In the context of SEO, an impression refers to a single instance of a webpage appearing in a search engine’s results for a given query, regardless of whether the user actually clicked on it. Impressions are tracked in Google Search Console’s Performance report.
Impressions are a useful early indicator of visibility: a page might rank for a keyword and generate impressions well before it earns significant clicks, especially if it’s ranking further down the results page or the title/description isn’t yet compelling enough to earn clicks.
Tracking impressions alongside click-through rate helps distinguish between a visibility problem (low impressions, meaning the page isn’t ranking for enough relevant queries) and a compelling-listing problem (high impressions but low clicks, meaning the title and description need improvement).
Impression trends are a standard part of our SEO reporting.