eMarketer featured our AI Overviews research in their latest analysis examining Google's claims about referral traffic impact - and honestly, we love seeing data-driven conversations challenge the status quo.
Our study revealed a 70% drop in organic click-through rates when AI Overviews appear in search results - one of the most significant impacts documented to date. This research analyzed real user behavior patterns across thousands of searches to understand how AI summaries are changing the search landscape.
As eMarketer notes, our findings align with other independent research from Pew Research and Ahrefs showing consistent patterns of reduced user engagement when AI summaries appear. We're seeing fundamental changes in how users interact with search results.
The evidence is clear: traditional SEO strategies need to evolve. Brands can't ignore these traffic shifts and hope they'll reverse. The future belongs to companies that adapt their content strategies now.
As our research revealed: "There is a significant decrease in organic CTR when an AI Overview is present in the search results: No AI Overview present: 2.94% CTR versus AI Overview present: 0.84% CTR. The average organic position for both groups was similar (5.9 vs 5.6) indicating the organic ranking was not a primary factor in the CTR differences."