Ahrefs reran the data in December 2025 using 300,000 keywords and concluded that when an \u201cAI Overview\u201d appears in search results, the number of clicks on the top-ranked page drops by 58%. The number of clicks on the second-ranked page drops by 51%, and on the third-ranked page by 46%. Clicks are declining across all positions on the page.<\/p>\n
This isn't some theoretical exercise. These are actual results based on Search Console data.<\/p>\n
If your website\u2019s traffic has been steadily declining since the second half of 2024 and you haven\u2019t been able to pinpoint the cause, it\u2019s most likely related to this. Google\u2019s search results pages no longer look the way they did a decade ago\u2014or even two years ago. The \u201cAI Overview\u201d now occupies a large portion of the first screen of search results, and for some queries, users don\u2019t even need to click through to any website at all. There\u2019s also something called \u201cAI Mode,\u201d which is even more radical\u2014it directly provides you with a long answer similar to ChatGPT.<\/p>\n
For webmasters and content managers who rely on SEO for their livelihood, this is essentially a complete overhaul of the rules of the game.<\/p>\n
Ahrefs tracked a group of well-known informational blogs and found that their current organic traffic is only about 28% of what it was at its peak. In other words, it has dropped by 72%. Affiliate marketing sites fared even worse: the average traffic for a group of 11 affiliate sites fell by 66%.<\/p>\n
Why informational content? Because this type of content is the easiest for AI to answer directly. If you search for \u201dWhat is a CDN?\u201d, Google used to show you ten blue links to articles. Now, AI Overview provides a definition and a few key points right on the search results page, so users read it and leave without clicking on your link.<\/p>\n
This is related to Google\u2019s several major algorithm updates in 2024. Many sites that were purely informational saw their traffic cut in half during that wave of updates. Google\u2019s stance is very clear: if your website merely reposts and organizes information without offering any unique value, AI can do it faster and more comprehensively than you can.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not that SEO is no longer viable. It\u2019s just that certain types of content are becoming obsolete, while others are becoming even more important.<\/p>\n
Transaction-related and navigation-related queries are still safe.<\/strong>When users search for terms like \u201dbuy,\u201d \u201dprice,\u201d or \u201dpromo code,\u201d AI Overview is hard to replace\u2014because what users need are specific product pages and purchase links, not just a text description. Brand name searches are even more of a given: when users search for your brand name, no matter how much Google promotes AI, it still has to rank your website at the top.<\/p>\n The tools pages are also getting better.<\/strong>Calculators, converters, generators, and comparison tools\u2014these types of pages address \u201dpractical\u201d needs, which AI Overview cannot provide. I\u2019ve seen several sites where traffic actually increased after they transformed their article pages into interactive tools.<\/p>\n Content based on in-depth, hands-on experience remains competitive.<\/strong>Articles that include specific data, screenshots of real-world examples, and firsthand experiences are far more valuable than AI-generated, generic content. Google explicitly stated in late 2024 that content needs to demonstrate \u201dexperience\u201d\u2014the first \u201cE\u201d in E-E-A-T. There\u2019s a growing gap in search rankings between content based on actual hands-on experience with a product and content that\u2019s merely compiled from online sources.<\/p>\n This could be the biggest shift in SEO in 2026.<\/p>\n Ahrefs analyzed 75,000 brands and found that the correlation between a brand\u2019s online mentions and its visibility in AI search ranged from 0.66 to 0.71. The correlation is even higher for mentions on YouTube, at approximately 0.74. In other words, the more your brand is discussed online, the more likely it is to appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode.<\/p>\n Brand search volume is also likely a signal that Google uses. If someone specifically searches for your brand name, that in itself is proof of your website\u2019s \u201dauthenticity.\u201d A site that no one searches for can be easily demoted in Google\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n This logic is actually not hard to understand. In the past, Google relied on the number of links to assess a website\u2019s quality, but links could be manipulated. Brand search volume is hard to manipulate, and brand mentions are hard to fake. Google has found a signal that is much harder to manipulate.<\/p>\n Let's talk about a few practical things we can do.