Visibility Index.

The visibility index answers a question that Search Console data cannot: how visible is someone else's domain, such as a competitor's? To do this, tool providers regularly query the rankings for a large, fixed set of keywords. Each position is weighted by the keyword's estimated search volume and an assumed click-through rate for the position; the sum gives the index value.

The best-known value in German-speaking markets is the Sistrix Visibility Index, which is calculated weekly and in some cases daily for various countries, including Switzerland. Other tools such as SEMrush or Ahrefs offer similar metrics under other names, such as estimated organic traffic. The values from different tools are not comparable, because each tool uses different keywords, volumes and click assumptions.

The index's strength lies in comparison over time and with competitors. A sudden crash after a core update or a steady rise after a relaunch become visible. It also lets you estimate how visibility is distributed between competitors. For large websites with many keywords, it is a useful trend indicator.

For small SME websites, the index is often not very meaningful. The fixed keyword sets frequently do not contain the specific, local queries of small businesses at all. A painting business that is in position 1 for 'painter Dübendorf' can have a visibility index close to zero. In addition, the values are based on estimated search volumes, which are sometimes considerably too high for Switzerland. For your own website, the measurements from Google Search Console are therefore always preferable.