Is AI Search Stealing Your Website Traffic? What the 2025-2026 Click Data Shows

AI search is taking clicks, but not evenly. Pew Research found people clicked a result on 8% of Google visits with an AI summary, versus 15% without one. The losses fall mostly on informational questions. Searches with buying or local intent still send clicks, so small businesses should measure leads, not raw traffic.

Key takeaways

• Independent studies from Pew, Ahrefs and Seer Interactive show click-through rates drop sharply when an AI Overview appears, often by half or more.
• Informational queries take the biggest hit. Local and commercial searches, where Google still shows local packs and ads, hold up much better.
• Track calls, form fills, booked jobs and AI visibility in Search Console and GA4, not just sessions.

What does the click data actually show?

The best independent data points the same way. When Google shows an AI summary, fewer people click a website. Pew measured real browsing, Ahrefs and Seer measured click-through rates, and Similarweb tracked zero-click news searches. The size of the drop varies, but every study found one.

Here is what each study found, in plain terms.

• Pew Research Center (July 2025). Pew tracked the real browsing of 900 U.S. adults in March 2025. Users clicked a regular search result on 8% of visits that had an AI summary, compared with 15% without one. They clicked a link inside the summary only about 1% of the time. Visits with a summary also ended the browsing session more often: 26% versus 16%.
• Ahrefs (February 2026). Ahrefs studied 300,000 keywords and found the top-ranked result's click-through rate was about 58% lower than expected when an AI Overview appeared. An earlier Ahrefs study in April 2025 had put the drop at 34.5%, so the effect appears to be growing.
• Seer Interactive (September 2025). Across 3,119 informational queries, organic click-through rate on queries with an AI Overview fell 61%, from 1.76% to 0.61%, between June 2024 and September 2025. Paid ad click-through on those queries fell 68%.
• Similarweb (2025). As reported by Press Gazette, zero-click news searches on Google rose from 56% to almost 69% in the year after AI Overviews launched in May 2024.

Google disputes the size of the damage. Its head of Search, Liz Reid, wrote in August 2025 that total organic clicks from Google have held roughly steady year over year and that click quality has gone up. Google also called Pew's method flawed and its query set skewed. Both things can be true: total clicks across the web may hold steady while clicks shift away from some kinds of pages and toward others.

Which searches lose clicks and which ones keep them?

Questions that can be answered in a paragraph lose the most clicks. Searches for a service, a price, a provider nearby, or a brand keep far more, because Google still shows local packs, ads and business listings there. Your risk depends on which of those searches your website was built to win.

Pew found AI summaries showed up on 60% of searches phrased as questions and 53% of searches with ten or more words, but only 8% of one- or two-word searches. Semrush found that informational keywords made up 91% of AI Overview triggers in January 2025. That share fell to 57% by October 2025 as Google added more commercial and transactional searches, so the picture is shifting.

Local searches are a different story. In a 2025 Whitespark study of 540 local queries, plain local-intent searches like "personal injury lawyers in Phoenix" showed an AI Overview only 15% of the time but a local pack 93% of the time. Informational local questions, such as what a lawyer costs in that city, showed an AI Overview 92% of the time.

If most of your traffic came from how-to articles, you likely lost a lot of it. If it came from people looking for your service or your name, you likely lost far less.

Why might traffic drop while leads stay the same?

Many lost clicks were never buyers. Someone asking why a breaker trips may read the AI answer and move on. Someone searching for an electrician near them still needs to call one. When the top-of-funnel readers leave, traffic falls, but the people ready to hire often still come through.

Google makes a version of this argument. Its documentation says clicks from search results pages with AI Overviews are "higher quality," meaning visitors are more likely to spend more time on the site. Google gives no figures for that, so treat it as a claim, not a measurement.

Seer's data adds a useful wrinkle. On queries with an AI Overview, brands cited inside the overview had about 35% higher organic click-through rates than brands not cited, and 91% higher paid click-through rates. Seer is careful to say it cannot prove the citation caused the lift. Still, it suggests that being named in the answer beats being left out of it.

How do you measure AI search impact in Search Console?

Start with the Performance report, which already includes clicks from AI Overviews and AI Mode under the Web search type. Then check the newer generative AI report, if your site has it, to see how often your pages appear in AI features. Compare clicks and impressions by query type over time.

Here is a simple monthly routine.

1. Split your queries. In the Performance report, filter queries that contain words like how, what, why, or cost. Then filter for your service names and your brand name. Compare clicks for each group against the same months last year.
2. Watch the gap between impressions and clicks. If impressions hold steady or rise while clicks fall on question queries, that often points to AI answers absorbing the click.
3. Check the generative AI report. Google announced generative AI performance reports for Search Console in June 2026. They show how often your pages appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode, broken out by page, country, device and date. They show impressions, not clicks or queries, and they roll out gradually, so not every site has one yet.
4. Find your money pages. Sort by page and look at service, pricing and location pages separately from blog posts. Those pages matter most to revenue.

How do you track leads and AI referrals in GA4?

Set up key events in GA4 for the actions that make you money, such as calls, form submissions and bookings. Then compare organic search leads month over month, not just sessions. Also watch referral traffic from AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, which shows up as its own source.

