TL;DR
- On US results pages with an AI Overview, desktop positions 1-2 got 10.04% of clicks in Q2 2026 versus 29.05% without one, a gap 6.03 pp wider than Q1.
- Branded queries lost 1.47 to 3.08 pp of CTR at every one of the top 20 desktop positions; mobile position 1 gained 1.40 pp.
- Law, Government & Politics had the biggest single-position gain (+17.31 pp, mobile position 1); Style & Fashion the biggest drop (-13.31 pp, desktop position 1).
- Google says a logging error misreported impressions, CTR and average position from 13 May 2025 to 27 April 2026, so AWR's Q1 window sits entirely inside it.
Google organic click-through rates at the top positions fell on desktop and rose on mobile in the second quarter of 2026, according to Advanced Web Ranking (AWR), a rank-tracking software vendor. AWR published its Google CTR changes report for Q2 2026 on 29 September 2026, written by Dan Popa. It compares average CTR by position for April to June 2026 against January to March 2026, and adds a separate US-only view of how CTR changes when an AI Overview appears on the results page.
How AWR built the Q2 2026 CTR report
AWR's Q2 2026 report calculates average CTR for each organic position in the April to June 2026 window and compares it with the January to March 2026 window. AWR says it included all significant changes and expressed them in percentage points (pp). The main dataset is international and covers all available markets, with the US and UK given as examples; AWR describes it as millions of search terms from thousands of websites. The AI Overview section uses the same method but only US data.
AWR also set CTR shifts against search demand. For each industry it compared average impressions in Q2 2026 with Q1 2026 and reported the difference as a percentage. AWR's free Google organic CTR tool, which the quarterly report draws on, describes its data as anonymized Google Search Console data. That detail matters for the data caveat covered further down.
One point on reading the numbers: most of AWR's headline figures are combined changes across two or more positions. A "combined 5.27 pp decline" for positions one and two adds up the change at each position. It is not the change any single site would see, and it is an average across a large dataset.
Desktop CTR fell and mobile CTR rose across all searches
Across all industries, AWR found that desktop and mobile moved in opposite directions in Q2 2026. The combined CTR for positions one and two on desktop fell by 5.27 pp compared with Q1 2026, while the same two positions on mobile gained a combined 6.59 pp. AWR's conclusion was that, after two quarters of rising desktop CTR, mobile growth was back in front and desktop values were dropping.
The split showed up again when AWR cut the data by query length. For one-word queries, desktop CTR fell 4.15 pp at position one and 1.49 pp at position two (a combined 5.64 pp), while mobile rose 7.42 pp at position one and 2.42 pp at position two (a combined 9.84 pp). Two-word queries followed the same pattern, with a combined 3.92 pp loss on desktop and a 5.10 pp gain on mobile for the top two positions. For three-word queries the top four desktop positions lost a combined 6.86 pp while the top two on mobile gained 5.25 pp. For queries of four or more words, the top five desktop positions lost a combined 11.15 pp and the top two mobile positions gained 7.91 pp.
Branded, unbranded and intent segments in Q2 2026
AWR's Q2 2026 report found the same desktop-down, mobile-up pattern in branded searches. On desktop, all 20 tracked positions for branded queries lost CTR, with single-position declines between 1.47 pp and 3.08 pp. On mobile, only position one moved for branded queries, gaining 1.40 pp. For unbranded queries, only the top two positions changed: a combined 5.40 pp drop on desktop and a combined 7.71 pp gain on mobile.
By search intent, AWR reported that the top three desktop positions for informational queries lost a combined 5.15 pp, while the top two mobile positions gained a combined 7.86 pp. For commercial queries, the top five desktop positions lost a combined 9.72 pp and the top two mobile positions gained 6.19 pp. For location searches, desktop positions one and three fell 2.85 pp and 1.13 pp, and mobile position one rose 4.84 pp.
AI Overviews and CTR in the US, Q2 2026
AWR's US-only AI Overview analysis compares CTR on results pages with and without an AI Overview. On desktop in Q2 2026, positions one and two together took 29.05% of clicks on pages without an AI Overview and 10.04% on pages with one. AWR put the gap at 19.01 pp, which it says is 6.03 pp wider than in Q1 2026.
On mobile, position one had a 35.95% CTR without an AI Overview and 8.51% with one, a 27.43 pp gap that AWR says widened by 3.73 pp from Q1. Positions two and three on mobile were affected less: their combined CTR went from 11.13% without an AI Overview to 8.95% with one, and AWR notes that this gap narrowed by a combined 2.92 pp compared with the previous quarter.
These are US figures only. AWR does not publish an equivalent AI Overview comparison for Thailand or other markets in this report. For teams tracking whether their content is cited inside AI answers as well as ranked below them, generative engine optimisation is the work that addresses the with-AI-Overview side of these numbers.
