Do AI Overviews reduce clicks to my website?
Short answer
For informational searches they can, because some people read the summary and go no further. For searches where someone is ready to hire a local company, I expect the effect to be smaller, since that person still has to choose a business and make contact. Your own Google Search Console data is the place to look.
AI Overviews can reduce clicks to your website for informational searches, because some people read the summary and stop there. For searches made by someone ready to hire, I expect a smaller effect, and for a home-service company those are the searches that pay the bills. How much your own site is affected is a question your own data can answer better than any headline.
Why I won’t give you a percentage
No single figure would be true for your site. Published estimates differ depending on who measured and which searches they sampled. They also date quickly, because Google keeps changing how often an Overview appears and what it looks like. A figure drawn from recipe sites or national publishers says little about an electrician in El Cajon. I’d rather show you your own numbers.
Which searches are most exposed
A search that a short summary can fully satisfy has the most to lose.
| Type of search | Hypothetical example | What I’d expect |
|---|---|---|
| Quick fact | “how long does a water heater last” | Most exposed. The summary may be all the reader wanted. |
| Research before buying | “repair or replace 15 year old AC” | Mixed. Some readers stop, others click through for detail. |
| Hiring | “water heater replacement Oceanside” | Less exposed. The person needs a company, and the map results and ads take much of the attention. |
| Your company name | The business name and city | Least exposed. They are already looking for you. |
These are expectations based on what each searcher wants, not measurements. Your data may disagree, and then the data wins.
How to check your own site
Use the performance report in Google Search Console. It lists the searches your site appeared for, with impressions (how many times you were shown) and clicks. Look at question-style searches over a long period. If impressions hold steady while clicks fall, people are seeing your listing and not visiting, which is consistent with an Overview answering the question first.
Consistent with isn’t the same as caused by. As far as I know, Search Console doesn’t report AI Overview appearances separately from the rest of your search data, so check what the current reports offer. Rule out the other explanations before blaming the Overview:
- Your average position for that search dropped.
- The season changed. Furnace questions fall off in a San Diego summer.
- More ads or a map block now sit above your listing.
Then search the phrase yourself and see whether an Overview shows and whether your page is one of the links.
Clicks aren’t the number that matters
A drop in visits to an article about water heater lifespan may cost you nothing if those readers were never going to hire anyone in San Diego County. Calls and booked jobs are the numbers to watch, and many customers call straight from your Google Business Profile without visiting the site at all. That’s why I report rankings, calls and AI visibility together, using call tracking where it’s set up, and not website traffic alone.
What to do about it
Don’t try to block it, and don’t stop publishing useful answers. A page that answers a question well can be one of the pages the Overview links to, which keeps your name in front of the reader even if fewer of them click. Getting a page into those links is the aim of Google AI Overviews optimization.
An AI summary can explain what a slab leak is, but a homeowner in Vista who has one still has to choose a company and call it. So put most of your remaining effort where the summary can’t replace you: service pages for hiring searches and your position in the map pack.