Within a year, 60.4% of the pages in Google's top 10 results for a search have dropped off page one, and not one of 2,692 searches kept the same ten results. Over any six to seven weeks, 35.7% of page one changes.
Analysis of 20,908 before-and-after snapshots of Google's top 10 for 8,742 keywords · Google US search results, September 2025 to September 2026
Key Findings
- 1.60.4% of the pages in Google's top 10 results for a keyword are gone from page one within a year, and none of 2,692 keywords kept the same ten results.
- 2.35.7% of the pages in Google's top 10 results drop off page one within six to seven weeks, about a quarter of page one every 30 days.
- 3.69.8% of web pages ranking 10th in Google drop out of the top 10 within six to seven weeks, against 6.2% of pages ranking first.
- 4.Counting websites instead of individual pages, 25% of the websites in Google's top 10 drop off page one within six to seven weeks, because Google often swaps one page for another from the same website.
- 5.Google's top 10 results for personal injury law keywords change 43.2% within six to seven weeks, against 28.4% for real estate keywords.
Summary
A plumbing company celebrates reaching page one of Google for "emergency plumber" in its city. Six weeks later the listing has slipped to page two, replaced by a competitor's new service page and a directory site. Nothing changed on the company's website. The page around it did.
Page one of Google is where almost all search clicks go, so a spot there is worth real money: calls, bookings and sales that come in without paying for ads. Knowing how long a spot lasts tells a business whether a ranking is something it owns or something it has to keep earning.
It has to keep earning it. Within six to seven weeks, 35.7% of the pages on Google's page one change. Within a year, 60.4% of the original top 10 are gone, and not one of the 2,692 keywords tracked for a year kept the same ten results. The turnover is heaviest at the bottom of the page, and it runs fastest in local service searches.
What we measured
We collected Google's top 10 organic results, the ordinary listings below the ads, for 8,742 US keywords between September 2025 and September 2026. For each keyword we compared snapshots of the top 10 taken 40 to 50 days apart, 20,908 pairs in all, and counted how many pages in the first snapshot were no longer in the top 10 in the next. For the 2,692 keywords with at least 300 days of history, we compared the first and last snapshots, about a year apart.
Churn is the share of top 10 pages that have dropped out of the top 10 by the next snapshot: a churn of 35.7% means that of every ten results, three or four are new. We also measured churn by starting position, by search intent (whether the person wants to buy, compare, learn or reach a specific website) and by industry.
Most of page one is new within a year
Churn builds quickly. Between snapshots six to seven weeks apart, 35.7% of top 10 pages drop off page one, which works out to about a quarter of the top 10 replaced every 30 days. Over a year, the replacements add up: six of every ten original results are gone, and every one of the 2,692 keywords tracked for a year ended with a different set of ten.
Part of the churn is Google choosing a different page from the same website. Counting a website as staying if any of its pages remains in the top 10, churn between snapshots falls to 25%. So about a quarter of the websites on page one are replaced in six to seven weeks, and on top of that Google regularly swaps the page it shows for websites that stay.
The bottom of page one turns over fastest
Churn climbs almost in a straight line from the top of the page to the bottom. 6.2% of pages ranking first drop out of the top 10 by the next snapshot. At third place the rate is 19%, at sixth 36.9%, and from eighth place down more than half of results are gone within weeks. At tenth place, 69.8% drop out, more than eleven times the rate at first place.
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 20,908 before-and-after snapshots of Google's top 10 for 8,742 keywords · Google US search results, September 2025 to September 2026
For a business at the bottom of page one, that spot is on loan: odds are it will be gone within two months unless the page keeps improving. For a business on page two, the same numbers mean an opening appears on most keywords every few weeks. The top three positions are where a ranking starts to hold.
Local service searches change faster than finance and property
What the searcher wants makes little difference. Top 10 results for transactional keywords, where people want to buy or hire, churn 36.8% between snapshots, commercial keywords 36.2%, informational keywords 34.7% and navigational keywords 34.4%.
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 20,908 before-and-after snapshots of Google's top 10 for 8,742 keywords · Google US search results, September 2025 to September 2026
The industry makes more. Personal injury law, moving, plumbing, pest control and home remodeling keywords all churn above 41%, with personal injury law highest at 43.2%. These are crowded local markets where many small firms compete for the same searches and publish new pages often. Real estate (28.4%), insurance (31.3%) and software (31.7%) are the most stable, with large, established websites holding their places.
What this means for businesses
Treat rankings as something you defend, not something you own. Track your main keywords at least monthly. If a page slips from the top five to the bottom of page one, it has entered the zone where most results drop off within weeks, and it needs attention now: fresher content, better internal links from your other pages, or new links from other websites.
If you are on page two, the churn works in your favor. On a typical keyword, three or four page one spots change hands every six to seven weeks, so a steady stream of improvements to one strong page can take one of them. In fast-moving local markets such as legal, moving and home services, expect to fight harder and more often.
A good seo consultant tracks this movement keyword by keyword and tells you which pages to defend and which openings to chase.
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<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/google-top-10-churn-rate">60.4% of Google's Top 10 Results Are Gone Within a Year - Suff Digital</a></p>
Cite this study
Suff Digital. (2026). 60.4% of Google's Top 10 Results Are Gone Within a Year. https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/google-top-10-churn-rate
60.4% of Google's Top 10 Results Are Gone Within a Year - Suff Digital - https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/google-top-10-churn-rate