The transient viscosities of sterically stabilized alumina suspensions with different degrees of aggregation were measured at low viscous flows in a Couette viscometer. The well‐dispersed suspensions showed an increase in viscosity under a constant applied shear while the flocculated suspensions showed just the opposite behaviour. The drifts in the viscosity of the well‐dispersed suspensions show strong features of shear‐induced particle migration. However, experimental observations strongly indicate that the observed viscosity profiles of these suspensions are resultant of the competitive processes of shear‐induced particle migration and shear rejuvenation. The drifts in viscosity of the well‐dispersed suspension could be correlated to the degree of aggregation present in the suspension. On the other hand, the viscosity profiles of the flocculated suspensions showed characteristic shear rejuvenation behaviour. © 2016 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.