Do AI Overviews Reduce Clicks? What Local Businesses Should Know

Yes, AI Overviews reduce clicks on many searches. In a July 2025 Pew Research Center analysis, Google users who saw an AI summary clicked a traditional search result in 8% of visits, compared with 15% when no summary appeared. Google’s position is that the clicks AI Overviews do send are higher quality. For local businesses, the impact depends on the kind of search: informational searches take the biggest hit, and many searches that lead to calls happen in the map pack rather than on your website.

This article covers what the research shows, what Google says, why local businesses are in a different spot, and what to do about it. For how to get your pages into AI Overviews, see our main guide on ranking in Google’s AI Overviews.

What the Research Shows

Three studies are worth knowing. They use different methods and all point the same way.

Pew Research Center (July 2025)

Pew tracked the real browsing of 900 U.S. adults during March 2025, covering 68,879 Google searches. Its main findings:

• 18% of searches produced an AI summary.
• With a summary, users clicked a traditional result in 8% of visits. Without one, they clicked in 15% of visits.
• Users clicked a link inside the AI summary in just 1% of visits.
• Users ended their browsing session on 26% of pages with an AI summary, compared with 16% of pages with only traditional results.

Ahrefs (April 2025)

Ahrefs compared 300,000 keywords using desktop Search Console data from March 2024 and March 2025. It found the presence of an AI Overview “correlated with a 34.5% lower average clickthrough rate (CTR) for the top-ranking page,” compared with similar informational keywords without one.

Seer Interactive (November 2025)

Seer Interactive studied 3,119 informational search terms across 42 client organizations. On queries with an AI Overview, organic CTR fell from 1.76% in June 2024 to 0.61% in September 2025. CTR fell on queries without an AI Overview too, from 2.72% to 1.62% over the same period, so not all of the decline is the AI Overview’s doing.

Seer also found that brands cited inside the AI Overview did better. In Q3 2025, organic CTR was 0.70% when the brand was cited and 0.52% when it wasn’t. Seer is careful to say it “cannot definitively prove that citation causes higher CTRs,” since cited brands may simply be stronger to begin with.

What Google Says About Clicks From AI Overviews

Google disputes the idea that AI Overviews are draining traffic. In its Search Central documentation on AI features, Google says: “We’ve seen that when people click from search results pages with AI Overviews, these clicks are higher quality.”

In an August 6, 2025 post, Liz Reid, Google’s Head of Search, wrote that “total organic click volume from Google Search to websites has been relatively stable year-over-year.” She defined quality clicks as those “where users don’t quickly click back.” The post didn’t include figures to back either claim.

Both things can be true at once. Total clicks across the web can hold steady while specific sites, especially those that answer simple questions, lose a large share of theirs.

Why Local Businesses Are Affected Differently

The studies above focus on informational searches. Local businesses get much of their business from a different kind of search. One finding from Pew is directly useful here: just 8% of one- or two-word searches produced an AI summary, compared with 53% of searches with 10 words or more. And 60% of searches starting with question words like “who,” “what,” “when” or “why” produced one.

The rest of this section is our reasoning, not study data:

• Short, hiring-ready searches like “plumber near me” or “dentist Encinitas” are the type Pew found least likely to show a summary.
• Many local leads never touch your website. People call or ask for directions straight from the map pack or your Business Profile. A drop in website clicks doesn’t always mean fewer customers.
• Your blog is the most exposed part of your site. “How do I fix a leaky faucet” style articles are exactly where AI Overviews answer the question on the page.
• Local AI answers still need local facts. When an AI Overview names businesses, it draws on sources like your website and Business Profile, so accurate details matter more, not less.

What Local Businesses Should Do

1. Measure in Google Search Console

Google says AI feature traffic is included in Search Console’s Performance report under the “Web” search type. There’s no separate AI Overview filter, so compare clicks, impressions and CTR by query and by page over time. A common sign of AI Overview impact is impressions holding steady or rising while clicks fall on question-style queries.

2. Track Calls and Leads, Not Just Clicks

Clicks are a means to an end. Track phone calls, form fills and booked jobs, and check the calls, direction requests and website clicks in your Business Profile performance report. If leads are steady while clicks drop, your traffic loss is mostly from people who were never going to hire you.

3. Keep Your Google Business Profile Complete

Accurate categories, services, hours, photos and steady reviews help you win the map pack, where many local customers decide. Google also advises businesses to keep Business Profile information up to date for its AI features. More in our guide to AI search optimization for local businesses.

4. Aim to Be Cited Inside the AI Overview

If an AI Overview is going to appear anyway, being one of its sources is the better spot. Put a clear answer near the top of each page, cover the follow-up questions, and make sure the page is indexed. Our guide on how to rank in Google’s AI Overviews walks through it.

5. Build Pages for Searches Without AI Overviews

Service pages, city pages and pages built for hiring-ready searches (“emergency AC repair in Carmel”) are less exposed than general how-to content. Make sure each main service has its own page with a clear way to call or book.

How to Check Whether AI Overviews Appear for Your Keywords

1. List your 20 most valuable search terms from Search Console, mixing service searches and question searches.
2. Search each one in a private window, ideally from your service area, and note whether an AI Overview appears and who it cites.
3. Repeat on mobile, since results can differ.
4. Check again monthly. AI Overviews come and go on the same query.
5. Use a rank tracker that flags AI Overviews if you need to track more terms than you can check by hand.

To track AI tools beyond Google, see our guide to tracking your business in AI search answers. New to the terms? Start with the difference between SEO, AEO and GEO.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do AI Overviews reduce clicks for local businesses?

They can, mostly on informational pages like blog posts. Pew found AI summaries were far less common on short searches, which is how many people search for local services. Many local leads also come by phone or directions from the map pack, so check leads before assuming the worst.

Are clicks from AI Overviews worth more?

Google says clicks from results pages with AI Overviews are higher quality, meaning people don’t quickly click back. Google hasn’t published figures to show this. Judge it from your own data by comparing leads and conversions over time.

Can I see AI Overview traffic in Google Search Console?

Partly. Google includes AI feature traffic in the Performance report under the Web search type, but it doesn’t break it out separately. You have to compare query and page trends to spot the effect.

Can I stop Google from using my site in AI Overviews?

Only with the same controls that affect regular Search: nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet or noindex. These also limit how your pages appear in normal results, so for most local businesses it’s better to aim to be cited.

Get a Clear Picture of Your Search Traffic

Local Blitz has worked with local businesses since 2009, from offices in Encinitas (San Diego) and Indianapolis. We’ll look at your Search Console data, your calls and your Business Profile together, so you know whether AI Overviews are really costing you customers. Our AI search optimization plans are month-to-month. Book a free strategy call to get started.