If your website traffic has taken a nosedive recently, you’re not imagining it. New research from the Pew Research Center confirms what SEO experts, digital marketers, and publishers have long suspected. Google AI Overviews are directly impacting organic traffic and reshaping how users engage with the web. At Digital Rank Solution, we’ve tracked these changes closely, and the results are as alarming as they are revealing.
Pew Research Exposes How Google AI Affects User Behavior
In March 2025, Pew Research tracked over 900 U.S. adults using real-time browsing behavior tools. This wasn’t a survey or a guess, it was hard data. The researchers analyzed over 68,000 Google search queries, and found that 12,593 of those triggered AI-generated overviews.
Google AI Overviews vs Traditional Search: Impact on User Behavior
| Metric | Traditional Search Results | Google AI Overviews |
| Click-Through Rate (CTR) | 15% | 8% |
| Citation Link Click Rate | — | 1% |
| User Ends Session After Search | 16% | 26% |
| User Clicks a Search Result | 15% | 8% |
| User Clicks Citation in Summary | — | 1% |
| Users Who Leave Without Clicking Any Link | ~50% | ~66% |
| Top Sources Cited | Mixed variety | Wikipedia, YouTube, Reddit |
| Diversity of Content | Higher | Lower, platform-dominant |
The outcome? Users are no longer clicking on websites the way they used to.
Only 1 Percent Click on AI Summary Links
Here’s the harsh truth: only 1% of users clicked on a link within an AI summary. Even when standard search links were also present, the overall engagement dropped sharply. Only 8% of users clicked any link at all on pages featuring an AI Overview.
Compare that to the 15% click rate on traditional search results, and it’s clear why this matters. That’s almost a 50% drop in engagement, showing just how damaging these AI answers can be to referral traffic.
AI Summaries End Sessions, Not Just Clicks
Google has insisted that its AI summaries help people access information faster. But according to Pew’s data, that convenience comes at a serious cost. The study shows that users are more likely to end their session completely after seeing an AI answer.
The report revealed:
- 26% of users exited Google immediately after viewing an AI summary
- Only 16% did so when shown regular search results
This means users aren’t just skipping your website, they’re skipping the rest of the internet too.
AI Isn’t Fueling Content Consumption, It’s Replacing It
Despite reassurances from Google CEO Sundar Pichai that users are consuming more web content than ever, the numbers suggest otherwise. At Digital Rank Solution, we understand that real engagement matters more than impressions. Users may be presented with more content, but AI is summarizing that content so effectively that they don’t feel the need to explore further.
Content creators, bloggers, and marketers are doing the work, yet AI is serving the final product without giving credit in the form of traffic.
66 Percent of Users Avoid Websites Altogether
The study found that nearly 66% of users either continue browsing within Google or leave the search altogether without clicking any links. That means the majority of searches now result in zero-click behavior.
Here’s the most concerning stat:
- Only 1% of users clicked a citation link in an AI summary
- Most chose to stay within Google’s ecosystem or abandon their query altogether
This confirms what publishers have feared, Google is extracting value from content without giving any back.
Reddit, Wikipedia, and YouTube Dominate AI Search Results
While your original content may be well-optimized, AI Overviews tend to pull data from a handful of dominant platforms. According to the Pew study, the top three sources cited in AI answers and search results are:
- Wikipedia
- YouTube
Together, these platforms make up:
- 15% of all sources used in AI summaries
- 17% of links in traditional search results
So even if you’ve done everything right from an SEO strategy perspective, your site is still getting overshadowed by mega-platforms.
SEO Strategy Is Shifting (And You Need to Adapt)
Traditional SEO strategies, content marketing, backlinks, and on-page optimization, aren’t enough anymore. If you want your content to survive in this evolving search environment, you need to optimize for AI-dominant SERPs.
At Digital Rank Solution, we’re helping clients pivot their digital marketing strategies to meet the new demands of zero-click search, AI search optimization, and multi-platform content visibility.
If your SEO performance metrics have dropped without any clear penalty or algorithm update, this is likely the reason.
Is Google AI Good for the Open Web?
The answer is clear: not right now. AI Overviews might be fast and efficient for users, but they’re squeezing out independent publishers, niche blogs, and small businesses. Google’s AI is reshaping the digital landscape by reducing click-through rates, lowering session durations, and funneling visibility to only a handful of platforms.
As this trend continues, the need to rethink your SEO and content strategy becomes more urgent than ever. At Digital Rank Solution, we’re already helping businesses adjust to the rise of AI-driven search with smart SEO consulting, content repurposing, and real-time performance tracking.
