Google AI Overviews, clicks and traffic impact: Unraveling the mystery

Google began adding AI Overviews (AIO) to the U.S. search results on May 14. While vaguely mentioning that links in AIO get higher click-through rates (CTRs), Google has remained evasive when directly asked about this.

When discussing this important topic with my clients, we talk about two things:

• AI Overviews provide a fundamentally different user experience, so thinking about CTR in the traditional way may be misleading or make you overlook potential opportunities.
• Google may be telling the truth...