How Do I Know If AI Overviews Are Taking Clicks From My Site And What Can I Do About It? – Ask An SEO

There are a batch of assumptions being made astir the effect of AI platforms connected SEO postulation and conversions. However, really overmuch Google AI Overviews do impact your website’s capacity is going to dangle connected individual factors, for illustration the type of contented connected your site, the keywords you are targeting, and your audience.

Although Google has precocious introduced a Generative AI features capacity study successful Google Search Console, it does not springiness the level of item needed to place wherever AI Overviews are replacing a user’s request to click done to a webpage. In fact, location is presently nary elemental reporting functionality, either supplied by Google aliases a 3rd party, that determines precisely really overmuch postulation has been mislaid arsenic users get the accusation they request straight from the hunt motor results pages.

A caller study by researchers astatine the Indian School of Business and Carnegie Mellon University suggests AI Overviews could beryllium reducing clicks retired to webpages by arsenic overmuch arsenic 38%.

How to Identify How Much of a Site’s Traffic Is Being Lost Due to AI Overviews

Given the effect that a simplification successful clicks could person connected SEO performance, it is captious that we create a measurement to place really overmuch of a site’s postulation is being mislaid owed to the beingness connected Google’s AI Overviews.

Identify Which Keywords Trigger AIOs

The first measurement successful identifying really overmuch of your website’s postulation is mislaid owed to the beingness of AI Overviews is seeing which of your antecedently high-traffic-generating keywords are now triggering AIOs to appear.

There are a mates of ways you tin do this.

You tin manually hunt immoderate of your keywords, utilizing a VPN to find what the SERPs look for illustration successful your target geographies.

Or you tin usage your keyword search package – galore of which supply item connected the types of SERP features that are triggered for a peculiar keyword.

The cardinal is to place a group of keywords that are of a akin taxable and hunt liking that do and don’t trigger AI Overviews.

For example:

Determine What the Key Click Metrics Were Before and After the AIO Started Appearing

Once you person your database of keywords that trigger AI Overviews you should look to spot what the click-through rate, impressions measurement and mean rankings were some earlier and aft the AI Overview began appearing.

If you haven’t been continuously search the SERP features triggered for your target keywords, you whitethorn request to enlist your keyword search instrumentality again to find erstwhile the AIOs began appearing. Many of the keyword trackers let you to position snapshots of the SERPs complete group periods successful time. This will thief you get an thought of erstwhile the AIOs first showed up for your keywords.

From there, usage Google Search Console to place the mean click-through complaint for each of those keywords earlier and aft the AIOs began. You will only beryllium capable to spell backmost 16 months successful Google Search Console, truthful see a shorter clip play of comparison – possibly a period earlier and aft the AIOs first began being triggered for that keyword. [Note: Google confirmed Search Console over-reported impressions from May 2025 done April 2026 and this needs to beryllium considered erstwhile reviewing belief differences.]

If You Can’t Determine When the AIOs Started Appearing

If you do not person entree to package that tin show you erstwhile the AI Overviews began being triggered for your keywords, you tin alternatively comparison the mean CTR of the keywords you’ve gathered that do trigger AI Overviews, and the similarly-themed ones that don’t. From there, you tin comparison the 2 cohorts’ cardinal metrics, ideally betwixt keywords that person akin belief levels and mean ranking positions.

Look for the Telltale Signs of AIO Click-Loss

Once you person sewage information either comparing the aforesaid keywords’ metrics earlier and aft AIOs began appearing, aliases a akin cohort of keywords that do and don’t trigger AI Overviews, you tin look for signs of click-loss.

Essentially, the motion that your website is losing clicks owed to the beingness of AI Overviews is that rankings and impressions are stable, but click-through complaint has declined.

If you are comparing the 2 cohorts of keywords, you will beryllium capable to place click-loss erstwhile measuring the CTR of keywords pinch akin mean impressions and positions complete the period, but the keywords that trigger AIOs person a little click-through rate.

What You Can Do About It

If you are seeing signs of click-loss owed to AI Overviews, each (including the traffic!) is not lost.

You whitethorn beryllium capable to retrieve immoderate of the clicks from those keywords, and indeed, you whitethorn observe that you don’t really want to retrieve the postulation from immoderate of them.

Categorize the Keywords

The first measurement to find what to do astir click nonaccomplishment is to divided your keywords affected by the AIOs into 3 groups.

Keywords to Defend

These are immoderate keywords that led to commercially important pages. These are historically your conversion-driving aliases aiding clicks. Only put keywords successful this bucket if location are still clicks to beryllium had – that is, the AIOs are linking to webpages akin to yours. For example, the AIO for “best feline nutrient bowls for bedewed food” mentions products and cites webpages wherever they tin beryllium purchased from, giving nonstop entree to conversion pages from the SERPs.

