Google AI Overviews reduce clicks mainly on informational searches, where the summary answers the question on the results page. Searches with local or buying intent ("boiler repair Coventry", "accountant for contractors") are far less affected, because the person still needs a business. For most small businesses, the result is fewer visits to blog posts and guides, while enquiries from service and location pages hold up better than the traffic graph suggests.
This post explains where AI Overviews appear, how to measure what they are doing to your own site rather than relying on headlines, and what is worth changing. For the wider picture of optimising for AI tools such as ChatGPT and Perplexity, see our guide to AI search optimisation.
Key takeaways
- AI Overviews mostly appear on informational and comparison queries.
- Local and transactional searches still send clicks to businesses.
- Impressions up with clicks down in Search Console is the typical pattern.
- Measure enquiries per page, not just sessions, before reacting.
- Pages with first-hand detail are more likely to be cited and clicked.
What AI Overviews are and when they show
AI Overviews are the generated summaries Google shows above the normal results for some searches, with links to the pages it drew on. They started rolling out widely in 2024 and now appear in the UK on a large share of question-style searches. Google also offers AI Mode, a separate conversational search tab, which behaves more like a chatbot with citations.
They tend to appear for:
- How and why questions ("how often should a boiler be serviced").
- Comparisons and definitions ("limited company vs sole trader").
- Multi-part research questions.
They appear much less often, or lower down, for searches with a clear local or purchase intent, where the map pack and shopping results already do the job. Google's own documentation on AI features says there is no special markup needed to be included; the same ranking and quality systems apply.
Which small business pages lose traffic
Think about your pages by the type of question they answer.
| Page type | Typical query | Likely effect |
|---|---|---|
| Basic how-to and definition posts | "what is a CSCS card" | Highest loss; the summary answers it |
| Cost guides | "how much does a loft conversion cost" | Moderate; people still click for detail and local pricing |
| Detailed guides with tools, checklists or opinion | "loft conversion planning permission checklist" | Lower; summaries cannot replace the full resource |
| Service pages | "loft conversion company Nottingham" | Low; local intent and the map pack dominate |
| Brand searches | "[your business name] reviews" | Low |
A lot of the traffic small businesses lose is traffic that rarely turned into work. A tradesman's post answering a general DIY question attracted readers from all over the country who were never going to hire him. Losing those visits is annoying for the graph and harmless for the business.
How to measure the effect on your own site
Ignore broad industry claims and look at your own data. In Search Console's Performance report:
- Compare the last three months with the same period a year earlier, to avoid seasonal noise.
- Switch on impressions, clicks, CTR and average position.
- Look at the Pages tab and sort by click change.
- For the biggest losers, check the Queries tab. If impressions are steady or up, position is steady, and CTR has fallen, a SERP feature such as an AI Overview is the likely cause.
- Search a few of those queries yourself, logged out, to see what the results page looks like now.
Search Console does not separate AI Overview clicks out; they are counted in the normal Web figures. So the pattern is an inference, not a measurement. Then go to your analytics and enquiry records: did form submissions and calls from organic search actually fall? Often they did not, because the lost traffic was on pages that never produced enquiries.
What not to do
Some reactions we have seen make things worse:
- Deleting informational content wholesale. Good guides still build topical authority and get cited, which supports your service pages.
- Blocking Google's crawlers to stay out of AI Overviews. The Google-Extended token in robots.txt controls use for Gemini model training, not AI Overviews in Search. Blocking Googlebot removes you from search entirely.
- Publishing large volumes of thin AI-written posts to make up the numbers. This is exactly what Google's spam policies target, and our article on the 2026 core update covers how that has played out.
- Paying for "AI Overview ranking" packages that promise placement. Nobody can guarantee it.
A worked example: a local trades business
Take a heating engineer in Derby with a site of around forty pages: a homepage, six service pages, a handful of area pages and a blog of general boiler advice built up over a few years.
