Google’s AI Overviews are reshaping how users interact with search results. New data shows top-ranking positions are now seeing steep declines in click-through rates.
TL;DR: Key Takeaways on AI Overviews and Organic Search
- AI Overviews lower CTR, even for Position 1.
- Google Search Console doesn’t track AIO performance.
- Position 2 often outperforms Position 1 when AIOs are present.
- Being cited in an AIO ≠ traffic.
- Marketers must monitor AIO queries and diversify traffic sources.
AI Overviews Are Replacing Clicks With Summaries
Google’s AI Overviews are generative summaries that appear at the top of some search results, providing quick answers pulled from multiple sources. Designed to streamline the search experience, these summaries reduce the need for users to click through individual links. While helpful for users, this shift is raising alarms among SEOs and content marketers.
Click-through rates (CTR) for traditional organic listings are declining as AI-generated content takes the spotlight. As Google continues to expand this feature, brands must reconsider how they structure and optimize content. Fewer users are scrolling down the page, making it harder to maintain visibility.
👉 Click here to see how Google executives frame AI’s role in CTR and traffic: AI in Search: Google CEO’s Insights and the Real Impact on Web Traffic – nDash.com
What are AI Overviews in Google Search?
AI Overviews are generative summaries created by Google using large language models. They appear at the top of search results, synthesizing answers from multiple sources to give users a quick response without needing to click into individual pages.
AI Overviews are Google’s latest effort to streamline the search experience using generative AI. Instead of presenting users with a traditional list of blue links, Google now compiles a synthesized summary drawn from multiple top-ranking pages. This summary appears prominently at the top of the search engine results page (SERP), often before any organic results, even those in Position 1.
For users, this feature reduces the need to click through to individual pages by providing quick, consolidated answers. For content marketers, however, it represents a fundamental shift in how search visibility and traffic are distributed.
How AI Overviews Work
- Powered by generative AI: Google uses large language models (LLMs) to generate summaries of answers based on multiple sources.
- Triggered on select queries: These typically include complex or multi-part questions where a quick answer is preferred.
- Content is cited: Google includes links to some of the sources used in the overview, but placement is inconsistent and often buried within the summary.
- Appears above organic listings: Even the #1 organic result may be pushed further down the page beneath the AI-generated content.
Why It Matters
- Reduces click-through rates: Users are more likely to read the AI summary and move on, rather than clicking into your site.
- Disrupts traditional SEO strategies: Ranking high may no longer guarantee traffic if the AI pulls and paraphrases your content.
- Makes attribution murky: Even when your content informs the summary, it may not be clearly or prominently credited.
AI Overviews are reducing click-through rates on top-ranking content by showing summarized answers at the top of search results. This shift diminishes organic traffic, makes attribution murky, and offers no performance visibility in Search Console.
Why are SEOs concerned about AI Overviews?
AI Overviews are fundamentally changing how users interact with Google’s search results, and SEOs are taking notice. Traditionally, a top-ranking position meant high visibility and a strong likelihood of clicks.
But with AI Overviews now summarizing answers directly at the top of the page, many users no longer feel the need to scroll down or click through to a source. This shift in behavior is eroding the value of organic rankings and forcing marketers to rethink their search strategies.
Key Reasons SEOs are Concerned
- Decline in CTR for top results: Even content ranked in Position 1 may see a sharp drop in clicks if it’s included in an AI Overview.
- Unclear attribution: Google cites sources inconsistently, which means your content might be used without driving traffic or building brand recognition.
- Limited optimization control: Since you can’t “opt out” of AI Overviews or directly influence how your content is summarized, visibility becomes more complicated to manage.
- No performance data: Without clear metrics in Google Search Console, SEOs can’t accurately measure or respond to the impact.
How Strategies Continue to Change
To adapt, forward-thinking SEOs are investing in:
- LLM optimization: Structuring content so it’s more likely to be accurately cited or featured in AI responses.
- Structured data and schema markup: Enhancing machine readability to improve visibility across AI-driven features.
- Content differentiation: Creating original, experience-driven, or proprietary content that AI models can’t easily replicate.
In short, SEO is no longer just about ranking; it’s about making sure your content stands out within and outside of AI-generated answers.
