Google’s AI Overviews have changed the way people interact with search results. Instead of scrolling through a list of websites to find an answer, users can now receive an AI-generated summary directly within Google.
For businesses that rely on organic search traffic, this presents an obvious concern. If users get the information they need without visiting a website, what happens to the clicks that traditional SEO has always aimed to generate?
However, new research suggests the relationship between AI visibility and website traffic could be more complicated than simply gaining or losing clicks.
A small case study reported by Search Engine Roundtable on 30 October 2026 found that removing a website from Google’s AI-generated search features also resulted in a decline in its regular organic clicks. This raises an interesting question: could appearing in AI Overviews help websites attract visitors even when people do not click directly on the AI citation?
What the latest Google AI Overviews study found
The research was shared by SEO professional Cyrus Shepard, who used Google’s search generative AI opt-out controls to prevent a website from appearing in AI Overviews and AI Mode.
This created an opportunity to compare the website’s search performance when it was eligible to appear in Google’s AI-generated results against a period when its content was excluded.
The findings were particularly interesting:
- Estimated AI click-through rate of 0.9%: AI impressions generated an estimated click-through rate of approximately 0.9%, based on the available before-and-after data.
- Around 8% of impressions came from AI features: AI impressions accounted for approximately 8% of the website’s total impressions.
- Traditional organic clicks also declined: Perhaps the most surprising finding was that regular organic clicks fell when the website stopped appearing in AI Overviews and AI Mode.
- Performance improved when AI visibility returned: The website’s most AI-visible individual URLs experienced a decline during the experiment, followed by an increase when AI visibility was restored.
These findings suggest that appearing in Google’s AI-generated results may have benefits beyond the traffic received from direct citation links.
However, it is important to understand the limitations of the research. This was a small case study involving one website, rather than a large controlled experiment. Google AI Overviews continued appearing in the search results throughout the test; the website itself was simply excluded from them.
The results therefore do not prove that AI visibility directly causes an increase in traditional organic clicks. They do, however, provide an interesting indication of how different types of search visibility might influence one another.
Why appearing in AI Overviews could increase organic clicks
One possible explanation is the effect of repeated brand exposure.
When someone searches for a product, service or business-related question, they might encounter several different types of results. These could include traditional organic listings, paid advertisements, featured snippets and AI-generated summaries.
If a business appears in more than one of these places, it has additional opportunities to attract attention.
For example, imagine someone searching for a digital marketing agency. They see a company mentioned within an AI Overview, but do not click the citation immediately.
Later, they notice the same company in the traditional organic results or search for its name directly.
The original AI appearance may have helped make the business familiar, increasing the likelihood that the user recognises and chooses it.
This is sometimes referred to as a search results page halo effect. Visibility in one area of Google can potentially influence how users interact with other listings on the same page.
It also highlights why measuring SEO performance purely through individual ranking positions or direct clicks can provide an incomplete picture.
Does a low AI click-through rate mean AI SEO is not worthwhile?
An estimated 0.9% click-through rate might initially seem disappointing, particularly when compared with the traffic businesses have traditionally expected from organic search rankings.
However, direct clicks are only one part of the value that search visibility can provide.
If a business appears in an AI Overview, it has an opportunity to introduce its brand to someone who may not otherwise have encountered it.
That exposure could influence a future search, a direct website visit or a purchasing decision.
There is also an important distinction between appearing in an AI-generated answer and being included as a clickable source.
A business might be mentioned in a response without receiving a direct visit. Even so, the exposure could help establish familiarity and credibility, particularly when users encounter the same brand across multiple searches.
This does not mean businesses should ignore click-through rates or accept declining website traffic. Instead, AI visibility should be considered alongside the wider performance of an SEO campaign.
For a closer look at how search behaviour is changing, read our article on SEO in the age of AI.
How businesses should adapt their SEO strategies
The latest findings reinforce the importance of treating search visibility as something broader than traditional rankings.
Businesses still need to attract visitors to their websites, but they should also consider how their brand appears across Google’s expanding range of search features.