The likely pattern after AI Overviews is a noticeable fall in clicks on posts like "why is my boiler losing pressure" and "what does a boiler service include". Those posts ranked nationally and drew readers from Glasgow to Plymouth. Impressions stay similar, positions barely move, CTR drops. Meanwhile "boiler repair Derby" and "boiler service near me" keep sending visitors through the map pack and the service pages.
When we look at enquiries rather than sessions on a site like this, the blog usually produced a small share of them, mostly from posts that mention the local area and link clearly to a booking page. So the response is not to rewrite the whole blog. It is to make sure the few posts that do convert answer the question quickly, show local experience (photos of real jobs, the makes he services most, typical issues in older Derby housing stock) and push readers towards booking. The rest can stay as they are.
Your own mix will differ, which is why the Search Console check comes before any changes.
Making pages worth citing and clicking
Being linked from an AI Overview gets some clicks, especially when the summary only partly answers the question. Pages that get cited tend to have:
- A direct answer near the top, in a sentence or two, before the detail.
- Clear headings that match the sub-questions people ask.
- Specifics a summary cannot carry: local prices and what drives them, step-by-step photos, worked examples, downloadable checklists.
- Evident first-hand experience: who wrote it, what jobs they have done, what they would actually recommend. Our E-E-A-T guide goes into this.
- Accurate structured data for the business, reviews and FAQs where they genuinely apply.
The aim is to write content where the summary works as a trailer rather than a replacement.
Shifting effort towards pages AI cannot replace
For most small businesses, the practical answer is to rebalance time. Spend less on generic top-of-funnel posts and more on:
- Service pages with real detail about what is included and how the job runs.
- Location pages for areas you genuinely serve, with local proof.
- Your Google Business Profile, reviews and photos, which sit in the map pack below or alongside AI summaries for local searches. See our local SEO guide.
- Case studies and project write-ups, which earn trust and links.
- Tools that need interaction: quote calculators, availability checkers, booking.
This is not a new strategy. It is what produced enquiries before AI Overviews too; the change just removes some of the reward for generic content.
When paid search makes more sense
For high-value queries where AI Overviews push organic results well down the page, Google Ads can appear above or within the results. It is not a fix for everything and costs money every click, but for a short list of commercial terms it is often the quickest way to stay visible while organic work catches up. Our comparison of SEO vs PPC sets out when each makes sense.
What we are doing for clients
In practice, we audit which pages have lost clicks and whether those clicks ever produced enquiries, then rework the pages that matter: sharper opening answers, more first-hand detail, better internal links from guides to services. We tidy schema and the Business Profile at the same time. Old posts that drew irrelevant national traffic are left alone or merged rather than chased. That work sits within our SEO service.
Frequently asked questions
Do Google AI Overviews reduce website traffic?
They often reduce clicks on informational searches, because the summary answers the question on the results page. Local and buying-intent searches are much less affected. The impact on any one site depends on what kind of queries it ranks for.
How can I tell if AI Overviews are affecting my site?
In Search Console, look for queries where impressions and position held steady but click-through rate fell, then search those queries yourself to see if an AI Overview appears. Search Console does not report AI Overview clicks separately.
Can I stop my website appearing in AI Overviews?
You can use the nosnippet or max-snippet controls on pages, which limit how content is shown in AI Overviews and in normal snippets alike. Blocking Google-Extended does not remove you from AI Overviews. For most businesses, opting out costs more visibility than it saves.
How do I get my business cited in Google AI Overviews?
There is no special markup. Pages that rank well, answer the question directly near the top and include specific, first-hand detail are the ones most often cited. Strong overall SEO is still the route in.
Are AI Overviews shown for local searches?
They can appear for some local questions, but searches like a service plus a town are still dominated by the map pack and business listings. Your Google Business Profile remains the main way to be seen for those.
Worried about falling search traffic?
Get in touch and we will look at your Search Console data with you, work out which losses matter and which do not, and plan what to change.
