Do universal results really hurt your organic rankings?

How does Google actually count positions in a mixed SERP?

Google makes no distinction between classic organic results and universal results when counting positions. An image block, a news carousel, and a featured video each occupy a numerical position in the displayed ranking.

So what does that mean? If your page appears in position 6 but is preceded by three universal blocks (images in position 2, news in position 4, videos in position 5), your true organic position is actually 3rd among classic web results. This distinction is never displayed in standard tracking tools.

Why does this mechanic complicate performance analysis?

Traditional SEO tracking tools report the absolute position displayed by Google: position 8, position 12, etc. They do not differentiate organic results from the interleaved universal blocks.

The trap? You might see a drop from position 4 to position 9 in your dashboards even though your organic content has not moved. The difference comes from the addition of five new universal blocks between the two measurements: a news carousel, an image pack, three videos. Your organic traffic remains stable but your reports scream disaster.

What types of universal results disrupt the rankings?

Google now integrates more than ten different formats into its results pages. The most common include: images (horizontal or vertical packs), news (Top Stories carousel), videos (thumbnails with duration), shopping (product listings with prices), featured snippets (zero position facts), and local pack (map + 3 results).

Each format occupies one or more numerical positions. A news carousel counts as only one position even if it contains six articles. An image pack also counts for a single position. The calculation becomes opaque once compact formats and expansive formats are mixed.

• Universal results count as standard organic positions in the numerical ranking displayed by Google
• An apparent drop in positions can hide a true stability of your organic content if universal blocks have inserted themselves
• Standard SEO tools do not automatically differentiate between absolute positions and pure organic positions
• Google shows no visual indicator to easily distinguish between these two types of counting
• Period-to-period comparative analysis becomes misleading if the composition of the SERP (number and types of universal blocks) has changed

Does this statement align with field observations since its publication?

Yes, and the phenomenon has even significantly amplified. Google now injects up to seven or eight different universal blocks on the same SERP for competitive queries. The 'pure' organic result number 1 regularly appears in position 5 or 6.

Consistency is an issue elsewhere: Google never clarifies whether a featured snippet counts as position 1 or a distinct position 0. Tests show that the URL in the snippet can also appear in classic organic results a few positions lower, creating double counting. Who really occupies position 1 in this case? [To be verified] depending on the vertical and types of queries.

What practical consequences does this mechanic have on actual traffic?

Organic traffic no longer follows the curves of positions displayed in your dashboards. A site can stagnate at an “average position 8” for six months while gaining 40% in organic clicks if the universal blocks surrounding it generate little interaction.

Conversely, maintaining a displayed position 3 guarantees nothing if Google inserts a video carousel right above. The click-through rate for a 'clean' position 3 hovers around 11-13% according to studies. When a video block is placed above, this rate often drops below 4-5%. The distribution of attention changes radically depending on the page composition.

In what situations does this counting rule become particularly penalizing?

Visual-heavy or news-oriented verticals suffer the most significant impact. Cooking recipe queries: image blocks, videos, shopping carousels regularly occupy five to six of the top ten positions. The first classic organic result appears in position 7.

Informational queries about current events: the Top Stories carousel + news videos + the featured snippet consume three to four positions before even reaching the first blue link. Purely editorial sites without strong video presence find themselves mechanically crushed at the bottom of the page even with excellent textual content.

How can you precisely measure your true organic positions excluding universal results?

Establish a differentiated manual tracking that identifies and excludes universal blocks from counting. Use the Google Search Console API or custom scripts that extract results, identify their type (classic organic vs universal), and recalculate pure organic positions.

Several third-party tools now offer this functionality (SEMrush SERP Features, Ahrefs Rank Tracker with universal filters, internally developed proprietary tools). Monitoring becomes much more cumbersome, but it’s the only way to obtain comparable metrics over time and among competitors.

What analysis errors should you absolutely avoid with this counting system?

Never compare absolute positions between two periods without checking if the SERP composition has changed. A drop from position 3 to position 8 means nothing without knowing the number and type of universal blocks that appeared in the meantime.

Also, avoid panicking over an overall “loss of positions” if your organic traffic remains stable or grows. Actual traffic and conversions are the only reliable indicators. Displayed positions have become a deceptive proxy for performance once a SERP contains more than two universal blocks.

What should you concretely optimize to limit the impact of universal results?

Diversify your content formats to appear yourself in universal blocks rather than being affected by them. Create videos for video carousels, optimize your images for image packs, structure your content for featured snippets, create product listings for shopping blocks.

If you stick solely to classic textual content, you will mechanically lose visibility to multi-format competitors. Google now favors a diversity of formats in its SERPs instead of a homogeneous list of ten blue links. Adjust your editorial strategy accordingly.

• Audit your priority SERPs to identify the average number of universal blocks present in your strategic queries
• Set up differentiated tracking of absolute positions versus pure organic positions in your dashboards
• Analyze which types of universal blocks appear most frequently in your vertical (images, videos, news, shopping)
• Develop corresponding content formats to occupy these blocks rather than passively endure them
• Recalculate your competitive benchmarks by excluding universal positions to compare only classic organic positions
• Alert your teams and clients about the gap between displayed positions and actual traffic to avoid misinterpretations