First-party data
We audited our own sites. Ours ranks worst.
By Isaac Yap, Technical Lead, IonicX AI·
We hold Google Search Console access to five websites — every property we can pull real numbers for, not a selection. On the 89 days to 1 September 2026, four of them ranked on the first page of Google. The fifth — ours — sat at position 60.
These figures come straight from the Google Search Console API for properties we control. Nothing here is estimated, and nothing is a client’s private result.
| Site | What it is | Clicks | Impressions | CTR | Avg position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ultimatebeatdownfl.com | Event and ticketing site | 332 | 1,934 | 17.17% | 6.1 |
| umajb.com | Martial arts academy | 293 | 11,472 | 2.55% | 5.2 |
| shrimphome.sg | Prawn fishing venue | 34 | 534 | 6.37% | 9.6 |
| tattbylyds.com | Tattoo studio | 17 | 869 | 1.96% | 7.1 |
| ionicx.ai | Us | 24 | 3,576 | 0.67% | 60.3 |
Google Search Console, the 89 days to 1 September 2026. Position 1–10 is the first page; position 60 is roughly page six.
The part that stung
While we were pulling these numbers we found something worse than the ranking. Our own site had been recording no analytics at all, for months, in three separate ways at once.
Our security headers were blocking Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity — the browser refused to load them and said nothing. Vercel’s analytics were switched on in the dashboard but the tracking package had never been installed, so it collected nothing while appearing enabled. And our nightly traffic report read zero every night because the database permission that lets it write page views does not let it read them back.
Three independent instruments, none of them recording. We were not looking at a traffic problem. We had no way to look at anything.
Why our own site ranks at 60
The obvious guess is that the pages are weak. They are not. Our two main pages run to roughly 4,000 and 2,800 words with full structured data, prices and proper headings. One of the sites outranking us did it, when we checked on 3 September 2026, with fewer words, less schema and an expired security certificate.
A page that is technically equal and fifty places lower is not being held back by the page. It is being held back by the domain. And the difference is simple: nobody outside our own website has ever written about us.Search for our name and you find only pages we published ourselves. Every agency ranking above us appears in two to four other agencies’ round-ups.
That is a reputation problem, not a build problem. It is also the honest reason we can rank a tattoo studio at position 7 and ourselves at 60: the studio has customers who talk about it.
What we are doing about it
- Earning mentions on sites that are not ours — including asking competitors to include us in their round-ups, and offering the same in return.
- Publishing our own comparison of Singapore AEO agencies, competitors included, with the criteria stated.
- Collecting real Google reviews from clients we have actually served.
- Fixing the three broken measurements, so the next version of this page is measured rather than guessed.
That work takes three to six months. We will republish this table then — including if it has not moved.
Questions
Why publish your own bad numbers?
Because we sell search and AI visibility, and you are entitled to check whether we have earned any ourselves before you pay us for it. Every agency shows you its wins. Almost none shows you the scoreboard including the row where it loses.
If your own site ranks on page 6, why would I hire you?
Look at the other four rows. The sites we build and operate rank between position 5 and 10. Our own site ranks at 60 — and the reason is not the site. It is that nobody outside our own domain has ever written about us, which is a reputation problem, not a build problem. We know the difference because we measured it.
What is a good average position?
Position 1 to 10 is the first page of Google. Position 60 is roughly page six, where almost nobody looks. Click-through rate falls off a cliff after the first few results, which is why our own site can collect 3,576 impressions and convert 24 of them.
How did you get these numbers?
Directly from the Google Search Console API for the five properties we operate, for the 89 days to 1 September 2026. Not estimated, not from a third-party tool.
What are you doing about your own ranking?
Earning mentions on sites that are not ours, publishing an honest comparison of Singapore AEO agencies including our competitors, and collecting real Google reviews. That work takes three to six months. We will republish this table when it does or does not work.
Want the same audit on your site?
It is the one we just ran on ourselves: what you rank for, what you are invisible for, and whether your own analytics are actually recording anything.
Method
Figures pulled from the Google Search Console API on 3 September 2026 for the five domain properties we operate, covering the 89 days to 1 September 2026. “Average position” is Google’s own metric across all queries a site appeared for. All five sites are ones we build, run or own; none of the numbers are a client’s commercial results.