A brand new examine from GrowthSRC Media finds that click-through charges (CTRs) for Google’s top-ranking search outcome have declined from 28% to 19%. This 32% drop correlates with the enlargement of AI Overviews, a characteristic that now seems throughout a variety of search outcomes.
Place #2 skilled a fair steeper decline, with CTRs falling 39% from 20.83% to 12.60% year-over-year.
The analysis analyzed greater than 200,000 key phrases from 30 web sites throughout ecommerce, SaaS, B2B, and EdTech industries. Listed below are extra highlights from the examine.
Key Findings
In accordance with the report, AI Overviews appeared for simply 10,000 key phrases in August 2024. By Might 2025, that quantity had grown to over 172,000.
This enlargement adopted the March core replace and was confirmed throughout Google’s full U.S. rollout announcement on the I/O developer convention.
These developments seem to distinction with feedback from Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who stated in a Decoder interview with The Verge:
“In the event you put content material and hyperlinks inside AI Overviews, they get increased click-through charges than in case you put it exterior of AI Overviews.”
CTRs Shift Downward and Upward
Whereas high positions noticed notable declines, the examine noticed a 30.63% improve in CTRs for positions 6 by 10 in comparison with the earlier 12 months. This means that customers could also be scrolling previous AI-generated summaries to search out unique sources additional down the web page.
Throughout positions 1 by 5, the examine reported a mean CTR decline of 17.92%. The evaluation centered on roughly 74,000 key phrases rating within the high 10.
Main Publishers Report Related Tendencies
The findings align with studies from main publishers. Carly Steven, search engine optimisation and editorial ecommerce director at MailOnline, advised attendees on the WAN-IFRA World Information Media Congress that CTRs drop when AI Overviews are current.
As reported by Press Gazette, Steven defined:
“On desktop, once we are rating primary in natural search, [CTR] is about 13% on desktop and about 20% on cellular. When there may be an AI Overview current, that drops to lower than 5% on desktop and seven% on cellular.”
MailOnline’s broader information confirmed CTRs falling by 56.1% on desktop and 48.2% on cellular for key phrases with AI Overviews.
Ecommerce Affected by Product Widgets
The examine additionally highlighted modifications in ecommerce efficiency tied to Google’s Product Widgets.
Widgets like “Well-liked Merchandise” and “Beneath [X] Value” started showing extra often from November 2024 onward, particularly in classes equivalent to house care, vogue, and sweetness.
These widgets open a Google Procuring interface immediately inside search outcomes, which can cut back clicks to conventional natural listings.
Methodology
GrowthSRC analyzed year-over-year information from Google Search Console throughout shoppers in a number of industries, specializing in modifications earlier than and after the complete rollout of AI Overviews and Product Widgets.
The dataset included queries, clicks, impressions, CTRs, and common positions.
Information was segmented by content material kind, together with product pages, assortment pages, and weblog posts. Further key phrase information from Ahrefs helped decide which queries triggered AI Overviews or Product Widgets.
What This Means
Mahendra Choudhary, Accomplice at GrowthSRC Media, inspired search engine optimisation professionals to rethink conventional efficiency benchmarks:
“With decrease clicks to web sites from informational content material turning into the brand new regular, that is the proper time to let your shoppers and inner stakeholders know that chasing web site visitors as a KPI needs to be considered in another way.”
He recommends shifting focus towards model visibility in social search, geographic relevance, mentions in LLM outputs, and total contribution to income or leads.
This shift might require:
- Monitoring engagement past clicks, equivalent to on-site conversions, branded search development, or assisted conversions.
- Diversifying content material distribution throughout platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Reddit, the place customers typically bypass conventional search.
- Investing in high-authority content material on the high of the funnel to construct model consciousness, even when direct clicks decline.
These methods may help guarantee search engine optimisation continues to drive measurable worth as person conduct evolves.
Wanting Forward
The decline in natural CTRs for high positions highlights how search conduct is altering as AI-generated content material performs a bigger function in discovery.
Adapting to this surroundings might contain putting much less emphasis on rankings alone and focusing extra on how visibility helps broader enterprise targets.
As zero-click search turns into extra frequent, understanding the place customers are participating, and the place they aren’t, will likely be important to sustaining visibility.
Featured Picture: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock
