Are Google AI Overviews Cutting Clicks to Your Website?

Google AI Overviews can cut clicks: in Pew Research Center's March 2025 browsing data, Google users who saw an AI summary clicked a traditional search result in 8% of visits, compared with 15% of visits when no summary appeared. Whether a summary shows up at all depends on the search: Pew found AI summaries on 8% of one- or two-word searches and on 53% of searches with 10 words or more.

A Leacon Digital check of live Google results from Pittsburgh on October 23, 2026 found an AI Overview on 6 of 10 home service searches. The check pulled live Google results for 10 searches through DataForSEO, set to Pittsburgh on mobile, and recorded the first 10 rows of each results page. Five of the six question-style searches showed an AI Overview, and so did "best hvac company near me," below Local Services Ads, while the repair and emergency searches (furnace repair, roof repair, emergency plumber) showed the map pack and no AI Overview. This post covers what AI Overviews are, what the click research says, how Google responds, how to see the impact in Search Console and whether to opt out.

What are Google AI Overviews?

An AI Overview is an AI-generated summary that Google places in its search results, with links to supporting pages, when Google's systems determine generative AI can be especially helpful. Google launched AI Overviews at its I/O event in 2024. According to Google's Search Help, searchers cannot switch the feature off, though the Web filter shows only text-based links.

To appear as one of those supporting links, Google Search Central says a page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet. Google lists no additional requirements beyond that.

Do AI Overviews reduce clicks to websites?

Pew Research Center's July 22, 2025 study points that way. Pew analyzed the browsing data of 900 U.S. adults in its KnowledgePanel Digital panel during March 2025, covering 68,879 unique Google searches, and 18% of those searches produced an AI summary. Users who saw one clicked a traditional result in 8% of visits versus 15% without one, and they clicked a link inside the summary itself in just 1% of visits.

Pew also found that people ended their browsing session on 26% of pages with an AI summary, compared with 16% of pages with only traditional results. Pew cautions that "The AI summary for any given search may change over time," so treat these as March 2025 numbers.

A 2026 working paper on SSRN by Agarwal of the Indian School of Business and Sen of Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College reached a similar result from a field experiment. Its abstract says AI Overviews "reduce outbound organic clicks by 39.8% and increase zero-click searches by 34.5%," with no effect on sponsored clicks. It is a working paper, posted April 3, 2026 and revised July 8, 2026, so treat it as early research.

What does Google say about AI Overviews and clicks?

Google disputes the idea that AI is draining traffic across the web. In an August 6, 2025 post, Google's Liz Reid wrote: "Overall, total organic click volume from Google Search to websites has been relatively stable year-over-year." The same post says traffic is shifting, "resulting in decreased traffic to some sites and increased traffic to others," and that some reports of steep declines are "often based on flawed methodologies, isolated examples, or traffic changes that occurred prior to the roll out of AI features in Search."

Google also argues the remaining clicks are better ones. Its Search Central documentation says clicks from results pages with AI Overviews are "higher quality (meaning, users are more likely to spend more time on the site)." Separately, at I/O 2025 Google said that in the U.S. and India, AI Overviews were driving over a 10% increase in usage of Google for the types of queries that show them. That figure counts searches on Google, not clicks to websites.

The two sides measure different things. Google's figure covers total click volume across the web, while Pew and the SSRN paper measured what users did on searches where a summary appeared.

What did Pittsburgh home service searches show in October 2026?

Here is how the 10 searches in the Leacon Digital check broke down:

• Furnace repair, roof repair and emergency plumber: the map pack came first, with no AI Overview.

• How much does a new furnace cost, how much does a roof replacement cost, why is my furnace blowing cold air, how often should you replace your roof, and signs you need a new furnace: an AI Overview in the first position.

• Water heater replacement cost: no AI Overview, with a map pack lower in the first 10 rows.

• Best HVAC company near me: Local Services Ads first, then an AI Overview, then the map pack.

Treat this as a snapshot, not a rate. It covers one day, one location, one device and 10 hand-picked searches, and an AI Overview below the 10th row would not have been counted. It is also not comparable to Pew's 18%, which came from real searches by 900 panelists.

