September 2025: the reason Search Console impressions fell overnight
Covers September 2025. Part of our search timeline: a month-by-month look at the changes that shaped SEO, AI search, paid ads and social media, written in November 2026 for local businesses with the benefit of hindsight.
Quick answer: During September 2025 lots of websites saw Search Console impressions fall while average position got better at the same time. The main reason was a change in how tools that scrape lots of Google results in one go could request them. That hit rank trackers and cut down automated impressions. It was not a real loss of visibility.
This post is one entry in our timeline series, where we go back through search, AI, advertising and social changes one month at a time to explain what they mean for local firms. We wrote it in November 2026, so we already know how things turned out. If you are a tradesperson who checks Search Console and saw a sudden dip that month, this explains it.
What changed in September 2025?
Google dropped support for a URL parameter that had let tools load 100 results on one page. Rank-tracking tools had to change how they worked, and impression figures that had been boosted by automated requests for deep results came down.
Why it caught local businesses out
Some business owners thought their visibility had collapsed even though real customers were behaving exactly as before. A plumber seeing impressions halve could easily assume the worst, while calls and form enquiries carried on as normal.
It was a reminder to judge SEO by clicks, enquiries and your most important searches, not by raw impression numbers.
How to read your data now
- Add a note for September 2025 in your reports so the change in impressions and position is explained.
- Concentrate on clicks, enquiries and whether you sit in the top ten for the searches that matter, such as your main service plus town.
- Confirm that any rank-tracking tool you use has updated how it collects data.
Frequently asked questions
Did my rankings drop in September 2025?
Probably not, if your clicks held steady. The change mainly affected how impressions from results far down the list were counted.
Why did my average position get better?
Fewer impressions from very low positions were being recorded, which pushed the average up.
Sources and further reading
Want help with this? We turn Search Console and analytics data into plain reports you can trust through our analysis and reporting service. Get in touch.
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