👉 Click here for strategic insights into how AI is personalizing search and changing SEO: Navigating the ‘For Me’ Era: Strategies for AI-Driven Search Success – nDash.com
The LinkedIn Post That Sparked the Conversation
A LinkedIn post by Mark Barrera, VP of Audience and Content Marketing at TrustRadius, set off a wave of discussion among SEOs and content marketers. In his post, Barrera highlighted a troubling shift in click-through rate (CTR) performance for top-ranking links, mainly when Google’s AI Overviews (AIO) are triggered.
He argued that the presence of AI-generated summaries is cannibalizing traffic from the traditional first organic position, challenging long-held assumptions about the value of ranking at the top of search results.
But the post didn’t just focus on CTR drops; it also shed light on a deeper issue: data transparency. Barrera noted that marketers have no way to see how AI Overviews impact their content because Google Search Console (GSC) doesn’t break out that performance. As AI-powered features become more common, marketers are flying blind.
A Surprising CTR Trend
One of the most eye-opening takeaways from Barrera’s post was the counterintuitive click-through rate (CTR) data tied to AI Overview (AIO) queries. In a reversal of long-established SEO norms, Position 1 no longer holds the clear advantage it once did, at least not when AI Overviews are involved.
Barrera’s analysis revealed that links in Position 1, when included in an AI Overview, now have less than half the CTR of those in Position 2. This finding challenges the foundational assumption that higher rankings always lead to more clicks.
Why This Matters
- Flips traditional SEO logic: Historically, the top organic position received the lion’s share of clicks. That’s no longer guaranteed when AI Overviews are present.
- Suggests user behavior is changing: Users may be skipping over AI summaries, whether due to perceived bias, information overload, or lack of trust, and clicking the next visible organic result.
- Indicates visibility ≠ engagement: Even if your content is technically “featured” in an AI-generated summary, it might not translate into traffic.
A Key Implication for Marketers
Position alone can no longer be your north star. If AI Overviews are suppressing CTR at the very top of the SERP, your SEO strategy must consider where and how your content appears, not just if it ranks well.
The Real Issue: No GSC Transparency
While declining click-through rates are a visible red flag, an even bigger issue lies beneath the surface: the lack of transparency in Google Search Console (GSC). Currently, GSC does not differentiate between impressions and clicks that come from AI Overviews and those from traditional organic listings. For marketers trying to understand why performance is dropping, this is a major blind spot.
Without segmented performance data for AI Overviews, marketers can’t determine whether traffic losses are due to generative summaries, algorithm shifts, or unrelated user behavior. This limits optimization, testing, and ROI analysis.
Why does the lack of Google Search Console data on AI Overviews matter?
- No way to isolate impact: Marketers can’t tell if traffic drops are due to AI Overviews or other changes in the SERP.
- Impossible to A/B test: Without segmented performance data, testing content formats or messaging for AIO-triggered queries becomes guesswork.
- Limits optimization efforts: SEOs can’t refine content strategy for AI Overview inclusion or exclusion without understanding how their content is used.
- Hinders ROI analysis: When AI Overviews alter how users engage with your content, it affects everything from campaign performance to content budgeting.
What It Means for Content Teams
You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Until Google provides more precise performance data for AI Overviews in Search Console, marketers are flying blind, unable to defend, adapt, or fully optimize their content strategies in response to one of the biggest changes in search behavior in over a decade.
A Look at the Data: Position 2 Beats Position 1
Alongside his LinkedIn post, Barrera shared a striking chart that visually captured a major shift in user behavior on AI Overview (AIO) keywords. The standout detail? Position 2 outperformed Position 1 in click-through rate (CTR), a pattern that flips the long-established norms of search behavior.
The chart paints a clear picture: when an AI Overview appears, the traditional top organic result may no longer be the most clicked. Instead, users are skipping the AI summary box and clicking the next visible organic listing, which is often Position 2. The implications are profound for marketers who’ve long optimized for that coveted #1 spot.
Key Metrics: More Impressions, Fewer Clicks
In most SEO reports, a rise in impressions and an improvement in average ranking would be celebrated as a sign of success. But in the case highlighted by Barrera, the opposite happened, raising serious concerns for content marketers.
