Page one of Google: what the click data says about why almost nobody visits page two

You have probably heard it said that nobody goes past the first page of Google. It is close to true, and the click data shows how close. But the exact numbers vary from study to study, and the way people search is changing, so it is worth looking at what the research actually measures before you build a plan around it.

What the click data shows

The figure behind the saying is click-through rate, or CTR: out of every 100 searches that show a result, how many clicks does that result get. Three large studies give a consistent picture, even though their exact numbers differ.

Notice the pattern rather than any single number. The first result gets by far the most clicks, and the drop to the third result is steep. Advanced Web Ranking's snapshot puts position 3 at under 4%, and by position 6 each result is under 1%. Page two does not recover: the same study shows every position on it between roughly a quarter of one percent and just under one percent.

Why the studies disagree

The numbers differ because the studies measure different things: different years, different countries, desktop versus mobile, and different mixes of searches. A search where someone wants a brand's website behaves very differently from a search where someone is comparing options. None of these figures is "the" truth, and none of them describes your exact searches. Use them to understand the shape of the curve, not as a forecast.

A statistic to be careful with

You will often see claims like "75% of people never scroll past page one." That figure gets repeated widely, but the solid research measures clicks per position, as in the table above. It is more accurate to say that the vast majority of clicks go to the first page, and that page-two results get a tiny slice. We have not repeated the 75% line here because we could not trace it to a study we could check.

AI Overviews are changing the picture

Google now shows AI-written summaries at the top of many results pages. Advanced Web Ranking's July 2026 data found them on about 43% of the desktop searches it sampled, and it reports that when one is present, position 1 drops from 20.02% to 9.69%, a cut of roughly half. It also found that 74.3% of searches with an AI Overview ended without any click on an organic result, against 53.6% of searches without one.

What this means for a business owner is not that rankings stopped mattering. It means that more searches are answered before anyone clicks, and the clicks that remain are concentrated on the few results people trust or that offer something the summary cannot: a phone number to call, a quote, a real photo of real work, a map listing with strong reviews. Those are things a local service business can offer.

Local searches work differently

When someone searches for a service near them, such as "roof repair near me," Google often shows a map with a short list of businesses above the regular results. For those searches, the businesses in that list can matter at least as much as the regular page-one results. Google says local results depend mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and that you cannot pay for a better local ranking.

We have not quoted a click-through figure for the map list because we could not find a reliable, current one that we could verify. What is clear from how it is laid out is that a handful of businesses are visible at a glance and everyone else requires extra effort to find, which is the same dynamic as page one versus page two.

What this means for your business

• Being on the second page is close to being invisible. If customers find you only when they go looking for your business name, a ranking problem is costing you the customers who do not know you yet.
• The first few spots are worth far more than the rest of page one. The goal is not just page one, it is the top of page one, and the map list for local searches.
• Clicks are not the only goal. A business that appears in the map list with a phone number, hours and strong reviews can win the call without a click to its website at all.
• You can show up in more places than one. A strong Google Business Profile, a useful website, and good reviews each give you another chance to be seen.

How businesses earn a place on page one

There is no shortcut and no trick that works for long. Google's own guidance asks for helpful, reliable content written for people first, and its local ranking guidance points to relevance, distance and prominence. In practical terms, that means:

1. Get your Google Business Profile right. Correct name, categories, address or service area, hours and photos. This is the base of local visibility. Our complete local SEO guide walks through it step by step.
2. Collect genuine reviews steadily. Recent, real reviews build trust with both Google and customers.
3. Build one strong page for each service. Explain what you do, who it is for, how it works and how to contact you, using real photos from real jobs.
4. Keep your details consistent on your website, your profile and the directories where you are listed.
5. Earn real links and mentions through your community, suppliers and associations, rather than buying them.
6. Measure calls, not just rankings, because rankings change by location and device.

What about paying to be on page one?

Search ads are the one way to pay for visibility at the top of the results. They are clearly labelled as ads and you pay when someone clicks. They can bring in customers quickly while your organic work builds, but they stop the moment you stop paying, and a poorly set up campaign can burn through a budget fast. Most businesses do best treating ads and organic search as partners, not substitutes. Ads capture people ready to hire now. Organic visibility builds over time and keeps working.

How long does it take?

Fixing a profile and cleaning up details can show movement in weeks. Moving up against established competitors usually takes months, and in crowded markets it can take longer. Anyone who promises a specific position by a specific date is guessing. A realistic plan is to improve steadily, track the calls, and judge the work over a quarter, not a week.

Frequently asked questions

Is it true that nobody clicks page two?

Almost. The studies we looked at put each page-two result under one percent of clicks, and one found that only about 0.63% of searchers click anything on page two. A few people do go there, but the numbers are very small.

Does position one still get most of the clicks?

It gets the largest share of any single position, roughly 20% to 28% in the studies above, but not a majority. The top three together take about a third in the Advanced Web Ranking data and just over half in the older Backlinko and Sistrix studies. AI Overviews and other features now take some of that share on many searches.

Can I pay Google to get me to page one organically?

No. For local results, Google says there is no way to pay for a better ranking. You can pay for ads, which appear in labelled ad spots.

How do I find out where I rank?

Search for your main service and your city on your phone and on a computer, ideally in a private window, and note where you appear. Remember that rankings vary by location. Google Search Console (free) shows the searches that bring people to your website and how many click.

Where to go from here

If you are not sure where you currently stand, start by searching for your own service and city and seeing who shows up. If you would like a straight answer on what it would take to compete, Rank Boss runs monthly local SEO packages and manages Google Ads for businesses across Canada and the United States. Tell us about your business and we will tell you honestly where to start.

This guide is general information, not a promise of results. Rankings depend on your market, competition and many factors outside any one business’s control. Check Google’s current guidelines before making changes to your listing.