Is Google’s AI Eating Your Website Traffic? Understanding the Impact of AI Summaries on Clicks
Jul 3, 2025 – Tobias Steinemann
In recent months, website owners and SEO professionals have noticed a significant change in how Google displays search results. With the introduction of AI-generated summaries, also known as AI Overviews, Google is directly answering user queries at the top of the search results page. While this improves the user experience, it raises an uncomfortable question for publishers: what happens to your website traffic when Google gives the answer before users even click? This article explores the measurable impact of Google’s AI summaries on website clicks and what it means for your content strategy going forward.
The figures: Falling click rates
Several studies have analysed the effect of AI overviews on website traffic. The results are clear: organic clicks are falling.
Ahrefs found that the click-through rate on the first organic search result dropped by 34.5% when AI Overviews were displayed. Amsive reported an average drop of 15.5%, almost 20% for non-brand related keywords, in some cases even up to 37%, especially in combination with featured snippets. Other analyses show declines of up to 60 % or more for high-volume search queries (Forbes).
These figures illustrate a structural change: users receive their answers directly from Google's AI without having to visit external websites.
Why are clicks falling?
The reason for this decline is clear. For many search queries, Google's AI Overviews now appear at the top of the search results, often before adverts and organic links. This prominent placement, combined with a compact and sufficient answer for many search queries, immediately satisfies user needs.
Informative, non-brand-related search queries are the most affected, as users no longer need to click on publisher pages for definitions, explanations or quick facts. On the other hand, brand-related or commercial searches and other queries with a deeper need for information remain stable - in some cases the click rates even increase slightly (Amsive). That makes sense. After all, Google AI cannot yet deliver sneakers or make restaurant reservations.
Zero-click searches are on the rise
AI Overviews are reinforcing an existing trend: zero-click searches, where users receive their answer directly on the results page and no longer visit a website. Current data shows that almost 60% of search queries now end without a click (LinkedIn-Analysis).
For content publishers who rely heavily on informative search traffic, this development can have a significant impact on revenue and reach, especially if their monetisation is based on page views and ad impressions.
But even in industries that use content to build trust in expertise as part of their acquisition strategy, this is a worrying development. This is because content is no longer recognisably linked to the authoring expert.
How you can continue to build visibility and create connections
Although this change may seem unsettling at first, it does not mean the end of organic search traffic. Rather, it signals that website owners need to adapt their strategies to stay visible and relevant:
1. Optimise for AI overviews
Structure content so that it answers questions clearly and authoritatively. There are ways to increase the chance of a recognisable mention in AI overviews or featured snippets. For example, use schema markup and structured data. This will keep you visible even if users don't click directly on your page.
2. Create unique, in-depth content
Offer added value that AI cannot deliver: exclusive data analyses, studies, tools, opinion pieces or interactive content. Users visit websites when they find insights that go beyond general information.
3. More recognition, more character
Gaining visibility has therefore become more difficult. This makes it all the more important for a presence to be remembered. Branding will become more important again. Create a recognisable brand. For many, this is a problem at the beginning: they don't want to exclude any target groups. However, the reality is that people and brands that are bold and show character can build stronger communities.
4. ‘Own Your Content’ and direct target group engagement
As sole dependence on Google is risky, brands should rely on channels that they control themselves:
- Email newsletters with curated content to strengthen the relationship.
- Podcasts and webinars to demonstrate expertise and build trust.
- Storytelling on social media, especially on LinkedIn, Instagram or TikTok, to increase reach and brand awareness.
5. Prioritise mid- and bottom-funnel content
Search queries with commercial intent (e.g. ‘best law firm for...’) are more likely to result in clicks. Develop content that addresses these specific needs and can lead directly to leads or conversions.
6. Strengthen community and reputation
Build digital communities, e.g. via closed groups, forums or platforms. At the same time, it is important to consolidate your brand reputation via PR, collaborations and thought leadership so that users trust your brand when it appears in AI overviews.
PR strategies help law firms to position themselves professionally - credibly, relevant and legally compliant.
Your Way Forward
Google argues that although there are fewer clicks overall, the users who do click act more consciously and are more likely to convert (BrightEdge). Whether this compensates for the decline in overall volume remains questionable, however. It is equally unclear how the many content creators will react to this development and what this will mean for publicly accessible content in the future. Google and the other AI tools would do well to continue incentivising content creators to generate content. After all, this content is the fodder for their artificial intelligence...
Nevertheless, AI overviews are here to stay. The question is not whether traffic will change - that is already a reality - but how you develop your content and brand strategy to remain visible and relevant in an AI-first search world.