Methodology · Visibility

How the Estimated search traffic is calculated

Method version visibility-v1 · Last updated 2026-10-13

In short

Estimated search traffic is the number of monthly visits a brand is expected to receive from Google for a keyword, calculated as the keyword's monthly search volume multiplied by the click-through rate of the brand's position. Summed over all keywords it gives the brand's estimated organic traffic, together with its top-3 and top-10 counts and average position.

Formula

Visits(b, k) = search volume(k) × CTR(position of b on k)
Traffic(b) = Σ visits over all keywords in the view
Average position = mean of the positions where b ranks in the top 20

How it is calculated, step by step

Look up each brand's position for each keyword.
Apply the click-through-rate curve (see SEO share of voice).
Sum per brand; count top-3 and top-10 positions and average the positions where the brand ranks.

What goes into it

Search volume: Average monthly searches for the keyword in the market.
Position: The brand's organic Google position (top 20).

Data sources

Planned: DataForSEO Labs and SERP API. Until connected, labelled sample data.

How often it is updated

Monthly.

How to read it

Use it to compare brands, not as an exact forecast of your own analytics.

Example

1,000 searches × 10% (position 3) = about 100 visits a month.

Limitations

Excludes paid search, branded navigation and visits from other search engines.

Frequently asked questions

Why does this differ from my analytics?

It is an estimate based on an average click-through curve, made the same way for every brand so they can be compared.

SEO share of voice — Your share of the estimated search clicks of all tracked brands: monthly search volume × expected click-through rate of each brand's Google position, per keyword.
Rest of the market — The part of the clicks or AI mentions that goes to sites and brands you don't track: comparison sites, media, forums and other providers.