Keywords to Adapt

These are the keywords that mightiness not beryllium capable to retrieve clicks, but are still commercially important to the business. These keywords are triggering AIOs which nary longer mention sources for illustration your content, aliases so nonstop overmuch postulation to webpages astatine all. The answers are very overmuch provided successful the AIOs pinch small logic aliases opportunity for users to click distant to a webpage for much information. They whitethorn still supply mentions that assistance successful marque discovery. For example, “what type of nutrient for aged cats” triggers an AIO which specifications types of foods, and moreover mentions immoderate brands but links retired very infrequently to those brands.

Keywords to Depreciate

These are keywords which trigger answers that tin beryllium easy answered by AIOs pinch nary request to click anyplace else. They are keywords that were driving very top-of-the-funnel, information-seeking traffic. There really isn’t overmuch request for the AI Overviews to mention aliases comparison brands. For example, “best measurement to provender an aged cat.” This keyword triggers an AI Overview consequence that contains adjuvant information, recommendations, and suggestions but fewer links aliases marque mentions. This traffic, earlier AIOs, was improbable to person quickly owed to being truthful acold astatine the exploration, answer-seeking shape and not needfully looking for products aliases services.

Strategies for Each Keyword Type

Once you person sorted your keywords that are experiencing click nonaccomplishment owed to AIOs into those 3 categories, you tin create strategies for each group.

Keywords to Defend

For the astir commercially important keywords, the strategy is astir reclaiming clicks wherever possible. This is because these keywords person been identified arsenic high-converting, high-risk keywords. It isn’t capable to conscionable beryllium mentioned successful an AI Overview; these are the keywords you were antecedently seeing customers person from.

You will apt want to still purpose for inclusion of your marque aliases products wrong the AI overviews themselves. There are still opportunities for clicks retired to beryllium had for this keyword group. If your website already appears successful the AIOs but you person still noticed a driblet successful clicks, the halfway purpose is to provide reasons for the searchers to want to click to your site.

Giving users a logic to time off Google includes offering them contented that cannot beryllium replicated connected the SERPs. This includes tools, calculators, downloads. Essentially, location needs to beryllium thing connected your webpage that cannot beryllium replaced by the accusation provided successful the AI Overview. For the cat-food illustration earlier, you whitethorn want to supply a instrumentality that calculates the optimal magnitude of nutrient to provender your feline based connected their age, weight, sex, and eating habits. You could past connection them the nonstop feeding bowls needed for their pet’s feeding requirements. This goes beyond the much modular accusation Google will supply successful the AI Overviews, and links personalized recommendations to your products.

Increasingly important successful our AI-focused situation is improving marque loyalty. This intends moving holistically connected your marque truthful that alternatively than relying connected an AI Overview to supply answers, searchers whitethorn specifically look to your marque mentions, aliases sojourn the citations for that information. This tin beryllium arsenic elemental arsenic gating unsocial contented down rank logins, truthful the AI overviews can’t perchance scrape and coming it themselves. It could beryllium much sophisticated, successful the shape of loyalty programs and financial incentives for visiting your marque complete stockists aliases affiliates.

Essentially, the extremity is to activity pinch the AI Overviews, getting your marque citations and mentions successful them wherever possible, but besides to entice users straight to your website for the conversions.

Keywords to Adapt

These keywords connection an opportunity for greater visibility successful the SERPs, but don’t needfully request to retrieve the mislaid traffic.

The purpose for this keyword group is to improve your chances of being cited aliases mentioned. This intends providing contented that is unsocial to your site, and ideally underpinned by first-party information – fundamentally giving Google the logic to mention your website.

Look to create contented that answers the adjacent question, beyond the 1 which the AIO answers. This intends that though you whitethorn not get the click from the first keyword aliases question, arsenic the personification continues successful their speech pinch the AI Overview, your marque has different chance to beryllium cited.

Keywords to Depreciate

These keywords aren’t that commercially important to your business, and whitethorn not warrant clip aliases resources invested to regain the clicks lost.

One cardinal facet of these keywords is that you will want to quantify really valuable, aliases not, the postulation that utilized to get connected your tract from them really was. It would beryllium prudent to look astatine the emblematic personification journeys from users landing connected the pages these keywords utilized to thrust postulation to. The likelihood is that they were often arriving connected the tract for information, and not engaging further pinch it.

Think Holistically

In essence, identifying whether your website is losing clicks to AI Overviews is conscionable 1 portion of the equation. The cardinal is identifying whether that mislaid postulation was really that important to your business. If it was, past regaining it mightiness beryllium possible, and should beryllium the focus. If it was but the clicks are improbable to beryllium recovered, past attraction much connected utilizing the AI Overview to your advantage – gaining visibility done mentions.

Finally, not each mislaid postulation was valuable to your business. Make judge to quantify this, arsenic it whitethorn beryllium the cardinal to allaying the fears of worried stakeholders erstwhile you adjacent nonstop information a study showing a driblet successful traffic.

More Resources:

• Google AI Overviews Impact On Publishers & How To Adapt Into 2026
• What Top Stories Inside AI Overviews Means For Publishers And Brands In 2026 And Beyond
• When AI Takes The Click, Click Worthiness Should Guide Your Strategy

Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/MCP