SEO with AI Overviews: how many clicks are lost and which content strategy works in 2026
Google's AI summaries reach 2 billion people and nearly halve clicks. Pew and Ahrefs data and the content strategy that still works.
By Rubén García · October 9, 2026 · 3 min
AI Overviews are the AI-generated summaries Google shows above the classic results. They answer the question directly and cite a few sources. For publishers, this changes the rules: ranking first no longer guarantees the click. This article summarizes the available data and the content strategy that still works. If you want the specific method to get cited by assistants, see our GEO guide to appearing in ChatGPT.
How many clicks are lost: the data
Google confirmed in July 2025 that AI Overviews have more than 2 billion monthly users. Pew Research analyzed the real browsing of 900 US adults and found that when an AI summary appears, users click a result on 8% of visits, versus 15% when it doesn't. Only 1% of visits include a click on a link cited inside the summary itself.
Source: Pew Research Center, 2025
Ahrefs, analyzing large search volumes, measured a 58% drop in position-one CTR on queries with an AI Overview versus comparable queries without one.
What still works according to Google
Your take, in one click
Have you noticed fewer Google clicks due to AI?
Google Search Central's official documentation says there are no special requirements to appear in AI Overviews: the same SEO best practices apply. The page must be indexed, eligible to show a snippet and offer helpful, reliable, people-first content.
Content strategy for AI search
- Answer the main question in the first two sentences. Summaries extract clear answers.
- Include dated, sourced data. GEO research (Princeton and IIT Delhi, KDD 2024) showed visibility gains of up to 40% from adding statistics and quotations.
- Structure with subheadings matching your audience's real questions.
- Sign with an identifiable author, with an author page and demonstrable experience.
- Add something original: data, cases or an argued opinion AI can't find elsewhere.
- Link internally to related concepts so search engines and readers get the context.
Which searches are hit hardest
Informational searches ("what is", "how does it work") trigger the most AI summaries. Transactional and branded ones ("buy", "price", company name) are less affected. That's why it's worth checking in Search Console which pages lost clicks while keeping impressions: the typical sign of a summary answering for you.
2B
AI Overviews monthly users (Google, 2025)
−58%
position-1 CTR with AI Overview (Ahrefs)
up to 40%
more visibility with GEO techniques (KDD 2024)
My takeaway: generic content loses. Citable content wins, because it brings its own data and judgment.
Frequently asked questions
Do AI Overviews reduce my website traffic?
On informational queries, yes. Pew Research measured click rate dropping from 15% to 8% when an AI summary appears.
How do I appear in Google's AI Overviews?
According to Google, there are no extra requirements: the page must be indexed, snippet-eligible and helpful. SEO best practices remain the foundation.
Is SEO dead because of AI?
No. AI summaries cite pages that already rank well. What changes is that the click isn't guaranteed, so you should also track visibility and citations.
| Indicator | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| AI Overviews monthly users | 2.000M / 2B | Google vía TechCrunch, 2025 |
| Clicks on results without AI summary | 15% | Pew Research, 2025 |
| Clicks on results with AI summary | 8% | Pew Research, 2025 |
| Clicks on links inside the AI summary | 1% | Pew Research, 2025 |
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Source: Pew Research · Ahrefs · TechCrunch · arXiv
