SEO

AI summaries take clicks even from the top result, and the first experiment confirms the cause

Several independent studies show that when an AI Overview appears above the results, the first position loses more than half its clicks. A new experiment with randomly split users suggests the AI summary actually replaces the site visit, rather than merely coinciding with the drop.

Bartosz Bielawski

Bartosz Bielawski

· 2 min read
Share
AI summaries take clicks even from the top result, and the first experiment confirms the cause

Signal in the data

Independent sources on this topic: 3 in the last week, 4 in 30 days, 6 in 90 days. We have tracked it since 2026-04-14; 17 claims in our database in total.

wk 280
wk 293
wk 300
wk 310
wk 320
wk 330
wk 340
wk 351
wk 360
wk 371
wk 382
wk 392

Number of independent sources per week (last 12 weeks).

What is happening

Several studies published within two weeks point the same way: Google's AI summaries take clicks away from websites, including those at the very top.

The strongest new signal is an experiment by researchers at UPenn and Northeastern. Some users saw results without AI summaries. Without the summaries, people clicked through to sites more often, with no detectable drop in search quality (Search Engine Journal).

Where the sources agree

Every source sees fewer clicks where an AI Overview appears. According to the most widely quoted figure, the top-ranking page then loses about 58% of its clicks (Ahrefs).

A comparison over time gives a similar picture. The first position lost 34.5% of its clicks in April and as much as 58% in December 2025 (WhitePress). So the problem is growing rather than levelling off.

Where they differ

The scale depends on what you measure. Across a whole keyword panel, rather than just position one, the median drop in clicks is 8.8% and CTR falls by 5.7% (Ahrefs).

The same study shows an extreme case where impressions grow but clicks do not. The page stays in the results, but nobody needs to visit it anymore. Ads lose out too: AI summaries push out about a quarter of them (Optmyzr).

What to do about it

Do not judge informational keywords by position alone. Look at clicks and CTR in Search Console, and separate keywords that trigger an AI summary from the rest.

If impressions grow while clicks stay flat, do not look for a bug on your site. It is a typical sign that the AI answer meets the need without a visit. Give people something worth clicking for: data, a calculator or a comparison.

Our take

AI summaries do not remove pages from the results; they make the click unnecessary. The randomised experiment shows this is cause, not coincidence, so the first position on informational keywords no longer guarantees traffic.

Confidence: high on direction - independent studies and an experiment confirm it; medium on scale, which depends on the keyword and the method. We will change our view if: Large new studies showing that the decline in clicks has slowed, or that being cited in the summary fully makes up for the lost traffic.

Sources

Read more