There are several practical ways to approach this.
1. Create content that provides genuinely useful answers
AI Overviews are designed to provide users with relevant information without requiring them to visit several different websites.
Businesses should therefore focus on publishing content that answers genuine questions clearly and accurately.
This means moving beyond generic articles that simply repeat information already available elsewhere.
Consider the questions potential customers ask before making a purchasing decision. What do they need to understand? What problems are they trying to solve? What information would help them compare their options?
Providing useful, detailed answers can help establish a website as a relevant source of information.
2. Build authority around your main services
Publishing individual articles targeting unrelated keywords is unlikely to establish strong subject authority.
Instead, businesses should develop content that covers the important aspects of their industry, products and services.
For example, a financial services company might publish useful information about lending criteria, application processes, costs, eligibility and different funding options.
These topics should be connected through relevant internal links, helping users navigate between related information while giving search engines a clearer understanding of the website’s subject matter.
This is also an important part of improving visibility across AI-driven search platforms.
Our guide to appearing in AI search results explains how content structure, expertise and topical authority contribute to this wider approach.
3. Make your brand recognisable across search results
Businesses should not rely entirely on individual keyword rankings to generate awareness.
Consistent brand information, relevant third-party mentions, positive customer reviews and useful website content can all contribute to how a business is understood online.
The objective is to establish a recognisable presence within the industry, rather than relying on a single page to attract every potential customer.
This becomes increasingly important as people use a combination of traditional search engines and AI platforms when researching businesses.
4. Measure more than organic traffic
A decline in organic clicks does not automatically mean an SEO campaign is failing.
Businesses should look at several performance indicators together, including:
- Organic impressions and clicks.
- Rankings for commercially important search terms.
- Website enquiries and conversions.
- Brand-related searches.
- Visibility within AI-generated answers.
- Referral traffic from AI platforms where measurable.
Google Search Console remains useful for monitoring impressions, clicks, average positions and search queries. Website analytics and conversion tracking can then help establish whether the traffic being generated is contributing to business results.
It is also worth comparing performance across individual landing pages. A page might receive fewer visitors but generate more enquiries if it is attracting people with stronger purchasing intent.
Why traditional SEO still matters
The growing presence of AI Overviews does not mean businesses should abandon traditional SEO.
Google still needs to discover, crawl and understand website content before it can use that information within its search features. Strong technical foundations, relevant content, appropriate internal linking and credible external references remain important.
What is changing is the number of ways a website can gain visibility.
A business that focuses exclusively on achieving a high organic ranking may overlook opportunities to appear in AI-generated answers, featured snippets and other search features.
Equally, focusing entirely on AI visibility while neglecting the quality of the website itself would be a mistake.
The strongest approach is to develop a strategy that supports both traditional search performance and visibility across AI-driven experiences.
This is where Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) becomes relevant. It focuses on making website content easier for AI-powered platforms to understand, use and reference when responding to questions.
What does this mean for businesses investing in SEO?
The latest case study offers an interesting insight into how Google’s AI features could influence website performance.
Although the estimated 0.9% AI click-through rate is relatively low, the decline in traditional organic clicks when AI visibility was disabled suggests that the value of appearing in these features may extend beyond direct referrals.
There is still plenty we do not know. Larger studies will be needed to establish whether these findings apply across different industries, websites and types of search query.
However, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: businesses need to think about how customers encounter their brand throughout the search process, rather than focusing exclusively on whether someone clicks a traditional organic listing.
At Graig.net, we help businesses adapt their search strategies to changing search behaviour, combining established SEO principles with approaches designed to improve visibility across AI-powered platforms. If your website is struggling to maintain organic visibility or you want to understand how AI search could affect your business, get in touch with Graig.net to discuss your SEO strategy.
Graig Upton
Graig Upton is a UK SEO and Google Ads consultant with 23 years of hands-on digital marketing experience. Google certified in Ads, Analytics and Conversions, he has helped businesses ranging from local providers to national brands - including Nando's and Financial Times - dominate search and scale their leads. Based in Preston, working with clients across the UK.