AI Overviews: why is your website traffic dropping?

AI Overviews are the answers generated by artificial intelligence that Google shows above the search results, and they can drop your website traffic because many users now get their answer without clicking any site. You can still rank well and yet receive fewer visits: the AI answered on your behalf.

If you’ve noticed that your site keeps its positions on Google but visits are trending down, you’re not imagining things and you didn’t do anything wrong. A deeper shift is happening in how Google shows information, and it’s worth understanding calmly—without panicking—to know what to adjust in your business.

What exactly is an AI Overview?

It’s a box with an answer written by Google’s AI that appears at the top of many searches, before the usual list of blue links. Instead of showing you just ten results to choose from, Google reads several sources, summarizes the answer, and hands it to you already written, with a few reference links on the side or at the end.

For the user it’s convenient: they ask and get a direct answer. But for your business it changes a rule of the game that had been stable for decades: before, ranking high on Google almost guaranteed clicks; now, the answer can be resolved without anyone entering your site.

Why does my traffic drop if I still show up?

Because many people no longer need to click: they read the AI’s answer and go on with their day. It’s what’s called “zero-click” search. Even if your page still ranks well in the results list, that list got pushed further down by the AI Overview, and a share of users never reaches it.

The effect is measured. An analysis by Seer Interactive from September 2025, across more than 3,000 searches, found that when an AI Overview appears, organic CTR (the percentage of people who click the results) drops by up to 61%. It’s a steep drop, and it explains why many businesses see fewer visits without their position having worsened.

It’s worth putting it in perspective, without drama: it doesn’t mean you’ll lose six of every ten visits across your whole site, but that in the searches where Google decides to show an AI Overview, clicks to the links can shrink a lot. The impact depends on what kind of searches bring you traffic.

It’s also worth understanding it from the other side: the AI Overview doesn’t always ignore you. Often that AI answer is built from sources it cites, and those sources get visibility and even clicks from people who want to dig deeper. In other words, the fight is no longer only for the top of the list, but for being one of the sources the AI uses to build its answer. That shift in focus is the key to not being left out.

Which types of searches are most affected?

Mostly informational ones: when someone searches to learn something, understand a concept, or resolve a quick doubt. In those cases, Google can give the whole answer in the box and the user doesn’t need to enter any site. Examples: “what is a CRM,” “how is VAT calculated,” “what is an ERP for.”

By contrast, other searches still generate clicks and actions:

• Transactional searches. When someone wants to buy, hire, or get a quote, they still need to enter a site to complete the action.
• Branded searches. When people look for you by name, they go straight to you; the AI doesn’t get in the way.
• Local searches with intent. “Software agency near me” usually ends in a visit or a call, not just a read answer.

Knowing which of your searches are informational and which are transactional tells you where the AI Overview can hit hardest and where you’re more protected.

What can I do to avoid losing ground?

Stop depending only on the click and work to be the source the AI cites, while also strengthening the searches that still bring visits. There’s no single trick, but a combination of sensible moves:

• Become a citable source. Structure your content so AI can extract and cite your answers: question-style headings, clear answers up front, sourced data, and an FAQ section. Even if you don’t win the click, winning the mention gives you visibility and trust.
• Strengthen your brand. The more people know you and search for you by name, the less you depend on generic searches AI can intercept. Your brand is your best defense.
• Cover transactional and local searches well. Make sure you appear and convert when someone is ready to buy or hire; there the click is still yours.
• Offer something AI can’t summarize. Tools, quote calculators, real cases, personalized service, your concrete experience. The value that doesn’t fit in a box is what brings people to your site.

The AI Overview didn’t kill your traffic: it changed the rules of where and how you get found. The answer isn’t to resist, but to adapt.

In summary

AI Overviews explain a paradox many business owners are living: good positions on Google and, at the same time, fewer visits. The cause is zero-click search, and its effect is measured in CTR drops of up to 61% when the AI answer appears (Seer Interactive, September 2025). It’s not the end of web traffic, but it is a clear signal to diversify: be cited by AI, strengthen your brand, and take care of the searches that still end in a click.

If you’d like to understand how much this shift affects you and prepare your site to stay visible in the era of AI answers, at Normandia Web we can review your site and build a realistic plan with you—no smoke, no magic promises.