Last month, two interesting studies on the impact of Google’s AI Overview were published, providing us with important data that reflect some of our current challenges at Digiflow. The papers showed:
A 34.5% drop in click-through rates for top-ranking pages when AI Overviews are present (via Ahrefs)
Non-branded keywords saw a nearly 20% CTR drop (via Amsive).
In simple terms, AI Overviews answer queries directly on the results page, which means fewer people are clicking through to actual websites. For brands, there is a silver lining, as branded keywords saw an 18% increase in clicks, proving that a strong brand presence still wins in an AI-dominated SERP.
However, there is a bigger conversation happening here: What happens to independent creators, startups, and publishers if discovery traffic keeps shrinking? Will SEO, as we know it, survive this shift? Are we moving toward an Internet where Google owns both the questions and answers?
Google, of course, argues that AI Overviews improve the quality of clicks and that these studies have methodological flaws, but the debate is far from over.
If you run SEO, digital marketing, or depend on organic traffic, this matters. Is this the future of searches? Or a warning sign for the open web? Let’s discuss.
