How are AI Overviews Impacting Organic Traffic?

We are starting to see a fundamental shift in how users consume information on Google due to the rollout of AI Overviews (AIOs). Users can now obtain information directly in search results, even for complex queries, impacting organic traffic for some clients.

To understand the broader impact, we analyzed 16 months of Google Search Console data from 57 domains across various industries, totaling 71 million clicks and 1.5 billion impressions, and compared it to AIO trend data for all those domains using Semrush data. By using a wide spread of domains the data should smooth out any anomalous domains where AIOs have had a stronger or weaker impact than “normal”. Ultimately this should give us a good idea of how impactful AIOs currently are.

Initial Observations: The data strongly indicates a correlation between the increasing rollout and prominence of AI Overviews in Google search results and a decline in key website performance metrics, specifically clicks and click through rate (CTR). 

Clicks vs AI Overviews

When looking at the relationship between clicks and AI Overviews, there seems to be a clear trend. As AIOs have become more common, clicks to websites have dropped. Before the initial introduction of AIOs around September/October 2024, clicks were pretty steady. AIOs are apparently doing a good job of giving people the info they need right there in the search results, meaning fewer clicks to websites. Clicks have dropped 23% from January to April this year alone.

Impressions vs AI Overviews

To begin with, impressions looked to take a small drop as AIOs were initially rolled out. We only saw impressions increase in line with the very strong growth of AIOs from February to March. The reason for the growth in impressions is mainly due to the way GSC records AIO performance. An AIO at the top of the search results is considered a position 1 ranking and all of the pages cited within it are also assigned this same ranking.

Click Through Rate vs AI Overviews

There's a clear negative link between click-through rate (CTR) and the growth of AI Overviews. CTR was already dropping from late 2024, but this really sped up between January and April 2025, just as AIOs became more commonplace. This shows that even when websites are showing up in searches (impressions), people are less likely to click through when AIOs are providing the answers the user needs. The click-through rate has dropped 32% since peaking.

Average Ranking Position vs AI Overviews

The average position remained relatively stable, showing a slight improvement towards the end of 2024 and into early 2025, but worsened (increased) as AIOs surged, from March 2025. This may indicate AIOs pushing organic listings lower or that queries triggering AIOs are those where these sites previously ranked higher.

Summary

The data indicates a significant impact of Google's AI Overview rollout on website performance. The increasing presence of AIOs correlates with a 23% decrease in clicks since January, an increase in overall impressions (as AIOs become prevalent), a substantial CTR drop from 3% to 2.3%, and a stable average search position.

This suggests that AI Overviews are intercepting user journeys that previously led to website visits, posing a considerable challenge for website owners and content creators relying on organic search traffic. This pattern also suggests users are finding answers directly in AI Overviews rather than clicking through to your content - the rise of zero-click search and a fundamental shift in search behaviour.

Measuring Organic Performance in an AI Overview Era 

Moving forward, SEOs and website owners need to identify appropriate metrics to demonstrate the positive impact of their actions on organic performance. Ultimately users who are looking to take some action beyond finding information will need to land on the website to convert. We also believe that as users are able to evaluate their options before landing on a website they should be warmer leads when they finally do come to the site. 

What is important to note is that we are still in early days, AIOs are likely to roll out further, encompassing more types of queries and more tailored AIO results. We have already seen testing of recipe AIOs and AIOs in PAA results. AIOs have also just been deployed to 200 countries in over 40 languages. In addition to all this change, Google has released AI Mode in the US which is potentially going to impact even further how users interact with search. 

Image provided on Unsplash by Shutter Speed.