The headline Q2 2026 figures in one table
The table below collects the main figures from AWR's Q2 2026 report, published 29 September 2026. Changes are against Q1 2026.
| Measure (AWR, Q2 2026) | Figure |
|---|---|
| All searches, desktop positions 1-2 | Combined -5.27 pp |
| All searches, mobile positions 1-2 | Combined +6.59 pp |
| US desktop positions 1-2, without vs with AI Overview | 29.05% vs 10.04% (gap 19.01 pp, 6.03 pp wider than Q1) |
| US mobile position 1, without vs with AI Overview | 35.95% vs 8.51% (gap 27.43 pp, 3.73 pp wider than Q1) |
| Largest single-position moves by industry | Law, Government & Politics mobile position 1 +17.31 pp; Style & Fashion desktop position 1 -13.31 pp |
Industry winners and losers in AWR's Q2 2026 data
AWR says 22 industries were affected by the Q2 2026 CTR shifts, and most followed the device split. Arts & Entertainment was an exception on desktop: position one gained 2.40 pp there, mobile position one gained 2.81 pp, and impressions for the industry rose 67.79%. Law, Government & Politics recorded the largest single-position increase, with mobile position one up 17.31 pp and mobile position two up 5.96 pp; on desktop, position one lost 3.28 pp while positions two and three gained 1.99 pp and 1.42 pp. Its search demand rose 13.95%.
Style & Fashion had the largest single-position drop: desktop position one fell 13.31 pp, and desktop positions two to five lost a further combined 11.58 pp, while mobile CTR stayed broadly stable. Education showed a wide device split, with the top five desktop positions down a combined 17.02 pp and the top three mobile positions up a combined 14.26 pp, as demand grew 23.95%. Shopping had the largest fall in impressions, at 66.93%, with desktop positions one and two losing a combined 7.87 pp and mobile position one gaining 1.11 pp.
The Search Console data caveat behind Q1 and Q2
AWR's Q2 2026 report does not mention it, but Google's Search Console data anomalies page records a logging error that caused impressions to be reported inaccurately from 13 May 2025 until 27 April 2026. Google says only impressions and the metrics that depend on them, CTR and average position, were affected. Clicks were not. Google also says the issue has been resolved and that site owners may notice a decrease in reported impressions as a result.
The following is Relevant Audience analysis of the dates. AWR's Q1 2026 window, January to March, falls entirely inside that error period. Its Q2 2026 window, April to June, has 1 to 27 April inside the error period and the rest after the fix. Because CTR is clicks divided by impressions, a change in how impressions were logged can move CTR even if searcher behaviour did not change. AWR does not say whether its figures were adjusted for the error, so the Q1 to Q2 comparison may carry some measurement effect alongside any real change. The report does not let a reader separate the two.
AWR itself is cautious about the trend. It says its Q3 2026 report will look at whether the device split is a permanent trend or a temporary seasonal spike. Q3 covers July to September 2026, which sits wholly after Google's stated fix date, so that comparison should be cleaner on this point.
What to check in your own Search Console data
This section is practical guidance from Relevant Audience, based on the dates above. Any comparison in your own Search Console reports that spans 27 April 2026 can show CTR, impressions and average position shifts that come from the logging fix rather than from searcher behaviour. Clicks are the steadier metric across that date because Google says they were not affected.
- When comparing Q2 or Q3 2026 against earlier periods, read clicks first and treat CTR and impression changes with care.
- Where possible, compare periods that sit on the same side of 27 April 2026.
- Split reports by device before drawing conclusions, since AWR's data shows desktop and mobile moving in opposite directions.
- Note which of your important queries show an AI Overview, because AWR's US data puts the largest CTR gaps there.
A structured SEO audit is the usual place to set these baselines, so that later reporting does not mistake a data break for a ranking or demand problem.
What this means for Thai marketers
This section is Relevant Audience analysis. AWR's main dataset is international, but the report does not break out Thailand, and its AI Overview comparison is US-only, so none of these figures should be treated as Thai benchmarks. What does carry over is the method. Thai sites use the same Search Console, with the same 13 May 2025 to 27 April 2026 impression logging error, so year-on-year or quarter-on-quarter CTR comparisons in Thai properties face the same break. Splitting by device matters just as much, and teams running SEO in Thailand can check whether their own desktop and mobile CTR moved apart after April 2026 before assuming the AWR pattern applies to them.
FAQ
Did Google CTR go up or down in Q2 2026?
It depended on the device: AWR found desktop CTR for positions one and two fell by a combined 5.27 pp while mobile CTR for the same positions rose by a combined 6.59 pp, compared with Q1 2026. These are averages across AWR's international dataset, not figures for any single site.
How much do AI Overviews reduce organic CTR, according to AWR?
In AWR's US Q2 2026 data, desktop positions one and two took 29.05% of clicks without an AI Overview and 10.04% with one. On mobile, position one fell from 35.95% to 8.51% when an AI Overview was present.
Can the Search Console logging error affect these numbers?
Possibly, because AWR's CTR tool is built on Search Console data and Google says impressions, CTR and average position were misreported from 13 May 2025 to 27 April 2026. Q1 2026 sits inside that period and most of Q2 2026 sits after it; AWR does not say whether it adjusted for the error.
Is this data specific to Thailand?
No, the main dataset is international without a Thailand breakdown, and the AI Overview section uses US data only. Thai sites should check their own Search Console data by device and around 27 April 2026.
When will we know if the device split is a trend?
AWR says its Q3 2026 report will address whether the split is a permanent trend or a seasonal spike. Q3 falls entirely after Google's 27 April 2026 fix date.
Reading CTR studies with the data break in mind
AWR's Q2 2026 report gives a detailed picture of desktop and mobile CTR moving apart and of AI Overviews cutting clicks at the top of US results. Its value is highest when it is read alongside the Search Console timeline and a site's own device-level data. Relevant Audience helps brands in Thailand set clean baselines and track organic performance through changes like these; see our SEO services in Thailand for how that work is approached.
