For years, ranking near the top of Google search results usually meant one thing: traffic.
That relationship is becoming less reliable as Google expands AI-generated summaries across search results, according to new industry data that suggest users are increasingly getting answers without clicking through to external websites.
An Ahrefs analysis published in 2024 found that Google’s AI Overviews correlated with a 34.5% lower click-through rate for the top-ranking organic result on informational queries. Separately, research from SparkToro and Datos found that nearly 60% of Google searches in the United States now end without a click to another website.
The findings are fueling concern among publishers, businesses, and SEO professionals that visibility in search results no longer guarantees the website visits it once did.
AI Overviews, which appear above traditional organic results for many queries, summarize information from multiple sources directly inside Google’s search interface. For users looking for quick explanations, definitions, comparisons, or general guidance, that may reduce the need to visit another site.
The shift is especially significant for informational searches, where searchers are not necessarily looking to buy something immediately. Queries such as “what is technical SEO?” or “how does intermittent fasting work?” are increasingly answered on the results page itself.
That has made some publishers publicly critical of Google’s evolving search model.
In 2025, education platform Chegg argued in legal filings that Google’s AI-generated search experiences were contributing to traffic declines by keeping users inside the search engine instead of sending them to source websites. The News/Media Alliance, which represents major publishers and media organizations, has also voiced concern that AI summaries may reduce referral traffic while using publisher content to generate answers.
Publishers have been openly warning about the impact. Nicholas Thompson, Chief Executive of The Atlantic, said, “Once you change search, you’ve changed the whole architecture of the internet.” Chegg has also argued in legal filings that Google’s AI-generated search experiences are contributing to traffic declines by keeping users inside the search engine instead of sending them to source websites.
Google, meanwhile, has defended AI Overviews as a feature designed to improve search quality. The company has said the summaries help users refine searches and can lead to “higher-quality clicks” by directing people toward more relevant sources.
But search professionals say the practical effect is clear: the relationship between ranking and traffic is changing.
“In many cases, the user gets enough information from the search results page and never needs to leave Google,” said a representative of dtcseoagency.com, an SEO consultancy that monitors changes in search visibility. “That changes how brands need to think about discovery, content strategy, and measurement.”
The effect appears to be strongest on informational searches, where users are seeking background information rather than making an immediate transaction. Those queries have long played a key role in organic growth strategies, helping publishers and businesses attract audiences earlier in the decision-making process.
Now, some of that discovery may be happening inside the search results page itself.
AI-generated summaries also add another layer of competition for attention on crowded search engine results pages. On many queries, users encounter AI Overviews, sponsored listings, shopping modules, and other search features before reaching the traditional organic results. On mobile devices, that can push standard listings even farther down the page.
That matters because search remains a major driver of online visibility. Alphabet reported more than $237 billion in advertising revenue in 2023, and marketers are watching closely to see whether user behavior shifts across both organic and paid results as AI features expand.
The long-term impact remains uncertain, but the early data have sharpened the debate around zero-click search, a term used to describe searches that are answered without a visit to another website.
For publishers and businesses built around organic discovery, the question is whether search engines will continue to function primarily as gateways to the open web or increasingly as destinations where users receive answers directly.
That shift could reshape how companies measure performance, structure content, and plan for future traffic.
Sources: Ahrefs (2024), SparkToro and Datos (2024), Chegg public filings and statements (2025), News/Media Alliance public commentary, Google Search Central public statements, Alphabet annual reporting.
