2026-01-30
AI reach has been subtle yet very impactful. Google AI Overviews have been transforming search trends to not be more favorable to traditional search engine optimization. You may have been ranking well, however, you are consistently seeing a decline in organic sessions on a monthly basis even though your website continues to maintain/see increasing rankings.
To understand what the Google AI Overview is, in simple terms, they generate an overview of search results through their AI, which will provide answers directly on the search engine results page (SERP), without requiring the user to go to a specific website for that information.
Why is it that the rankings we receive no longer guarantee that we will receive the clicks we should have received? Once a visitor gets their answer from the SERP, there is no reason for them to go to any of the individual listings.
A real-world example: There are many SEOs that are experiencing similar patterns, their ranking have maintained so they should have increased, their impressions to the search result have remained solid, however, their CTR and resultant traffic has declined specifically when it comes to information based queries.
This shift is forcing every SEO company in India and globally to rethink what “success” really looks like in modern search.
This blog will breakdown the reasons that AI Overviews are killing your organic clicks and how you, as an SEO agency, can respond to and thrive in this changing search landscape.
AI Overviews (previously Search Generative Experience (SGE)) are Google summarizing multiple data points from multiple sources using AI to provide instant answers within search results on the SERP.
Google’s goal:
From Google’s perspective, this reduces friction. From an SEO perspective, it reduces traffic.
How AI Overviews change user behavior: Users skim, get their answer, and leave without clicking any organic result.
Queries most affected:
2. The Data: How AI Overviews Impact Organic CTR
The purpose of this paper is to show how AI overviews affect organic click-through rate (CTR). Zero-click searches have been growing rapidly.
AI Overviews accelerated this trend. Informational queries account for the highest decrease in CTR; although, transactional and commercial queries have been more resistant than informational.
Mobile devices are being affected more due to decreased real estate on their screens. All of the AI Overview data is above-the-fold on a desktop compared to a mobile.
The healthcare, finance, technology, and education industries are the most severely impacted due to the reliance on informational content, which AI is capable of quickly summarizing.
3. Why Traditional SEO Is Failing Against AI Overviews
Despite AI dominance, some query types still drive traffic:
This mindset is essential for brands investing in SEO services in India, where competition is fierce and outcomes matter.
AI summarizes what already exists. Your job is to publish what doesn’t.
AI cites sources but it can’t replace lived experience.
If AI Overviews are inevitable, make sure you are cited.
Being cited builds visibility even without a click.
Some types of digital content always generate high clickthrough-rates are:
If it is not easily summarised, it will be clicked on.
Metrics that are key include:
What you should no longer be concentrating on: Just looking at position; traffic with no clicks is no longer considered a successful result.
SEO isn’t dead; click farming is. We adapt and decline.
Our most important points are:
Search is shifting from discovery to decision-making. SEOs must evolve from keyword optimizers into growth strategists who influence revenue, trust, and brand authority.
Mindset Shift: You need to start to build brand influence instead of just traffic and you need to do that by providing Google and its AI with those things that you cannot be supplied by them.
Palvinder Singh is an SEO professional with 8+ years of experience scaling organic search performance, improving brand visibility, and driving measurable business results across competitive digital landscapes. He has a proven track record of boosting organic traffic, keyword visibility, and revenue for leading automobile brands, as well as delivering strong organic sales and conversions across both B2B and B2C e-commerce through performance-led SEO strategies.
