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For many news websites, Google Search traffic is vital. Sites that rank higher in search results get more clicks — and the added revenue from ads, subscriptions, or sales. But Google’s AI Overviews may upend this dynamic.
Introduced by Google last year, AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of search results when its systems believe that “generative AI can be especially helpful.” These summaries aim to deliver direct answers to user queries, so that they don’t have to peruse results pages to find answers. But while AI Overviews cite their sources, linking out to external sites with supporting evidence, users appear less likely to click when a summary is already provided.
Research from marketing intelligence platform Ahrefs finds that search keywords triggering AI Overviews have eight times less traffic potential than those that don’t. A Pew Research Center analysis of users’ browsing behavior in March 2025 concurred, finding that “users were less likely to click on result links when visiting search pages with an AI summary compared with those without one.” Sites are looking at losing a substantial share of their search traffic, forcing a reassessment of traffic strategies.
The Search Terms That Trigger Google’s AI Overviews was originally published in Generative AI in the Newsroom on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.