Why did the Pittsburgh repair searches show the map pack instead?

Google's Search Help gives no rule for this. It says only that AI Overviews appear when its systems determine generative AI can be especially helpful. In the Pittsburgh check, the searches that signal a job right now returned a map of local businesses first, and they were short, two-word searches, the kind Pew found produced an AI summary just 8% of the time.

For a heating, roofing or plumbing company around Pittsburgh, the urgent searches in this check started at the map pack, not a summary. If the map pack is where your next job starts, this rundown of what a complete Google Business Profile includes lists the categories, hours, photos and reviews to fill in. The broader guide to local SEO for Pittsburgh businesses adds NAP consistency and local content.

The cost and how-to questions are where an AI Overview sat on top. A business's own cost and how-to pages can still appear as supporting links inside those overviews. For deciding which of those pages to write, this guide to content marketing strategy for local businesses ties content to business outcomes.

How can you see AI Overview impact in Google Search Console?

Google Search Central says AI Overview traffic is included in the Performance report under the "Web" search type, not split out. Search Console Help explains the counting: "An AI Overview occupies a single position in search results," all of its links get that position, and "Clicking a link to an external page in the AI Overview counts as a click."

Search Console also has a Generative AI performance report, rolled out to all websites worldwide as of August 31, 2026. Search Console Help describes it as an impressions report for links shown in AI Overviews and AI Mode, viewable by pages, countries, dates and devices. Two results from the same site in one AI feature count as a single impression in the chart total, Search Labs experiments are left out, and a site with too few AI impressions may not see the report at all.

A practical check: compare clicks and impressions on your cost and how-to pages against your service pages over the same months. Then look past clicks to calls and booked jobs, using these metrics that show whether your marketing is working.

Should a local business opt out of AI Overviews?

On June 3, 2026, Google announced a Search Console control that opts a site out of its generative AI features, including AI Overviews, AI Mode and AI Overviews in Discover, and updated the post on August 31, 2026. Google says opted-out sites "will not receive traffic or impressions" from those features, and that the control is not a ranking signal outside them.

Search Console Help suggests checking the Generative AI performance report before you change anything: "This can help you get an idea of how changing your control may impact traffic to your site." For a local business, opting out gives up any chance of being a linked source on cost and how-to questions, while searchers still see AI Overviews on their end. Look at your own report first.

FAQ

What is a zero-click search?

A zero-click search is one that ends without the searcher clicking through to a website. The SSRN working paper found AI Overviews raised zero-click searches by 34.5% in its experiment.

How many people say they read AI search summaries?

In a Pew Research Center survey of 5,119 U.S. adults, taken February 17 to 23, 2026 and released June 17, 2026, 60% said they ever read AI summaries at the top of search engine results, 30% said no and 10% were not sure. The question covered search engines in general, not only Google.

Can people turn off AI Overviews in Google?

Not directly. Google's Search Help says "Features cannot be turned off." Someone who wants plain links can switch to the Web filter.

Does a click from an AI Overview count in Search Console?

Yes. Search Console Help says a click on an external link inside an AI Overview counts as a click, and it appears in the Performance report under the Web search type.

Which websites do AI Overviews link to most?

In Pew's March 2025 data, Wikipedia, YouTube and Reddit were the top cited sources, together making up 15% of AI summary sources. Government sites showed up more too: 6% of AI summary links went to .gov sites, compared with 2% of links in standard results.

Will opting out of AI Overviews hurt my regular rankings?

Google says the opt-out control is not used as a ranking signal outside its generative AI features. An opted-out site does lose any traffic and impressions from those features.

Get a Clear Read on Your Search Traffic

Leacon Digital is a digital marketing agency in Irwin, PA, working with businesses across Western Pennsylvania and beyond. Its SEO services cover local, on-page and technical SEO, with the goal of helping local businesses rank on Google and in AI search. If AI Overviews have you wondering where your clicks went, a free marketing consult is an easy place to start.

Visit Leacon Digital or call 724-953-7685 today. Contact us for more information.

Related reading: Local SEO for Pittsburgh Businesses: Essential Guide and Content Marketing Strategy That Drives Business Results.