SearchVisibility.wikiVisibility in search and AI answers

AI Overviews CTR impact

From Search Visibility Wiki · By the · Published · Last reviewed · How we research

Studies find AI Overviews reduce clicks. Ahrefs (April 2025, 300,000 keywords) found AI Overviews correlated with a 34.5% lower position-1 click-through rate. Pew (March 2025 browsing data) found users clicked a result in 8% of visits with an AI summary versus 15% without. Both are observational, not controlled experiments.

What did Ahrefs find?

Comparing 300,000 keywords, position-1 CTR for keywords with AI Overviews fell from 0.073 to 0.026, against 0.056 to 0.031 for others; Ahrefs estimated a 34.5% lower CTR associated with AI Overviews.[1]

What did Pew find?

From 900 US adults’ browsing in March 2025: 8% of visits with an AI summary included a click on a traditional result, vs 15% without; 1% included a click on a link inside the summary; sessions ended on 26% of pages with a summary vs 16% without.[2]

What does Google say?

Google says clicks from AI Overviews are included in Search Console data.[3]

How should sites respond?

Measure impressions and mentions, not only clicks; see KPIs and zero-click searches.

Frequently asked questions

Do AI Overviews always reduce clicks?

Studies show averages; individual pages can differ.

Does being cited in an AI Overview help?

It can bring some clicks; Pew found clicks on summary links are rare.

How can I see my own impact?

Compare CTR trends for queries with and without AI features.

References

Sources accessed October 14, 2026 unless another date is given. See all sources.

  1. “AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5%”. Ahrefs. April 17, 2025.
  2. “Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results”. Pew Research Center. July 22, 2025; March 2025 browsing data.
  3. “Generative AI performance report (Search)”. Search Console Help. rolled out to all sites as of August 31, 2026; accessed October 14, 2026.
Categories: Research