Google’s AI Overviews put an AI-written answer at the top of the results page, above the classic blue links. For searchers, it is often convenient. For websites, it means fewer clicks, even when you rank first.
Here is what the research shows, which searches are affected, and what to change in how you track and report rankings.
What the data says
Several independent studies point the same way:
- Pew Research Center analysed the browsing of about 900 US adults in March 2025. When a Google search showed an AI summary, people clicked a traditional result in 8% of visits, compared with 15% when there was no summary. Links inside the AI summary itself were clicked in just 1% of visits.
- Ahrefs compared click-through rates for 300,000 keywords. In its first study it found AI Overviews lowered the click-through rate of the top result by about 34.5%. When it re-ran the study with December 2025 data, the drop had grown to 58%. Pages in position 2 lost about half their clicks, and even position 10 lost close to 20%.
Exact numbers vary by study, country and type of search, and Google disputes some of the methods. But the direction is consistent: when an AI Overview appears, fewer people click through to websites.
Which searches are affected
AI Overviews don’t appear on every search. Pew found that longer searches, questions and searches written as full sentences were the most likely to trigger one. Short one- or two-word searches rarely did.
In practice, that means:
- Informational and “how to” searches are hit hardest, because the overview can answer them directly.
- Comparison and “best” searches often show an overview that names brands, which can help or hurt you depending on whether you are named.
- Branded and transactional searches, where people want a specific site or want to buy, are less affected, though not immune.
Why rankings alone no longer tell the story
Before AI Overviews, a stable position meant stable traffic, give or take the season. Now a keyword can hold position 2 while its clicks fall by half, because an overview appeared above it.
If your report only shows positions, you will see “no change” while the client sees traffic falling. To explain what is happening, you need to know, for each keyword:
- Does this keyword show an AI Overview? And has that changed since last month?
- Does the overview mention your brand?
- Does it link to your site? Being one of the cited sources is now a result in its own right.
What to do about it
- Separate your keywords by whether they show an overview. Judge traffic expectations differently for each group.
- Aim to be cited, not just ranked. Clear, direct answers, well-structured pages and strong topical coverage make a page more likely to be used as a source. The same habits help in ChatGPT and Gemini answers too.
- Shift effort toward intent that still clicks. Commercial, local and transactional keywords usually keep more of their clicks. Make sure the right pages rank for them.
- Report visibility, not just position. Include whether you appear in the overview, and track brand mentions in AI answers alongside rankings.
How SERP Tracker does it
Every SERP Tracker check detects whether the results page shows an AI Overview, and whether that overview names your brand or links to your site. You can see which keywords trigger overviews, how that changes over time, and the screenshot of each results page. AI visibility tracking does the same for ChatGPT and Gemini answers.
See AI visibility, or read how to get cited in ChatGPT answers.
Sources: Pew Research Center, Ahrefs, first study, Ahrefs, 2026 update.