The analyzed page saw an 87.8% year-over-year increase in impressions and a better average search position, yet clicks dropped by 32.8%, resulting in a CTR of just 0.3%. This mirrors a broader trend across Google Search. According to Search Engine Land, U.S. organic clicks have fallen from 44.2% in March 2024 to 40.3% in March 2025, while zero-click searches have risen from 24.4% to 27.2%. In the EU/UK, organic clicks dropped from 47.1% to 43.5%, with zero-clicks climbing from 23.6% to 26.1%.
These numbers don’t add up unless you consider the growing influence of AI Overviews and Google’s other on-SERP features, which keep users from clicking through to external sites.
What the Metrics Reveal
- As more people view the listing, the page appears in more searches and ranks higher than before.
- Despite increased exposure, fewer people are clicking, and engagement is plummeting.
- CTR is alarmingly low, at 0.3%, which is far below typical benchmarks for high-ranking content.
The Likely Explanation
AI Overviews are pulling attention and clicks away from organic listings. When Google serves a generative summary at the top of the page, users may feel they’ve already gotten the answer they need, reducing the incentive to click through.
Why This Matters to Marketers
This trend breaks the traditional correlation between ranking and results. You can do everything “right,” optimize, rank well, and get visibility, yet still lose traffic if AI Overviews dominate the SERP. Without adapting to this new reality, performance reporting may become misleading and strategic decisions misinformed.
Position-by-Position CTR Breakdown
In Barrera’s analysis, the most telling insight came from a side-by-side comparison of click-through rates by search position. Traditionally, the top spot in Google’s organic results has delivered the highest CTR by far. But for queries that trigger AI Overviews, that pattern appears to be reversing.
Here’s the key data from the chart:
- Position 1 CTR: 2.51%
- Position 2 CTR: 5.76%
- Position 3 CTR: 1.83%
- Position 4 CTR: 2.24%
- Position 5 CTR: 1.94%
- Position 6+: Drops below 1%, some as low as 0.17%
What Makes This Significant
- Position 2 outperforms Position 1 by more than 2x, a highly unusual pattern in search behavior.
- This trend only appears on AI Overview-triggered queries, suggesting a direct correlation between AIO presence and suppressed engagement at the top of the page.
- Positions three to five show typical performance, reinforcing that the anomaly is tied to Position 1’s inclusion in the AI-generated box.
Why This Should Raise Red Flags
- If your content is ranking in Position 1 and included in an AI Overview, you may be at a disadvantage.
- Users are skipping the AI Overview (and its cited source) and clicking the first traditional organic listing they see, usually Position 2.
For content marketers, this underscores the need to rethink what “ranking #1” means in an AI-enhanced search environment. Visibility without engagement isn’t enough; in some cases, it may even be actively hurting performance.
What the Chart Reveals
Beyond the raw CTR numbers, the chart offers a deeper glimpse into shifting user behavior and how AI-generated elements are reshaping engagement patterns on the SERP. The stark performance gap between Position 1 and Position 2 isn’t just an outlier; it’s an indication that users are developing new habits in response to AI Overviews.
Behavioral Shifts the Data Suggests
- Users may be scanning past the AI Overview entirely, either due to a lack of trust, information overload, or banner blindness to AI content.
- Click intent is gravitating toward the first “real” organic listing, which often appears beneath the AIO summary.
- The traditional F-pattern scanning behavior, where users focus on top-left content, may be evolving to bypass AI-generated blocks entirely.
Strategic Insight for Content Teams
- The content you worked hard to rank at the top may still be seen, but not chosen.
- Being cited in an AI Overview doesn’t guarantee meaningful interaction, especially if your link is one of several buried in a dense summary.
- The new battleground is user trust and perceived authenticity. Content that looks like a traditional organic result may now carry more weight than a mention inside an algorithm-generated summary.
Marketers now need to track not just where content appears in search, but how it looks, because visual layout can shape whether users engage or scroll past. The visual context matters more than ever.
Why Google Might Be Withholding AI Overviews Data
Google’s decision not to include AI Overviews (AIO) performance metrics in Search Console isn’t just an oversight; it may be intentional.
As AI Overviews begin to disrupt user behavior and chip away at click-through rates, many marketers are left in the dark about just how much impact these summaries have on their organic traffic.
