Updated
For businesses whose report says rankings are fine while traffic says otherwise, or who pay an agency and want a second opinion. I check up to 20 search phrases twice, add the map pack and AI Overviews, and label every result.
Four documented problems with ranking data in 2026. Each one below names its source and date.
Google now wraps result links in google.com/goto redirects. DataForSEO says Google limits how many of these links a tool can resolve on each results page. In its High Priority and Live modes, about 50% get resolved. Where a link is not resolved, the tool has no real address to match against your site.
Nozzle found page 1 or 2 swapped in 26.9% of the results pages it judged since 13 September, against 0.28% before. Its worst day so far was 31 October, at 64.0%. It calls these poisoned. Those are its sample rates, not a share of all searches.
Google's data anomalies page lists an impressions logging error across those dates. It affected impressions, click-through rate and average position. It did not affect clicks.
When an AI Overview appeared, outbound organic clicks fell 39.8% in a sample of 1,065 desktop Chrome users. A report that lists position alone leaves that out.
What I saw myself. On 3 November 2026 I ran four live checks of one phrase over about five minutes. They returned two different top fives. That is why this check runs every phrase twice, at different times.
Up to 20 agreed search phrases, checked twice at different times, on desktop and mobile.
Map pack position from 5 points across the area served, for up to 5 local phrases.
Whether a Google AI Overview shows for each phrase, and whether the site is cited in it.
Search Console comparison for the same phrases and pages, if access is given (jason@jasonburns.co.uk).
A short written report. Each phrase is labelled: confirmed position, likely data error, or unresolved.
The report gives every phrase one of these, so you know which numbers to act on and which to question.
Both checks agree, and Search Console points the same way where I have access.
The checks disagree with each other or with Search Console in a way that fits a known data problem. I say what I saw and why.
The evidence does not settle it. I say what extra check would.
Follow-on work is quoted separately.
Turnaround. I will confirm the date when you book.
A free rank checker takes one reading and gives you a number. I check each phrase twice at different times, on desktop and mobile, add the map pack and AI Overview, and label how far I trust each result. A single reading cannot show you that a result is unstable.
No. It is optional. Without it I still check the live search results. With it, I compare those results with what Search Console reports for the same phrases and pages. Access goes to jason@jasonburns.co.uk.
Yes. Send a copy and I check up to 20 of its phrases against the live results. I report what I find, phrase by phrase. This is a second opinion, not a verdict on your agency.
No. It is £149 once, with no VAT added and no retainer. There is no ongoing tracking.
Not as part of this check. The report tells you what the data shows. If you want help acting on it, that is quoted separately.
I will confirm the date when you book.
£149 once, no VAT added. Send your site and the phrases that matter, and I will confirm the date when you book.
Book a rank check