• Mark key events. In GA4, go to Admin, then Events, and mark your form submit, click-to-call and booking events as key events. Google notes this applies from that point forward, not to past data, so set it up now.
• Report on leads by channel. Look at key events from Organic Search each month. A traffic drop with flat leads is very different from a traffic drop with falling leads.
• Watch AI referrals. In the traffic acquisition report, look at session source for sites like chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com and copilot.microsoft.com. The numbers are often small but tend to convert well, since those visitors already got an answer and clicked anyway.
• Ask new customers. Add "How did you hear about us?" to your forms and intake calls. Many people now say "I asked ChatGPT" or "Google's AI mentioned you," and no analytics tool will capture that for you.

Which KPIs should replace raw traffic?

Lead with outcomes. Track calls, form fills, booked jobs and revenue from search first. Then track visibility signals: AI feature impressions, branded search growth, and how often AI tools mention your business. Keep sessions on the report, but stop treating them as the main score.

Branded search deserves special attention. When AI answers mention your company, some people search your name next. Rising branded clicks are one of the clearest signs your visibility is working, even if the original answer never sent a click.

What content still earns clicks in 2026?

Content an AI summary cannot replace still earns clicks. That means pages built for people ready to act, like service, pricing and booking pages, plus content with first-hand proof such as real projects, original data, reviews and video. Generic how-to articles that restate common knowledge are the easiest for AI to absorb.

Google's own statement points the same way. Liz Reid wrote that sites with forums, videos, podcasts and posts with authentic, first-hand perspectives are gaining clicks, along with in-depth reviews and original analysis. Pew found Wikipedia, YouTube and Reddit were among the most cited sources in AI summaries, which shows how much weight AI gives to real people and video.

Content types that tend to hold up:

• Service and location pages with clear prices or price ranges, service areas, timelines and a fast way to call or book.
• Comparison pages that help a buyer choose between options, such as repair versus replace, or one material versus another, with your honest view.
• Proof pages such as case studies, project galleries and reviews with specific details a summary cannot copy.
• Original data from your own work, like average job costs you have seen or common problems you find on site.
• Video showing the work, the team or the process. YouTube is one of the most cited sources in AI answers.
• Tools such as calculators, quote estimators and checklists that people need to use, not just read.

Your informational content still has a job. It can earn citations in AI answers and build brand recognition. Just do not judge it only by the clicks it sends.

What should a small business do this quarter?

Run a simple audit. Split your Search Console data into informational, service and brand queries. Set up GA4 key events for every lead action. Strengthen your service, pricing and location pages first. Then add first-hand proof and video. Report monthly on leads and visibility, not traffic alone.

1. Week 1: Set up or check GA4 key events, call tracking and a "How did you hear about us?" field.
2. Week 2: Pull 16 months of Search Console data. Compare question queries, service queries and branded queries year over year.
3. Weeks 3 to 6: Improve your top five service or location pages with prices, proof, photos and a clear call to action.
4. Weeks 7 to 12: Publish two or three pieces of first-hand content, such as a case study, a cost breakdown from your own jobs, or a short video.
5. Every month: Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode the questions your customers ask, and note whether your business is mentioned.

Frequently asked questions

Are AI Overviews hurting my small business website?

It depends on what your pages answer. Sites that live on how-to and definition traffic tend to lose the most clicks, often half or more on affected queries. Sites that win jobs from service, pricing and local searches usually lose far less, because Google still shows local packs, ads and business listings for those searches.

How do I see AI Overview traffic in Google Search Console?

Clicks from AI Overviews and AI Mode are counted inside the normal Performance report under the Web search type. Google also began rolling out a generative AI performance report in 2026 that shows impressions in AI features by page, country, device and date. It does not show clicks or queries, so pair it with the standard report.

Is a drop in website traffic always bad now?

No. If traffic falls but calls, form fills and booked jobs hold steady, you mostly lost readers who were never going to buy. Check leads per month and the conversion rate from organic visits before you panic. A traffic drop with a lead drop is the real warning sign.

Does being cited in an AI Overview bring more clicks?

It seems to help. In Seer Interactive's 2025 data, brands cited inside an AI Overview earned about 35% higher organic click-through rates than brands that were not cited on the same kind of queries. Seer notes it cannot prove the citation causes the lift, since stronger brands may earn both.

What kind of content should a small business write now?

Write pages that answer buying questions: prices, timelines, comparisons, service areas, and what makes your work different. Add first-hand proof such as real project photos, process details and customer stories. Google says pages with original, first-person perspectives are among those gaining clicks, while generic how-to articles are easiest for AI to summarize.

The bottom line

AI search is taking real clicks from informational content. The service, local and brand searches that pay most small businesses are holding up better. Measure leads, build pages for buyers, and add proof AI cannot copy. For help reading your numbers, Book a free call with Mike or run the free 60-second check to see how visible you are in AI search.

Sources

• Pew Research Center: Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results (July 2025)
• Ahrefs: Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58% (February 2026)
• Seer Interactive: AIO Impact on Google CTR, September 2025 update
• Press Gazette: How Google AI Overviews is fuelling zero-click searches (Similarweb data, July 2025)
• Google: AI in Search is driving more queries and higher quality clicks (Liz Reid, August 2025)
• PPC Land: Google disputes Pew study showing AI Overviews reduce clicks
• Google Search Central: AI features and your website
• Google Search Central Blog: Introducing Search generative AI performance reports in Search Console (June 2026)
• TechWyse: Google Search Console now tracks AI search visibility
• Semrush: AI Overviews study
• Whitespark: The prevalence of AI Overviews in local search (May 2025)
• Google Analytics Help: Mark events as key events

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