AI Overviews: Why are my clicks dropping, and what helps?

AI Overviews are the AI-generated summaries Google shows above the regular results for many searches. They often answer the question so fully that users no longer click. That’s why many websites see clicks drop even though rankings and impressions stay the same. You can’t switch them off, but you can get your page linked as a source in the overview.

How to tell that AI Overviews are costing you clicks

Search Console doesn’t report AI Overviews separately. The typical pattern looks like this:

• Impressions the same or higher, clicks noticeably lower.
• Click-through rate drops mainly for questions, i.e. queries containing “what”, “how” or “why”.
• Average position is unchanged or better.

In Search Console, filter for queries that contain a question word and compare the click-through rate with the previous year. If it falls much more sharply there than for searches for your company name or your service, AI Overviews are the likely cause.

Which pages are affected and which are not

Guides, definitions and simple how-tos are hit hardest. Less affected are searches with purchase intent (“tax adviser Wiesbaden”, “Google Ads agency”), brand searches and local searches where Google shows the Business Profile. For your business, this means the loss of traffic is often greater than the loss of enquiries.

How to get your page cited in AI Overviews

1. Answer first. Start every section with a sentence that fully answers the question. Explanations come afterwards.
2. One question per section. Subheadings phrased like real search queries help Google find the right section.
3. Verifiable facts. Specific figures, sources and your own experience are more likely to be cited than general statements.
4. Keep it up to date. Outdated information stands out. A visible review date and well-maintained content build trust.
5. Regular SEO is still essential. Google mostly picks sources for AI Overviews from pages that already rank well. No solid rankings, no citations.

What to avoid

Blocking pages from AI Overviews, for example with nosnippet, does stop them being cited, but it also costs you the regular snippets in search. For most businesses that’s a bad trade. Nor does it help to pad out copy artificially with questions. What matters is that your content answers a question better than other pages.

Related reading: Google AI Mode: What does it mean for my website? and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): How is it different from SEO?

FAQ

Does Search Console count clicks from AI Overviews?

Yes. Clicks and impressions from AI Overviews are included in the regular web search performance report. However, you can’t isolate them there, because Google doesn’t offer a dedicated filter. That leaves you relying on patterns such as falling click-through rates at an unchanged position.

How can I find out whether my page is cited in AI Overviews?

The simplest way is to search for your most important questions on Google yourself, ideally in a private browser window, and check which sources are linked in the overview. Results vary by location, device and time, so it’s worth keeping a fixed list of queries you check regularly. Some SEO tools now also track which searches show AI Overviews and who is cited in them.

How quickly do changes to a page show up in AI Overviews?

There is no fixed timeframe. Google first has to recrawl and reindex the page; only then can the new content appear in overviews. Using the URL Inspection tool in Search Console, you can request reindexing for revised pages and speed up that first step.

When to hand this over

• Your clicks have been falling for several months and you can’t say for sure why.
• You have lots of guide pages but no time to revise them.
• You lack reporting that shows traffic and enquiries together.

We check which pages are affected by AI Overviews and which content is worth the effort. Find out more on our page about search engine optimisation or directly in a free initial consultation.