Bojan Cincur 
You can have rising rankings and still be losing ground.
That’s the strange reality many marketers face today. The dashboard says traffic is steady, but conversions stay flat. Your best-performing pages suddenly pull fewer clicks, even though they’re still on page one. And no, it’s not because your SEO is broken. It’s because the way people find answers has changed.
AI Overviews, summaries, and chatbots now sit between users and websites. They pull key insights from your content and serve them directly in search results or chat answers. The click, once the heartbeat of SEO, is no longer guaranteed.
That means the old SEO metrics, like clicks, impressions, and average position, don’t tell the full story anymore. They measure what happens after visibility, not the visibility itself.
If AI is now deciding which brands to surface, summarize, or cite, we need new ways to understand what “performance” actually means.
This is where a new generation of SEO metrics comes in, ones that reflect how AI systems see, reference, and influence your brand long before the click ever happens.
Why Traditional Metrics Are Falling Short
Traditional SEO metrics still matter, but they just need a big push now.
Traffic, rankings, and click-through rates were built for a web driven by clicks. But today, AI summaries and conversational search give users answers before they ever visit a site.
A page can fuel those AI responses and still show no spike in traffic. Not because it’s underperforming, but because visibility now happens beyond the click.
As we said, old SEO metrics track what happens after users land on your site. They can’t measure when AI cites your content, summarizes it, or uses it to shape an answer.
That’s why measuring SEO success now means looking at how AI perceives your brand, not just how people click it.
New SEO Metrics: What to Track Now?
Search has changed, so the way we measure it has to change, too.
AI now decides which brands to cite, mention, or summarize, and those signals matter as much as clicks once did.
These metrics show how AI amplifies your brand.
#1 Citation Rate
Citation rate shows how often AI systems reference your brand or content in their answers. It’s the new signal of authority, a proof that AI sees your content as reliable enough to use.
Unlike traditional SEO metrics focused on clicks, this one measures recognition before a visit happens.
You can track it by monitoring AI-generated results for your topics. If your brand appears often, your authority is growing where it matters most: in the answers people read first.
#2 AI Referral Impact
AI referral impact measures how much traffic and conversions come from AI-driven platforms. Users often discover your brand through an AI summary, then visit your site later to learn more or make a decision.
It’s a different kind of visibility: one that starts with trust, not a click.
Unlike older SEO metrics that only count direct visits, this one connects AI exposure to real outcomes. Watch for spikes in branded searches or conversions following mentions in AI results. These are signs your content is working behind the scenes.
#3 Share of Voice (SoV)
Share of Voice (SoV) shows how visible your brand is compared to competitors, not just in ads or search results, but now in AI-generated answers too.
It tells you who’s leading the conversation and who’s being left out.
While traditional SEO metrics focus on traffic volume, SoV captures your presence across all digital touchpoints. If your competitors are showing up in more AI summaries or discussions, it’s a signal to strengthen your topical authority and brand visibility.
Tracking SoV helps you see whether you’re gaining ground in your industry or losing it quietly to those AI keeps mentioning.
#4 Brand Search Lift
Brand Search Lift tracks how often people search for your brand name after seeing it elsewhere, including in AI-generated answers.
It’s one of the most reliable SEO metrics for measuring awareness. Platforms such as Google Ads (for YouTube and Google Search) and Display & Video 360 can track brand search lift when you meet their minimum spend and impression requirements. Many brands qualify for this at no extra cost.
As AI handles more informational queries, this lift becomes proof of lasting visibility. A steady rise in branded searches shows your content isn’t just being seen, it’s being remembered.
#5 Share of Search (Share of Visibility)
Share of Search measures how much of your industry’s total search demand belongs to your brand compared to your competitors. It’s a proven SEO metric and a strong early indicator of market share.
As AI changes how people search, this metric reveals whether your visibility is growing or shrinking. A rising share means more people are associating your brand with key topics and intent.
Tracking it over time shows if your SEO efforts (and AI visibility) are changing into real audience interest.
#6 Engagement Depth Metrics
While it’s not a single SEO metric itself, Engagement Depth Metrics look beyond clicks to measure how users interact once they land on your site. Scroll depth, pages per visit, and conversion actions show the real quality of engagement.
These SEO metrics matter more than ever because AI often filters out casual visitors. The users who still click through are usually more interested and more valuable.
Tracking engagement depth helps you see whether your content keeps people exploring, not just arriving. In the AI era, fewer visits can still mean a stronger impact.
What Really Counts Now
Clicks and rankings still matter, but they no longer define success.
AI now decides which brands appear, get cited, or remembered. The best SEO metrics today reveal how your brand performs in that invisible space, where visibility happens before the click.
Tracking citation rate, AI referral impact, and share of voice shows whether your brand is part of the story AI tells. Watching the share of search and engagement depth tells you if that story is reaching real people.
At Zlurad, we help brands bridge that gap by turning AI visibility into strategy and data into decisions that drive growth, all backed by a solid technical SEO plan.
Because the rules of search are changing, but clarity still wins.