Why are my Google rankings different?

Your rankings can differ because tools check different locations, devices and times, or receive abnormal results. If you're asking 'why are my Google rankings different', Ahrefs reported on 22 October 2026 that abnormal results were reaching companies supplying search data to ranking tools. Small businesses should verify apparent losses against actual search visits before changing their websites.

What changed in Google's ranking data

Ahrefs reported that between 5% and 20% of search results were affected, depending on the data provider. This concerned abnormal results shown to suspected data collectors, not a measured loss of visitors to business websites.

That distinction matters when a chart suddenly shows your service page disappearing. A tool can faithfully reproduce what its supplier sent while still giving you a misleading picture of what customers see.

Nozzle recommends cross-checking apparent disappearances against impressions and clicks in Search Console, Google's free tool for checking how your site performs in Google Search. Impressions count appearances in search results; clicks record people clicking through to your website.

This doesn't make every ranking fall false. It means the report needs checking before it becomes a reason to spend money or change working pages.

Why a ranking checker can disagree with your search

A salon owner searching for 'hair colour correction' from the shop may see a different order from a tool set to another town. A phone search can also differ from a desktop search, so comparing them as if they were identical won't settle an argument about a report.

Check the exact phrase and the page address being measured. Your homepage appearing is not the same observation as your booking page appearing, even though both belong to your business.

Different tools can also count result types differently. Check whether the report measures ordinary website links or includes map listings before comparing it with your own search.

A private browser window doesn't remove your location or turn a spot check into a complete measurement. Treat manual searching as a useful check, not a verdict on what every customer sees.

How to check your Google ranking without guessing

Open the Search results performance report in Search Console and compare the period covered by the warning with an earlier period of the same length. Use periods with similar trading patterns, and leave out recent days whose figures are still incomplete.

Filter to the exact search phrase and the page the ranking report says has dropped. Match the country and device where possible; a country filter won't recreate a tool's precise town setting.

For a business serving UK customers, compare UK search clicks rather than mixing them with overseas activity. Unexpected traffic from abroad is a separate issue to investigate before changing pages aimed at nearby customers.

Check impressions and clicks together. Stable figures for the same phrase and page weaken a claim that you've disappeared, while falling clicks deserve investigation even if the separate ranking chart looks healthy.

Look at searches containing your business name separately from searches for services. A dental practice can keep getting clicks for its name while losing clicks for treatment searches, so steady totals can hide a useful page's problem.

Average position is your site's average place across recorded search appearances, not a fixed place every customer sees. Some rarely used search phrases may not be shown in Search Console, so a missing row alone doesn't prove nobody saw you.

What to change when the loss looks real

If clicks and impressions for an important service page have genuinely fallen, first check that the page opens and still describes the service you provide. Check that links from your main menu still reach it and that recent edits haven't removed useful information.

Then compare the page with the searches that have lost clicks. A boiler repair page should make the service, area covered and contact route clear; a vague title or missing service detail is a specific issue to fix, unlike a red arrow in a report.

A fall in clicks isn't always caused by a website fault. Demand, changing search results and the mix of searches can affect visits, so keep enquiry and booking records alongside the search figures before deciding what the loss means.

Can I trust my SEO report?

SEO means work that helps people find your website in unpaid search results. A trustworthy report shows what was measured and admits what remains uncertain.

Ask for the exact search phrases, page addresses, location, device and dates behind the chart. If someone recommends paid work, ask which page they would change and what evidence supports that change.

A sensible explanation separates suspicious provider data from a fall in actual Google visits. Keep a note of any changes you approve and when they go live, so you can compare them with later figures instead of relying on memory.

When you can leave your website alone

One alarming ranking chart is not proof you need more SEO. Check the same search phrases and pages in Search Console before paying to fix a drop that may exist only in the report.

If clicks and appearances for those searches are steady, and enquiries haven't changed, leave the working pages alone for now. Record the warning and check again after the tool updates rather than rewriting useful copy to satisfy a chart.

You can do this comparison yourself if you have access to Search Console. For a site with very little search activity, short-term changes are harder to interpret; concentrate on whether important pages are available and describe your services accurately.

Doing nothing to the page can be sensible. Doing nothing to verify the report is a different decision.

Automated SEO should address problems you can verify

A bad ranking chart doesn't itself take away visitors. But leaving a genuine loss unchecked can mean your salon stops appearing for treatment searches, while customers find competitors who keep improving their pages and send their enquiries there instead. The risk is lost organic traffic, the visitors you get from ordinary, unpaid search results, and the enquiries they bring.

PageNumberOne runs automated SEO work every day, with a weekly technical audit, a check for website problems that can hinder search engines. We fix page titles, search descriptions, headings and schema, the hidden labels that describe your business and pages to search engines, and improve the information on your key pages.

Those weekly checks keep identifying website faults even when ranking data is suspect. Rank tracking records where your pages appear for chosen searches, giving you a history to compare with Search Console. A plain-English monthly report sets out the work; neither tracking nor automation removes the need to check suspect data.

This foundation work is covered by the Starter plan. Nobody can guarantee a place on Google, and a suspicious chart alone isn't a reason to buy more work.

Run the free SEO check now, just below this post, before deciding what work your website needs.