Without visibility into how often their content is pulled into an AIO or how that affects impressions and clicks, SEOs can’t evaluate, test, or respond. The lack of transparency benefits one party: Google.
AIO Data Could Undermine Trust
One of the biggest concerns among content marketers is the possibility that Google is deliberately withholding AI Overview (AIO) performance data because complete transparency could damage its credibility with the publisher community. If marketers had clear visibility into how AI Overviews affect impressions, clicks, and user behavior, the backlash could be swift and significant, especially from brands investing heavily in content strategy.
By not reporting separate metrics for AIOs in Google Search Console, Google shields itself from questions about how these summaries may be cannibalizing traffic from top-ranking content. For content teams already grappling with declining organic reach, this opacity raises serious questions about Google’s true priorities.
Why Transparency Could Be Risky for Google
- Exposes negative performance impact: If CTRs for Position 1 content drop sharply when included in AIOs, publishers might pull back on content investments.
- Raises publisher resistance: Data showing traffic erosion could fuel industry pressure to opt out or limit inclusion in AI-generated summaries.
- Highlights imbalance of value: Brands supply the content that trains and powers AIOs, but often receive little traffic or visibility in return.
Potential Repercussions
- Marketers may demand opt-out mechanisms for AIO participation.
- Publishers might shift efforts toward platforms with clearer attribution and ROI.
- The trust gap between Google and the content community could widen, undermining future collaboration on open web initiatives.
If AIOs help users but reduce traffic and visibility for the content creators behind them without offering clarity or compensation, that’s a serious concern. In that case, content marketers will begin to view them not as innovation but as exploitation.
No Way to Track or Optimize
One of the most frustrating realities for content marketers right now is the complete lack of visibility into how AI Overviews (AIOs) impact performance. Google Search Console (GSC), the primary tool marketers rely on to track organic traffic, doesn’t distinguish between clicks or impressions from traditional listings and those generated by AIOs. This creates a massive blind spot in performance analysis, rendering A/B testing and strategic adjustments nearly impossible.
Marketers are expected to optimize content in a SERP environment that’s constantly changing. Yet they’re missing critical data points that would inform those decisions. Without knowing when their content is included in an AI Overview or how that inclusion affects engagement, they’re essentially flying blind.
Key Limitations Without AIO-Specific Data
- No segmentation: You can’t isolate performance for queries that trigger AIOs vs. those that don’t.
- No visibility into inclusion: You can’t tell if your content is cited, how prominently it appears, or whether it’s clickable in the summary.
- No attribution clarity: If traffic drops, you can’t confirm whether it’s due to AIOs, algorithm shifts, or unrelated factors.
- No optimization feedback loop: Without performance data, testing strategies for AIO visibility or exclusion become guesswork.
Strategic Consequences
- Your content roadmap may prioritize the wrong topics or formats.
- Your ROI analysis may be skewed by missing insights.
- Your SEO reporting may appear inaccurate or incomplete to stakeholders.
In short, the absence of AIO data isn’t just inconvenient, it undermines the core mechanics of strategic content marketing. Until Google provides better tools and reporting, marketers will struggle to make informed decisions post-AIO.
👉 Click here to explore why transparency in AI-powered content delivery matters: Consumer Demand for AI Transparency in Content Marketing – nDash.com
What Content Marketers and SEOs Can Do Now
AI Overviews are changing the rules of engagement, but that doesn’t mean content marketers are powerless. While we can’t control when or how Google displays generative summaries, we can take steps to mitigate the impact on traffic and visibility.
The key is to be more strategic about which queries to target. You should also diversify how audiences find your content and publish material AI can’t easily summarize or replicate.
Identify AIO-Triggered Queries
Before you can respond to the impact of AI Overviews, you need to know when and where they’re showing up. That starts with identifying which of your target keywords consistently trigger AI Overviews in Google’s search results. Fortunately, some tools can help you do just that.
Using SERP feature tracking tools like Semrush, STAT, or Ahrefs helps you monitor changes in search, including when generative summaries appear and how they might affect your rankings. This proactive monitoring allows you to flag high-priority queries where traditional click-through performance may be declining due to AI-generated content.
Actionable Steps
- Run regular SERP audits: Use tools that track SERP features to scan your keyword set for AIO presence.
