Are Fewer Clicks Inevitable? Why AI Overviews Reduce Search Traffic and What to Do

Searches with AI Overviews have lower click rates

In Pew's study, searches with AI summaries produced fewer clicks on traditional results and a higher share of browsing sessions ending after search. The differences were as follows. (Pew Research Center)

Action after searching	AI summary present	AI summary absent
Click on a traditional result	8%	15%
Click on a source inside the summary	1%	Not applicable
End the browsing session	26%	16%

Source links inside summaries received clicks on just 1% of searches with a summary. Inclusion as a source therefore produced relatively few direct source-link clicks in this sample. (Pew Research Center)

The dataset contained roughly 69,000 Google searches from March 2025 browsing histories. Researchers retrieved search results again on April 7–17. The 8% and 15% figures compare searches with different summary status. Pew defined a session ending as leaving the browser for at least five seconds; the reasons for leaving remain unknown. (Pew study methodology)

Japan saw top-result CTR fall 62.7% below the modeled rate

Ahrefs measured a 9.0% CTR for the top organic result on informational queries with AI Overviews in Japan in June 2026. Its model estimated a 24.1% CTR had AI Overviews been absent. The observed rate was 62.7% lower than that estimate. (Ahrefs Japan study)

Top-result CTR	Informational queries in Japan
Modeled rate without AI Overviews	24.1%
Observed rate with AI Overviews	9.0%
Relative shortfall against the model	62.7%

The model applied the subsequent CTR trend for queries without AI Overviews to the June 2024 CTR for queries with them. The 24.1% figure is a modeled estimate, and 62.7% describes the observed shortfall relative to that estimate.

Forecasting traffic from rankings alone can miss this change. Use your pages' current impressions and CTR, and check whether AI Overviews appear for the queries that matter to your business.

58% of participants encountered an AI summary within a month

In Pew's sample, 58% of the 900 US adults made at least one Google search that produced an AI summary during the month. Summaries appeared on 18% of the searches in the dataset. (Pew Research Center)

An 18% share of searches still reached more than half the participants over a month. The two percentages use different denominators: people and searches. Both describe this US sample from 2025.

Summary frequency also varied by query format. It was 8% for searches containing one or two words, 53% for searches with ten or more words, and 60% for searches beginning with a question word. (Pew query analysis)

For explainers and how-to articles, inspect the answer shown for the target query. Check whether your page provides detailed conditions, test results, or examples that give someone a reason to read further.

Brands cited in AI Overviews also earn more clicks

When an AI Overview appears, cited brands earn more organic clicks per impression than uncited brands in Seer Interactive's research. The following comparison comes from its April 2026 report and covers informational queries across the full year of 2025. (Seer Interactive)

The table groups the tracked brands' search data by whether an AI Overview appears for the query. Queries with an AI Overview are further classified by whether it cites the tracked brand's site. Each group's CTR is its total organic clicks divided by its total organic impressions. (Seer methodology)

Query group	Organic CTR for the tracked brands
Queries without an AI Overview	3.35%
Queries with an AI Overview citing the brand's site	2.07%
Queries with an AI Overview that leaves the brand's site uncited	0.94%

Within queries with AI Overviews, the cited group's 2.07% CTR was about 120% higher than the uncited group's 0.94%. Queries without AI Overviews had the highest rate at 3.35%. Being cited is associated with more clicks when an AI Overview appears, while queries without one perform better in this comparison. Organic CTR measures clicks on unpaid search results. Clicks specifically on links inside the summary are a separate measure. (Seer citation comparison)

The groups contain different queries and brands. Researchers also applied AI Overview and citation labels from the latest search results retrospectively to the historical data. This compares query groups, rather than testing the same page before and after an AI Overview appears. The table includes organic positions beyond first place, so its rates are also unsuitable for direct comparison with the earlier Ahrefs top-result figures. (Seer comparison methodology)

The wider study covered 53 brands and about 5.47 million queries, with observed data from January 2025 through February 2026. One account with a 0.20% CTR represented 47% of the uncited segment's impressions. Removing that account brought the uncited CTR to approximately 1.61%. This concentration materially affects the reported 120% difference. (Seer methodology and limitations)

The finding supports tracking citation status alongside search traffic. Its observational design establishes an association between citations and CTR; isolating the effect of a citation requires further testing. Record the queries and pages cited, then compare changes in clicks, purchases, and inquiries.

