Since Google launched their AI Overviews, bloggers have pushed on edge with stress with this bugbear. But how does this new feature impact the click-through rate on pages?
Advanced Web Ranking, a position tracking tool, attempted to determine the impact of AI Overviews through a study published at the beginning of March 2025. This study looks at the click-through rate on pages in the fourth quarter of 2024 (Q4 2024) by comparing it to the results of the previous year (2023).
The impact of search intent
Does user search intent impact click-through rate? According to Advanced Web Ranking, yes.
On mobile, informational searches have undergone a particular evolution. Unlike other types of queries, the observed changes only favored the site ranked in first position, whose click rate increased by 1.81 points. This means that, when searching for information on mobile, Internet users are even more likely to click directly on the first result, leaving less room for other sites.
On the other hand, for commercial queries, the situation is different on desktop. The pages in the first position did not see a significant impact, which suggests that Internet users continue to click on them in a relatively stable manner. However, the sites in the second position recorded a decrease in CTR of 1.06 points.
A similar phenomenon is observed for location-related searches. On desktop, while the top-ranked sites were not affected, those occupying second and third place suffered a notable drop in CTR, losing 2.10 and 1.25 percentage points respectively. This could be linked to a better promotion of Google Maps results or Google My Business listings.
Long or short tail: differences on mobile or desktop
What about keyword length? Here, the results differ depending on the medium used by the Internet user. On desktop, short tails did not undergo a significant change in terms of click-through rates (CTR), while long queries, containing four words or more, led to a decrease in CTR for sites ranked in second and third positions.
Conversely, on mobile, the shortest queries, those composed of a single word, were strongly impacted, positively. The sites ranked in first position benefited from an increase in CTR of 1.94 percentage points.
An analysis by sector of activity
To go further, Advanced Web Ranking looks at results by industry. Its goal: to understand why some sites gain or lose traffic, even if their rankings remain stable. Its analysis is as follows.
When search volume increases
The analysis shows that several industries saw an increase in search volume, but this did not always result in an increase in click-through rate (CTR). For example, careers, shopping, family and parenting saw strong demand (+100% or more), but a decrease in desktop CTR.
Conversely, some industries like legal, food and beverage, fashion, and corporate saw increases in CTR and traffic. Others, like sports and personal finance, saw declines in CTR despite increased demand. So, search volume doesn’t always guarantee more organic traffic.
When search volume drops
What about the sectors that saw a decline in search volume between 2023 and 2024? The scientific sector, whose search demand decreased by more than 37%, seems to be the one that was most heavily impacted, with a drop in CTR of up to 6.03 points on desktop. The technology and IT sectors (-20.05%), as well as the information sector (-17.57%), also recorded losses.
The arts and entertainment sector is seeing a decline in desktop CTR, but a slight increase on mobile. Finally, the health and fitness sector is seeing a decline on desktop, but an increase in CTR in the top position on mobile. In short, a decline in search generally leads to less traffic.
This analysis tends to demonstrate that the impact of AI Overviews on page traffic is generally negative. Indeed, while a decrease in search volume almost systematically leads to a decrease in traffic, an increase in search volume does not guarantee an increase in CTR. A decrease is even observed in many cases.