- Tag or group keywords: Segment your tracked keywords into two groups, those with AIOs and those without, to identify performance trends over time.
- Compare engagement metrics: Watch for CTR dips on AIO-impacted keywords, even if ranking and impressions remain stable.
- Refine reporting: Include AIO status in internal dashboards or performance reports to give stakeholders clearer context for traffic changes.
Why This Matters
- Helps you prioritize content updates for keywords with weakened organic visibility.
- Enables you to identify early warning signs of traffic erosion before it escalates into a larger issue.
- Enables more accurate forecasting and expectation-setting with leadership or clients.
Knowing which queries trigger AI Overviews gives you a clearer lens for evaluating performance. It also helps you decide where to invest time and resources.
Diversify Traffic Sources
With AI Overviews changing how users search and reducing organic click-through rates, Google can no longer be your only visibility channel. You need multiple traffic sources. While search will always play a role in content discovery, it should no longer be your only pipeline for traffic.
To build long-term resilience, content marketing managers must actively invest in owned, earned, and alternative traffic channels. These channels aren’t susceptible to sudden changes in the SERP.
Diversifying your traffic sources creates a more stable and controllable ecosystem for content performance. This ensures it doesn’t rise or fall based on Google’s algorithm or feature rollouts.
Key Channels to Invest In
- Email marketing: Build a direct relationship with your audience through newsletters, drip campaigns, and subscriber-exclusive content. This allows you to reach users without an algorithm acting as a gatekeeper.
- Social media distribution: Use LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, or Threads to distribute content, spark conversations, and generate engagement in more visible, community-driven environments.
- Strategic partnerships and syndication: Collaborate with complementary brands, thought leaders, or industry publications to expand reach and build referral traffic. Guest posts, co-branded content, and cross-promotions can drive qualified visitors from outside search.
- Community platforms and niche forums: Tap into platforms like Reddit, Quora, Slack groups, or Discord servers relevant to your industry for authentic, word-of-mouth-driven exposure.
Why It Matters
- Protects your content strategy from Google volatility
- Creates multiple touchpoints for user engagement
- Builds a more loyal, retargetable audience
- Enhances brand equity and reach beyond SEO
When AI-generated summaries dominate the top of the search page, investing in diverse traffic channels isn’t optional. It’s essential for sustainable growth.
Create Content AIO Can’t Replace
As AI Overviews become more prevalent, generic or surface-level content faces a growing risk of being paraphrased. It can also be absorbed into Google’s generative summaries. This often happens without driving traffic back to your site. The best way to defend your visibility and authority is to publish content AI can’t easily replicate or summarize. Focus on original, opinionated, and experience-driven work.
High-Value Formats That Resist AI Replication
- Original research and proprietary data: Conduct surveys, analyze industry trends, or publish benchmark reports. AI can’t fake first-party data, making your content a go-to reference point.
- Strong points of view (POVs): Share expert takes, hot-button opinions, or nuanced commentary on industry topics. Subjective analysis, especially when tied to your brand’s values or voice, is complex for AI to mimic credibly.
- First-hand experience and case-based storytelling: Publish case studies, behind-the-scenes processes, or personal success stories. These narratives showcase real-world applications and build trust with readers.
- Interviews and expert quotes: Incorporating diverse voices from SMEs to industry leaders adds credibility and context that AI can’t manufacture.
Why It Works
- Strengthens your brand’s authority as a trusted source
- Improves chances of citation in both AI summaries and traditional media
- Encourages deeper engagement through storytelling and insight
- Builds long-term SEO value as reference-worthy content
In short, focus your content efforts where AI can’t follow. The more irreplaceable your voice and value become, the less vulnerable you are to shifts in search.
The Growing Need for Transparency in Search
As AI Overviews change how people search, the lack of transparency around their impact is becoming a critical concern. Content marketers and SEOs need precise data to understand how AI-generated summaries affect visibility, clicks, and overall performance.
Without it, strategy becomes guesswork. Google’s continued silence on AIO metrics in Search Console leaves publishers at a disadvantage, unable to respond or adapt effectively. Generative search is becoming more prominent. Marketers must push for better insights and clearer reporting. They should also foster a shared commitment to transparency in how content is surfaced and measured.
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