Again in April 2025, we discovered that AI Overviews decreased clicks to top-ranking content material by 34.5%, regardless of Google’s statements on the contrary.
Since then, AI Overviews have rolled out to extra international locations and extra languages, and plenty of web sites have continued to see the clicks from natural search decline month-over-month.
Right now, it appears doubtless that the impression of AI Overviews has worsened. As I wrote in our earlier research:
Assuming AI Overviews keep on this present type, that is additionally doubtless the best the CTR might be. Because the novelty wears off and the regulation of shitty clickthroughs kicks in, I’d count on to see clicks scale back additional.
To seek out out, we re-ran our research utilizing information from December 2025.
We discovered that the presence of an AI Overview now correlates with a 58% decrease common clickthrough price for the top-ranking web page.
Thanks (once more) Google.
We used the identical methodology as our earlier research:
- We chosen 300,000 key phrases from Ahrefs Key phrases Explorer database, consisting of 150,000 key phrases with an AI Overview current and 150,000 key phrases with informational intent and no AI Overview current.
- We used aggregated Google Search Console information to get every key phrase’s common desktop clickthrough price (CTR) per thirty days (sum of clicks/sum of impressions).
- We then in contrast the clickthrough charges for each samples for December 2023 (pre-AI Overviews) and December 2025
Sidenote.
This can be a two-year time hole (versus one yr within the earlier research), for the straightforward cause that December 2024 is after the rollout of AI Overviews.
See the place AI Overviews seem on your rankings
You need to use the SERP options filter to see precisely the place AI Overviews are triggering on your key phrase rankings. Head to Ahrefs’ Website Explorer, navigate to the Natural key phrases report, and choose AI Overview from the SERP options filter.
In December 2023, the typical place one CTR for informational key phrases was 0.076. In December 2025, this had dropped to 0.039:
In December 2023, the typical place one CTR for AI Overview key phrases was 0.073. In December 2025, this has dropped to 0.016:
Sidenote.
“AI Overview key phrases” confer with key phrases that triggered an AI Overview in December 2025. In December 2023, earlier than the rollout of AI Overviews, these key phrases didn’t set off an AI Overview.
Utilizing the drop in CTR for informational key phrases, we will once more predict the CTR for AI Overview key phrases, had AI Overviews not rolled out: 0.037 (0.072627*(0.038943/0.075730)).
If we calculate the distinction between the forecasted and precise CTR, the information counsel that the presence of AI Overviews now reduces the click-through price for place 1 by ~58% ((0.015677-0.03734)/0.03734):
That is one other important drop in click-through price. For each 100 clicks you would traditionally earn for a top-ranking web page, Google now “retains” 58.
What prompted the CTR drop for non-AI Overview key phrases?
AI Overviews are the latest in a protracted line of search options that assist resolve a person’s question with out leaving Google, together with Native Pack, Prime Tales, and most famously, Featured Snippets.
Because the presence of those SERP options elevated, click-through charges fell. So-called zero-click searches have been rising for a protracted time.
As we’ve studied beforehand, round 9% of AI Overviews seem exterior place one within the SERP:
We ran the identical evaluation on AI Overviews showing in lower-ranking positions.
The destructive impression of AI Overviews continues, albeit in much less dramatic phrases (small mercy given the already low click-through charges of positions 2-10):
| Place in search outcomes | Clickthrough price impression |
|---|---|
| 1 | -58.0% |
| 2 | -50.8% |
| 3 | -46.4% |
| 4 | -38.8% |
| 5 | -32.6% |
| 6 | -30.5% |
| 7 | -29.7% |
| 8 | -28.8% |
| 9 | -29.7% |
| 10 | -19.4% |
Closing ideas
As of December 2025, AI Overviews scale back the natural click-through price for place one content material by 58%. This bleak discovering is corroborated by different analysis, together with Seer Interactive (natural CTR down between 49.4% to 65.2%), Authoritas (47.5%), and even the Every day Mail (reporting 80-90% decrease CTR).
No matter your emotions in regards to the utility and worth of AI Overviews, it appears categorically true that they siphon away nearly all of the clicks as soon as out there to top-ranking pages. Search is changing into zero-click.
