Learn how Average Position measures where you appear when AI lists multiple options. Understand why position matters, how it’s calculated, and strategies to improve your ranking.
Average Position tells you where you appear when AI lists multiple options. When someone asks “What’s the best CRM?” and AI lists 5 brands, are you mentioned first or fifth? Position determines who gets chosen.
When users ask AI platforms for recommendations, the AI typically lists multiple options in order of preference. Your position is where you appear in that list.
User: "What CRM should I use for my agency?"AI: "Here are some great options for agencies:1. **HubSpot** — Great for marketing-focused agencies... ← Position 12. **Pipedrive** — Excellent for sales pipelines... ← Position 23. **Zoho** — Good budget option... ← Position 34. **Monday** — More of a project tool but works... ← Position 4"
If you’re Zoho in this example, your position is 3. If this happens consistently across many prompts, your average position is around 3.This is fundamentally different from traditional search:
Users treat AI’s ordering as a recommendation. Position 1 isn’t just listed first — it’s presented as the best option. The AI often explains why it’s recommending each option in the order it chose.The attention distribution is stark:
Position
User consideration rate
What this means
1st mentioned
~45% primarily consider
Nearly half of users focus on the first option
2nd mentioned
~25% consider
A quarter look at the second choice
3rd mentioned
~15% consider
Significant drop-off begins
4th+ mentioned
~15% combined
Everything after 3rd shares the remaining attention
If your average position is 4.2, you’re competing for just 15% of user attention with every other brand mentioned after you. Meanwhile, your Position 1 competitor captures 45%.The math is brutal: Moving from Position 4 to Position 1 can triple your consideration rate.
Average Position is calculated across all responses where multiple brands are mentioned:
Average Position = Sum of all your positions / Number of multi-brand responsesExample:- Prompt 1: You're Position 2- Prompt 2: You're Position 1- Prompt 3: You're Position 4- Prompt 4: You're Position 2Average Position = (2 + 1 + 4 + 2) / 4 = 2.25
Position is only calculated when multiple brands appear in the same response. If AI mentions only your brand, there’s no competitive ranking to measure — that’s tracked under Share of Voice instead.
Average Position alone doesn’t tell the full story. Two brands can have the same 2.5 average but very different distributions:
Brand A (Average: 2.5)├── Position 1: 40% of responses├── Position 2: 20% of responses├── Position 3: 10% of responses└── Position 4+: 30% of responsesBrand B (Average: 2.5)├── Position 1: 10% of responses├── Position 2: 30% of responses├── Position 3: 50% of responses└── Position 4+: 10% of responses
Brand A wins big sometimes but also loses badly. Brand B is consistently mid-pack. Both average 2.5, but Brand A captures more of the high-value Position 1 spots.
Benefits from strong Bing SEO and Microsoft ecosystem presence
Google AI Mode
Google Search rankings, Knowledge Graph, structured data
Directly influenced by your Google search position
Google AI Overview
Google Search rankings, featured snippet eligibility
Position correlates with featured snippet and top search results
Track your position by platform separately. You might be Position 1 on Perplexity but Position 4 on ChatGPT — understanding these differences helps you prioritize improvements.
The better your product matches the specific question, the higher you’ll rank. A specialized tool will rank Position 1 for targeted queries but lower for general ones.
Query: "Best CRM for real estate agents"├── RealEstateCRM.com → Position 1 (perfect fit)├── HubSpot → Position 2 (good general option)└── Salesforce → Position 3 (powerful but overkill)Query: "Best enterprise CRM"├── Salesforce → Position 1 (perfect fit)├── HubSpot → Position 2 (scales well)└── RealEstateCRM.com → Not mentioned (too niche)
Content that directly compares you to competitors — especially if you come out ahead — influences position. AI reads “X vs Y” articles and incorporates those conclusions.
Bad reviews, unresolved complaints, or negative press push you down. AI aims to make helpful recommendations, so it deprioritizes brands with red flags.
For prompts where you’re Position 3+, who consistently appears at Position 1-2? This is your blocking competitor.
Your position analysis:├── "Best CRM for agencies" → You: Position 3, HubSpot: Position 1├── "CRM for small teams" → You: Position 4, Pipedrive: Position 1├── "Marketing CRM" → You: Position 2, HubSpot: Position 1└── Pattern: HubSpot is your primary blocker
Understanding who blocks you tells you what AI values that you lack.
Instead of trying to improve overall position, dominate specific prompt categories:
Strategy
Target prompts
Example
Use case specialization
”Best [tool] for [specific use case]"
"Best CRM for recruiting agencies”
Audience targeting
”Best [tool] for [specific audience]"
"Best CRM for solopreneurs”
Feature leadership
”Best [tool] with [specific feature]"
"Best CRM with email automation”
Price positioning
”Affordable [tool]” or “Enterprise [tool]"
"Best free CRM”
It’s easier to become Position 1 in a subset of prompts than to improve from Position 4 to Position 2 across all prompts. Win where you can, then expand.
ChatGPT
Claude
Perplexity
Gemini
Grok
Copilot
Google AI Mode