Select the SERP surfaces you want to exclude from the Position calculation for this campaign.
5. Save your changes.

Permissions: only users with the Editor or Owner role on a campaign can change its Position Calculation setting.

SERP features available for exclusion

The following SERP features can be individually excluded from a campaign's Position calculation:

Communication

To ensure everyone is aware of this change, all users who log into Rank Tracker will receive communication via in-platform notification.

If you have any questions about this update, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or contact our Support team for assistance.

FAQs

1. What is actually changing in Rank Tracker?

Organic Position and Universal Position are being replaced by a single metric, Position, whose calculation is configurable per campaign through a new Position Calculation setting.

2. Why does Position default to including all SERP surfaces except Ads?
   Because today's SERPs rarely resemble a fixed page of ten organic blue links - AI Overviews, Featured Snippets, People Also Ask, and other SERP features now appear on the large majority of results pages. A default that counts these surfaces reflects where your brand actually shows up across the real, organic SERP. 
    
3. What is the default set-up for new campaigns?

Every existing campaign is automatically set to include all SERP surfaces except Ads. This is equivalent to today's Universal Position definition.

4. Can I change the default configuration?

Yes. You can customize which SERP surfaces are excluded from a campaign's Position calculation at any time, before or after release, from the campaign's General settings.

5. Will my historical data be affected?

Yes. Historical charts are recalculated across their full history using the new Position Calculation configuration. 

6. Is any of my raw data lost?

No. No underlying raw ranking data is deleted. Only the mathematical derivation used to produce the Position value changes.

7. Who can edit the Position Calculation setting?

Only users with the Editor or Owner role on the campaign can edit this setting.

8. Where do I find the Position Calculation setting?

In the relevant Rank Tracker campaign, go to Settings (gear icon) → Edit Campaign → Position Calculation, under General settings, directly above Email Digest.

9. I'm switching from a competitor's rank-tracking tool. Can I match their historical definition?

Yes. Because the Position Calculation setting is fully configurable, you can set up exclusions that mirror the ranking definition used by your previous tool to maintain reporting continuity.

10. Who should I contact with questions about this change?

Contact your Customer Success Manager or Similarweb Support with any questions about how this change affects your specific campaigns or integrations.