AI Overviews Draining Your Website Traffic? Here’s What to Do

Your website traffic has been dipping ever since Google launched AI overviews. Even though some of your webpages are ranking on the SERP, you are getting minimal clicks on these pages.

Fret not, as you aren’t alone in experiencing this unwanted phase. Search Engine Land studied 23 websites and reports that the aggregate organic traffic of these websites dropped by 18-64% due to AI overviews. 

It happens because once a user asks a query on the Google search bar, AI overviews delivers its concise & to the point answer. Consequently, the user doesn’t deem it necessary to visit a website to get the answer.

Here, in this write-up, I will throw light on AI overviews, how it works, and why your website traffic is dropping. Also, I will show you some actionable steps to tackle this untoward phase. 

Understanding AI Overviews

Google AI Overview is an AI-powered feature in Google Search that provides quick & synthesized answers to complex queries. It usually shows up straight at the top of the search results page, but sometimes, it also appears after a few sponsored ads & organic results.  

AI Overview is a part of Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE). It uses generative AI to analyze multiple sources and produce an informative summary that helps users understand a topic without clicking through multiple links.

AI Overviews make Google Search more context-aware. It provides a research-style summary rather than a simple list of links, which is a kind of shortcut for users to get their required info.

How AI Overviews Work in Practice

Let’s see how Google AI Overview behaves differently based on two sample queries:

GetGenie vs. Frase

When you search “GetGenie vs. Frase,” you’ll likely notice that AI Overview doesn’t appear for this query (as of now).

That’s because Google’s AI Overview is still selective. It tends to appear for broader and well-established topics with ample and consistent data across multiple reputable sources. 

For emerging or branded comparisons like GetGenie vs. Frase, Google still prefers to display standard organic results, blog posts, or review pages instead of generating its own AI summary.

In this case, the search results usually show:

• Comparison articles written by tech bloggers
  
• Product review sites (like G2 or SaaSworthy)
  
• Official product websites for GetGenie and Frase
  

This allows users to click and read direct comparisons, since AI doesn’t yet have enough consistent or structured data to summarize such niche, evolving topics confidently.

WordPress vs. Joomla

Now, if you search “WordPress vs. Joomla,” you’ll see AI Overview in action.

Here’s what typically happens:

• The AI Overview appears at the top of the results page.
  
• It provides a summary comparison, including sections for best for, pros & cons, and how to choose for both platforms.
  
• It may even highlight aspects like ease of use, customization options, SEO capabilities, and community support.
  
• Along with each point, you’ll often find links to official sources like WordPress.org, Joomla.org, and tech review articles that Google’s AI used to form its overview.

Comparing AI Overviews with Traditional Featured Snippets

How AI Overviews are Draining Your Website Traffic

Come da the Guardian, sites previously ranked first can lose 79% of traffic if results appear below Google AI Overview. And I already mentioned above, AI overviews for most of the queries show up on top of the SERPs. 

So, even if your webpages rank higher, it doesn’t guarantee the visibility & traffic gain of your brand. Let’s find out the key reasons how AI overviews are taking away your valuable website traffic. 

Rise in Zero-Click Searches

Zero-click searches have come in vogue after Google has started showing AI Overviews for user queries. The feature enables users to get instant answers directly on the search results page through features like featured snippets, People Also Ask boxes, and AI Overviews. 

The popularity of zero-click searches is skyrocketing over time as users crave efficiency and convenience. No matter whether people are looking for quick definitions, comparisons, or examples, they prefer instant findings without opening multiple tabs. 

And the good thing is that Google’s AI-driven results now deliver this type of info through AI Overviews. They turn SERPs into full answers instead of simple link lists.

For users, this is incredibly satisfying. It saves time and provides trustworthy summaries from multiple sources. However, for websites, it’s a double-edged sword as Google answers more queries directly, fewer users feel the need to click through.

Take the query “In what aspects, AI helps a software business?”. Google won’t just show blog results related to AI & software business. Rather, it will mention the points in which AI helps a software business concisely on the AI Overview, which it pulls from various sources. 

The user gets the core points they need instantly on the SERP. So, they don’t feel the need to visit any website to gather info.

Lower Click-Through Rates (CTR)

Ahrefs analyzed 300,000 keywords and found that the presence of an AI Overview in the search results caused a 34.5% lower average clickthrough rate (CTR) for the top-ranking page, as compared to similar informational keywords without an AI Overview.

Basically, it happens due to the holistic AI-generated summaries. AI Overviews don’t just answer questions in a sentence or 2. Rather, it provides info convincingly to user queries.

