Ranking #1 on Google Is No Longer Enough — New SERP Study Shows AI Overviews Push Organic Results Below the Fold

A comprehensive new study measuring Google search results in pixels rather than rank positions has found that the introduction of AI Overviews has dramatically reduced the visibility of traditional organic results. On mobile, the average #1 organic result now sits 1,847 pixels below the top of the search results page — compared to 612 pixels before AI Overviews were introduced in 2024. On desktop, the shift is less severe (740px vs 280px), but still significant. The research analysed over 50,000 unique search queries across 15 categories including local services.

For local service queries specifically, the study found that the Google Map Pack and AI Overviews now dominate the first 1,200 pixels of mobile search results for "near me" queries. This means that a business ranking #1 organically for "coffee shop near me" may receive zero impressions on mobile if it is not also appearing in the Map Pack or AI Overview. The average click-through rate for organic position #1 has dropped from 28% to 18% in the past 12 months for local queries, while Map Pack listings have seen CTR increase from 12% to 19% in the same period.

For coffee shops, salons, pet groomers, and fitness studios, this data makes GBP optimisation the highest-priority SEO activity bar none. Traditional website SEO still matters for long-tail informational queries, but for the high-intent transactional queries ("book a haircut near me", "dog grooming Saturday") that drive actual customers, the Map Pack and AI Overviews are now the primary battleground. Businesses without a complete, active GBP are effectively invisible on mobile for their most valuable queries.