Google's AI Overviews Cut Top Search Result Clicks by 58%

A recent analysis by digital marketing agency Gravitate, combining data from Ahrefs, Pew Research Center, SparkToro, Gartner, and Press Gazette/Chartbeat, shows a dramatic decline in website traffic despite high organic search rankings. Google's new AI Overviews are accelerating a long-term trend away from traditional click-through traffic to the open web Source.

The Rise of Zero-Click Searches

Google is processing more searches than ever, but an increasing percentage of these searches are concluding directly on Google's platform. This means less traffic is being driven to external websites. The data indicates that open web traffic is currently at its lowest point in a decade Source.

A 2026 study by SparkToro and Similarweb found that 68% of all Google searches in the U.S. end without a click, a nearly 7 percentage point increase in just two years. This is up from an estimated 45% a decade ago. For every 1,000 searches, fewer than 320 now lead to the external web Source.

This 'zero-click' behavior existed before the AI era. A 2024 SparkToro study based on Datos clickstream panel data showed 58.5% of U.S. Google searches ended without a click. Users were finding answers or continuing their search directly on the Google results page. AI Overviews didn't create zero-click behavior, but they have significantly accelerated it Source.

AI Overviews' Impact on Click-Through Rates

As AI Overviews become more prevalent, the impact on click-through rates (CTR) is becoming clearer. An Ahrefs study of 300,000 keywords from February (based on December 2025 data) found that AI Overviews correlate with a 58% lower click-through rate for the first-ranking search result. This is nearly double the 34.5% drop observed in April 2025, indicating the effect is worsening as AI results integrate into more queries Source.

Pew Research Center's March 2025 study, which tracked 68,879 Google searches by 900 U.S. adults, found similar results. For queries with an AI Overview, only 8% of search sessions resulted in a user clicking a traditional link, compared to 15% for searches without an AI Overview. This represents about a 47% drop in the chance of a click Source. Significantly, only 1% of all clicks went to URLs embedded within the AI Overview itself.

Declining Publisher Referral Traffic

The impact extends to publisher referral traffic. Data from Press Gazette, Chartbeat, and the Society of News Editors shows that referrals via Google search globally dropped by approximately 33% in 2025, with a 38% drop in the U.S. Major publishers like Business Insider, Forbes, and HuffPost experienced referral traffic losses of 50-55% Source. This trend highlights Google's strategy to satisfy more search queries directly within its ecosystem, reducing the need for users to navigate to external sites.

Differentiating Between AI Impact and Algorithm Updates

It's crucial for businesses to distinguish between traffic drops caused by AI Overviews and those resulting from Google algorithm updates. While AI Overviews suppress clicks, they don't necessarily remove a page's ranking. In contrast, Google's March 2024 core update reduced what it considered