This restrains your users from heading over to other sources. It essentially means websites that previously ranked high & drove traffic are likely to have less organic traffic even if they appear within the AI Overview sources.

For example, try this keyword “How to rank for Google Quick Answers”.  Google’s AI Overview will generate a step-by-step response like directly answering questions, writing concise paragraphs, using lists, etc. 

When this happens, most users don’t need to visit any of the listed sites for details. This leads to significantly lower CTR despite maintaining strong visibility.

Shrinking Featured Snippets, FAQs, and PAA Boxes

Before the AI Overviews feature was rolled out, featured snippets (zero position), FAQ-rich results, and “People Also Ask” (PAA) boxes were key sources of organic traffic. 

Websites using high-quality content, structured FAQ schema or answering related questions could easily appear multiple times on the first page. 

This visibility often encouraged users to explore more results that drove additional clicks and engagement.

Now, however, AI Overviews contain much of that info into a single generated summary. Users don’t need to find info from the “zero position”, expand PAA questions, or browse FAQ-rich snippets. 

Consequently, featured snippets, FAQ and PAA sections appear less frequently or lower on the page. And this shift cuts down on organic opportunities that once helped brands like you dominate question-based searches.

Impressions Up, Clicks Down

With the advent of AI Overviews, many websites have noticed a rise in impressions but a drop in clicks. And it’s natural as people see website links, meta titles & meta descriptions, but they don’t click links.

That’s why websites, including yours earn impressions and they keep rising when your audience scroll up and down or search relevant queries multiple times.

In essence, while visibility hasn’t decreased, traffic quality and engagement have. This new behavior signals a shift where ranking alone isn’t enough. 

You have to focus on earning clicks through differentiated value, like offering deeper insights, unique data, or interactive content that AI can’t fully summarize.

Writing a Flood of Generic Content

Generic content no longer works in the SERP. For years, many brands have published repetitive blog posts filled with cliches & surface-level information targeting the same keywords. 

But with AI Overviews and smarter search algorithms, Google doesn’t reward mass-produced, unoriginal content anymore. Instead, it prioritizes pages that offer unique value like fresh insights, hands-on experiences, and data-driven perspectives.

That’s why to stand out, you have to produce unique & original content that solves users’ pain points. Focus on adding your own expertise, case studies, and actionable examples that AI can’t replicate. 

Incorporate brand voice, real-world results, or niche-specific context to make your content truly distinct. 

Your Content Isn’t Optimized for Entities

Entities represent distinct & identifiable concepts like brands, tools, people, or categories that Google recognizes and connects semantically. 

For example, when discussing WordPress SEO, key entities include WordPress, GetGenie, Google Search Console, content schema, E Core Web Vitals. These entities help Google understand that your content concerns optimizing WordPress websites for search performance.

If you don’t optimize your articles for entities, Google will see it as a vague piece about “SEO in general” instead of one focused on WordPress. 

That means it’s unlikely to show up for related searches like “how to improve SEO on WordPress sites” or “best WordPress SEO plugins.” 

In contrast, entity-optimized content clearly defines context and relationships. For instance, if you mention how GetGenie integrates with GSC and shows WordPress SEO Insights, it will strengthen your relevance for WordPress-related searches. Also, your chances of appearing in AI Overviews and knowledge panels will increase.

Here’s is the Way to Survive the Threat of AI Overviews

To combat with AI overviews, I have put together some strategic & actionable steps for your website. The goal is to appear in AI overview sources. 

Remember your site’s appearance in AI overviews doesn’t guarantee all your audience will visit your website. What it means is that you enhance the chances of driving a considerable number of audience to your site. 

Failure to rank or show up in AI overviews means you will lose traffic from most of your prospects.

Add a “Key Takeaways” Section

This section should summarize the most important points in concise & scannable bullets that directly answer the user’s query. Google’s AI often pulls such clear and structured summaries when generating AI Overviews.

For example, if your post targets “How to Rank in AI Overviews,” a Key Takeaways section might include:

• Answer questions first: Start with a clear, direct response to the query.
  
• Include relevant entities: Mention concepts, tools, and terms related to the topic.
  
• Provide unique insights: Share actionable tips or examples that stand out.
  
• Use structured formatting: Bullets, headings, and short sentences make it easier for AI to understand and extract.

Answer the Question First

Google’s AI tends to pull concise & well-structured responses that directly address the user’s intent. If your content starts with a clear and factual answer, it’s more likely to be cited in AI-generated summaries.