Check rankings and AI Overview visibility when clicks fall

In Search Console, compare periods for the same page and query. Check impressions, average position, clicks, and CTR. Keep country and device filters consistent to understand changes within the same audience.

Measure	What to investigate
Impressions	Search demand and query changes when impressions fall
Average position	Competing results and their content when position falls
Clicks and CTR	AI Overviews, ads, and other result features when CTR falls despite stable position
Generative AI impressions	Whether links to your page appear in AI search features
Purchases and inquiries	The business impact of lost traffic

Google says its generative AI performance report became available worldwide on August 31, 2026. It records how often links to your site appear to users in AI Overviews and AI Mode, with breakdowns by page, country, date, and device. (Search Console Help)

The report covers AI Overviews and AI Mode together. Its documented breakdowns are page, country, date, and device. Identifying which queries produced citations specifically in AI Overviews requires checking the search results; clicks remain part of the broader Search results report. (Search Console Help)

Clicks from AI features contribute to the Web data in Search Console's Search results performance report. That report and the generative AI impression report cover different scopes, which matters when comparing their figures. (Google AI features guide)

When position holds steady, CTR falls, and generative AI impressions rise, inspect the AI Overview for your main queries. Record the query, date, country, device, and cited URLs so that later checks can reveal changes.

Make informational pages worth citing

For informational content, add being cited in AI Overviews to the goals you already track for search clicks. Put the answer readers need on the page, along with evidence they can verify.

Google says established SEO practices also apply to AI features. Eligibility as a supporting link requires a page to be indexed, meaning included in Google's searchable collection, and eligible to display a snippet in search results. (Google AI features guide)

Use these checks to improve answers, evidence, comparison criteria, and original information.

Content check	What to improve
Answer to the question	State the answer immediately below the heading and explain its conditions
Numbers	Identify the researcher, sample, period, and meaning of the figure
Evidence	Link to primary sources close to the claim
Comparisons	Use consistent criteria and measurement conditions
Pricing and specifications	Check official information and state when it was verified
Original information	Explain your own data or test results and how they were obtained
Indexing and readable content	Check indexing in Search Console and present essential content as text

A pricing comparison, for example, needs more than a price. Include tax treatment, contract length, additional fees, and the verification date. Those details let readers compare offers on equal terms and verify the answer.

Google also recommends presenting important information as text and allowing crawling. Address the problem found in each page: add missing evidence to unsupported claims, or investigate indexing and access restrictions when the page is absent from search. (Google AI features guide)

Some searches still lead to clicks

AI Overview frequency varies with search intent. In Seer's February 2026 query analysis, AI Overviews appeared on 4.9% of transactional searches, such as those involving purchases or bookings. (Seer search intent analysis)

An informational search can end with the answer shown on Google. Purchasing, signing up, making an inquiry, or using a tool often still requires a visit to a website. Identify the intent behind lost clicks and assess each page according to the role it serves.

For an explainer, track clicks, citations, and visits to related service pages. For a sales or inquiry page, compare search clicks with completed purchases and inquiries. Review content and navigation where the traffic change has the largest business impact.

Evaluate SEO through clicks and citations

AI Overview research shows that holding a ranking can still leave a page with fewer clicks. When search traffic falls, check position, CTR, generative AI impressions, and citations to identify where behavior has changed.

For informational articles, becoming a source that supports an AI answer is another outcome to track. Provide direct answers, numerical context, primary sources, and original evidence. Evaluate changes through both clicks and citations.

Please Cite Me! audits a public URL to check whether AI search can access the page, understand its content, and verify claims using evidence worth citing.

Audit an article losing search clicks and check the specificity of its answers and gaps in its evidence!

Audit a page with Please Cite Me! →