<\/p>\n First, review your existing content and either upgrade or consolidate articles with low information density. If your blog has 100 posts that are all along the lines of \u201dWhat is XX\u201d or \u201dDefinition of XX,\u201d address this immediately. Either add unique practical insights and data, or simply merge them into a single, more in-depth long-form article. A 2,000-character article backed by real-world case studies and data is far more useful than ten 500-character AI-generated pieces.<\/p>\n Second, convert some of the content from articles into tools. If you have an article titled \u201dHow to Calculate Tax Rates,\u201d create an online tax rate calculator. In the age of AI Overview, tool pages are far more valuable than plain text content because they address users\u2019 practical needs.<\/p>\n Third, start building your brand\u2014don\u2019t just focus on SEO. The return on investment for brand building takes longer than SEO, but in the era of AI search, it\u2019s the only moat that can drive long-term growth. Brands that are naturally mentioned in industry forums, on Reddit, YouTube, and podcasts will see their visibility in AI search continue to rise.<\/p>\n Fourth, keep an eye on your brand search volume. Track search trends for your brand terms in Google Trends. If brand search volume is rising, it indicates that your site is becoming more \u201dlegitimate.\u201d If brand search volume is zero or continues to decline, Google has reason to believe your site isn\u2019t worth directing traffic to.<\/p>\n \u201cSearch volume for the term \u201dAI Overview Optimization\u201d has increased by 6,251 TP3T over the past year. This indicates that many SEO professionals have begun to focus specifically on how to get cited in AI Overviews.<\/p>\n But to be honest, there is currently no universally accepted methodology for \u201dAI Overview optimization.\u201d Based on existing data, pages ranked in the top ten are most likely to be cited by AI Overview, so traditional SEO rankings remain the foundation. Pages with a clear content structure, a well-defined list of key points, and the use of structured data are slightly more likely to be cited, but none of these are decisive factors.<\/p>\n My assessment is that, in the short term, there\u2019s no need to optimize specifically for AI Overview. You should stick to the traditional SEO approach\u2014providing valuable content, earning organic backlinks, and building brand signals. AI Overview is built on top of traditional ranking factors; your page must rank well to have a chance of being cited by AI Overview. Putting the cart before the horse by chasing AI Overview optimization isn\u2019t worth the effort.<\/p>\n Google's AI Mode is expanding its coverage, gradually extending from English search to more languages. There is no clear timeline yet for when AI Overview will be rolled out on a large scale for Chinese search, but the direction is clear.<\/p>\n There\u2019s still a window of opportunity for Chinese SEO. However, if your website\u2019s content strategy relies entirely on informational articles to drive traffic, it\u2019s best to start planning a transition now. How-to pages, community management, and brand building will become increasingly valuable in the era of AI search.<\/p>\n One metric worth paying attention to is the ratio of informational queries to transactional queries in the traffic your website receives from Google Search. If informational queries account for more than 70%, the risk is relatively high. While there\u2019s still time, adjust your content structure.<\/p>\n SEO isn\u2019t dead, but SEO for purely informational content is certainly facing tough times. The sites that will survive are those that offer unique value that AI can\u2019t provide. Your experience, your data, your tools, and your brand\u2014these are things AI can\u2019t replace.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ahrefs conducted a real-world test using 300,000 keywords and found that AI Overview caused a 58% drop in clicks for the top-ranked pages. Traffic to informational websites fell to 28% of its peak level. This article analyzes which content types were most severely impacted, how brand signals have become a new ranking factor, and specific adjustment strategies.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo","resize-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualcardx.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualcardx.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualcardx.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualcardx.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualcardx.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/virtualcardx.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualcardx.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualcardx.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualcardx.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualcardx.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Brand signals have become a new ranking factor<\/h2>\n
How exactly should we adjust our SEO strategy?<\/h2>\n
Should We Optimize the AI Overview?<\/h2>\n
Changes to Watch for in the Coming Year<\/h2>\n