What is avisibility index?
One number for your presence on Google, useful for comparing yourself with competitors, but no measure of visitors.
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Check your AI visibility or call: +49 151 1576 5566A visibility index is a single score that summarises how present a domain is in Google's organic search results. The best documented version comes from Sistrix, which introduced it in 2008. You can check it for any domain, including your competitors, but it does not tell you how many visitors you get.
- Sistrix records the organic results for about one million keywords and weights each ranking by search volume and click likelihood.
- Semrush uses the word visibility for a related score that works differently, so the two cannot be compared.
- Seasonality is averaged out, local results are not covered, and niche topics are often thinly represented.
- According to Sistrix, AI Overviews are not counted in its Visibility Index.
How the visibility index is built, so you read it correctly
Sistrix records the Google results for about one million keywords, usually the first 100 organic results per keyword. Each ranking is weighted by the keyword's search volume and by how likely a click is at that position, and all weighted values of a domain are then added up. Position eight for a heavily searched keyword therefore counts for more than position one for a term hardly anyone looks for.
One consequence is easy to miss: Sistrix distributes a fixed pool of visibility points across all ranking domains, so your score can drop without you losing a single position, simply because others have gained.
What the visibility index does not tell you
The index does not show visitor numbers. Because it works with an annual average of search volume, seasonal peaks disappear, so a garden business may get far more visitors in spring while its score stays flat. It is calculated for the whole country and does not reflect local results, and a company selling specialist parts to a small industry may not find its most important keywords in the keyword set at all.
Why the visibility index does not capture your mentions in AI answers
Only organic Google results feed into the index. For AI Overviews, Sistrix stated in May 2025 that they do not displace organic results and are therefore not counted. Answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini sit outside Google's results anyway, so only a separate measurement with real questions shows whether AI systems name your company.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good SEO visibility score?
There is no fixed target. A score only becomes meaningful next to your direct competitors and as a trend over several months.
Why did my visibility drop when my rankings stayed the same?
Because Sistrix distributes a fixed pool of visibility points across all domains. If others gain, your share can shrink without you losing a single position.
Where to go deeper
SEO Visibility Index: What It Measures and What It Misses
Measure AI Visibility: Method, Metrics and Limits
Terms you should know in the same context
AI visibility · AI visibility tracker · AI Overviews · Google indexing · Back to the AI glossary A to Z
A visibility index shows how present you are on Google, whether AI systems name you is a different question.