Improving CTR reliably raises traffic from your existing positions but should not be treated as a lever to raise rankings, because CTR’s role as a direct ranking factor is unconfirmed and, if it exists at all, likely minor or contextual. The honest verdict is traffic-yes, rankings-unproven. A better title and snippet earn more clicks from the same spot in the results, and that traffic gain is immediate and real. Whether those extra clicks then push the page higher is the part the evidence does not establish.
The mechanics of the traffic side are not in dispute. Position determines how often your result is seen, but the title and snippet determine how often it is chosen, so sharpening them converts more of your existing impressions into visits without your rank changing at all. That alone is a strong reason to optimize, because you are capturing demand that was already there. None of this depends on any ranking effect, which is what makes it the dependable half of the answer.
The rankings side is where caution belongs. Google has used aggregated click behavior in evaluation and ranking systems, and patents and statements over the years have kept the topic alive, but a clean, reliable “raise CTR to climb” mechanism has never been confirmed and is widely thought to be noisy, easily gamed, and at most a minor or query-dependent signal. This is a genuinely contested area worth confirming against current documentation, since the prevailing understanding shifts as Google clarifies and as testing accumulates. Treating CTR as a ranking dial is acting on a maybe.
Improve CTR for the traffic it directly earns, not as a ranking play. Write titles and snippets that win the click so you convert more of the visibility you already have, and judge the work by the visits it produces from your current positions. If rankings move too, take it as a bonus rather than the plan, and keep an eye on Google’s current guidance, because this is one of the more volatile claims in SEO.