If you’ve noticed a change in your website traffic over the last few months, you’re not alone. Many businesses are experiencing shifts in how people interact with their sites due to Google’s AI Overviews.
AI Overviews are Google’s way of giving searchers quick, AI-generated summaries directly in the search results. They pull together content from multiple sources to answer a query without the user having to click through. As of March 2025, 13.14% of all queries triggered an AI overview, which is up from 6.49% in January 2025, according to Semrush's study.
It’s a big shift in search behaviour, and it’s changing how we measure online success.
The Rise of AI Overviews
At I-COM, we’ve seen firsthand how AI Overviews can influence traffic patterns. For example, one of our legal clients’ Personal Injury section currently appears in 1,832 different AI Overview results. That’s a sizeable amount of brand exposure, as appearing within the AI overview and being cited naturally means your site and brand name will get seen.
The impact of appearing within AI Overviews, however, is that this has coincided with a drop in page visits. When Google puts the answer right on the search results page, fewer users click through to the source. This means that while visibility increases, click-through rates can decline, particularly for informational queries.
Why This Isn’t Necessarily a Bad Thing
Before you panic about declining traffic, here’s what we’re seeing:
- AI Overviews tend to appear for informational queries - questions where the user just wants an answer, not a service
- Commercial and transactional-intent searches are far less affected. That means the people looking to buy, enquire or engage are still making it to your site.
In other words, AI Overviews might take away some casual “just-looking” traffic, but the valuable, ready-to-convert visitors are still finding you.
The Brand Awareness Advantage
With that being said, “just-looking” traffic still plays an important role in building brand awareness and engagement. However, if those visitors encounter your content in an AI Overview rather than clicking through to your site, you’re not necessarily losing visibility, because they’re still seeing your brand in a prominent position on Google.
Appearing in AI Overviews can actually work in your favour. It’s a form of high-visibility brand exposure right at the top of Google’s results, and your content is being presented as a trusted source.
It’s becoming increasingly common to see clickbait headlines warning of the “death” of website traffic. But if the traffic loss is largely from informational searches, the data suggests it’s not a threat; it’s a shift. As of March 2025, 88% of queries which triggered an AI Overview were informational, making up the vast majority of results. Those visitors are still encountering your brand, just in a different place (the AI Overview, rather than directly on your site).
Even if someone doesn’t click through immediately, they’re still seeing your brand, absorbing your expertise, and potentially remembering you when they are ready to take action.
Rethinking Success Metrics in the Age of AI Search
With AI Overviews becoming more common, raw traffic numbers are no longer the whole story. A site could see fewer clicks but still be achieving strong brand exposure and authority if it’s frequently featured in AI summaries. This shift means it’s essential to broaden how we define and measure “success” in search.
- Lead and conversion data - rather than just visit counts
- Search visibility - where and how your brand is appearing in AI summaries
- Engagement quality - ensuring the visitors who do arrive are the right audience
We are also testing new AI-specific reporting tools to better capture the full picture of online performance.
Is Your Digital Strategy Ready for AI Search?
This shift raises an important question: is your search strategy ready for an AI-driven landscape? Many businesses don’t yet know whether they’re appearing in AI Overviews, how often, or for which queries, let alone whether those appearances are driving value. It’s worth asking your agency not just if you’re showing up, but how that presence is being measured, and what impact it is having on overall performance.
You need to think about the following questions:
- How often does your brand appear in AI Overviews, and what is the split between branded and non-branded terms?
- Does your featured content lead to meaningful actions, such as enquiries or purchases?
- Is your brand represented accurately and positively within AI-generated summaries?
- How are you monitoring your presence in AI Overviews and reporting back on the impact of this?
- What steps can you take to encourage click-throughs, even when the AI Overview provides an answer upfront?
For guidance on adapting to this new search landscape, check out our guide on Zero-Click Tracking in an AI World: How to Stay Visible & Measure What Matters.
The Takeaway
Yes, AI Overviews are changing how people interact with search results. But rather than signalling a loss, they represent an opportunity to get your content, and your brand, in front of more eyes, even if fewer clicks follow.
For businesses, the key is to track the right metrics, focus on commercial intent, and keep producing content that positions you as the go-to expert in your field.
Need Help Adapting Your SEO Strategy For the Age of AI Search?
Get in touch with our team using our contact form or give us a call on 0161 402 3170 - we’ll make sure you’re measuring what matters and maximising every opportunity.