For example, if the query is “What are AI writing tools?”, start your article like this:
“AI writing tools are software applications that use artificial intelligence to generate, edit, or optimize written content.”

When you answer the question upfront, you are helping both users and Google quickly understand the relevance of your content. This improves your chances of being featured in AI Overviews.

Add FAQ Blocks with Schema

Include FAQ sections marked up with Schema delle domande frequenti to make it easy for Google to understand and extract question-and-answer pairs from your content. AI can then use these structured Q&As to generate summaries or feature your content in zero-click search results.

After all, AI Overviews prefer content that is well-structured and authoritative. FAQ blocks clearly highlight questions users are likely to ask and provide concise answers that make your content more “AI-friendly” and increase the chances of being cited.

Let’s check the example with the same query “How to Rank in AI Overviews,”. Here’s how your FAQ Q&As may look like.

1. What is an AI Overview?
An AI Overview is a Google-generated summary that provides concise answers to a user’s query by combining information from multiple sources.

2. How can I rank in AI Overviews?
To rank, create clear, structured content that answers questions directly, uses relevant entities, includes unique insights, and incorporates FAQ schema.

Tap into NLP & Semantic Keywords

To rank in AI Overviews, your content must target NLP and semantic keywords. These are related terms and phrases that help Google understand the intent behind a search, not just the exact words.

For example, if your topic is “How to Satisfy User Search Intent,” semantic keywords would include user-focused content, search intent types, informative answers, actionable tips, and engagement signals

Once you naturally include these terms, your content would signal relevance and authority to Google’s AI. This increases the chances that your post will be featured in AI-generated summaries.

Write for Humans, but Structure for Google

Make sure to prioritize human readability alongside maintaining a clear structure that Google can easily parse. This will amplify your content’s changes to get features in AI Overviews.

Use short paragraphs, headings, bullet points, and tables to make your content scannable, besides keeping the language natural and engaging.

For example, for the topic “Best WordPress Social Media Plugins,” you could structure your post like this:

• Introduction: Briefly explain why social media plugins matter.
  
• Plugin List (with headings and bullets): Each plugin gets a short description, key features, and pros/cons.
  
• Conclusion / Key Takeaways: Summarize top recommendations.
  

This approach ensures readers get valuable and easy-to-digest information. And also Google considers to show your content in AI Overviews.

Showcase Your Hands-on Experience

I have already scratched the surface of this point above. That is you must demonstrate practical and real-world experience rather than just theoretical knowledge. 

For instance, don’t just list features of a tool, rather, explain how you used it, share value-driven screenshots, what results you achieved, and any lessons learned. 

This hands-on approach makes your content more trustworthy for readers and signals to Google’s AI that your content is authoritative and actionable.

Have a look at Rocky Brands’, a footwear retail company. Their main aim is to create SEO-friendly content to increase organic search revenue. They implemented BrightEdge’s tools to prioritize and formulate fruitful SEO strategies. 

They used BrightEdge Data Cube to discover keywords that they need to target and followed BrightEdge recommendations to optimize content. Also, they tracked the impact of website optimization through Storybuilder & keyword performance through keyword and page reporting.

Following the implementation of SEO software, Rocky Brand experienced a 30% increase in search revenue, a 74% year-over-year (YoY) revenue growth, and a 13% increase in new users.

Build Topical Authority with Topic Clusters

Topical authority makes you a credible source of info for Google. And you do this by creating topic clusters. In topic clusters, you will create a main pillar page for a topic, supported by related subtopics. 

If you become an authority in your niche, Google considers that you have comprehensive coverage of the niche.

While creating topic clusters, make sure your topics are neither too broad, nor too narrow. This will enable you to share insightful info for your niche audience.

For example, if your niche is WordPress, don’t choose a broad pillar topic like WordPress or a narrow topic like WordPress social media plugins. Instead, choose something like “WordPress Plugins,”. Under the pillar topic, you can include the following topic clusters:

• Best SEO Plugins for WordPress
  
• Best Social Media Plugins for WordPress
  
• Best Security Plugins for WordPress
  
• How to Install and Configure WordPress Plugins
  

After creating all the posts, make sure to interlink them, as these pages will help Google understand the relationships between topics. In turn, your site will more likely be cited in AI-generated summaries and zero-click results.

So, What’s Your Next Step?

It’s simple! Follow the survival steps I mentioned above for your website. That means focus on your content quality & structure, add firsthand experiences, and everything I suggested. 

That’s not all! Regularly monitor impressions versus clicks with Genie SEO O Google Search Console to identify pages losing traffic to AI snippets, and adjust your content strategy accordingly.