Google AI Overviews: Is My Website Traffic Going to Drop?
Will Google's AI Overviews reduce traffic to your website?
Some traffic, probably yes, mostly on general how-to and informational searches. Pew Research found people clicked a regular search result in 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, versus 15% without one. For local service businesses, the searches that turn into calls, like service plus town and "near me" searches, are far less exposed than blog traffic.
Owners are seeing headlines about AI killing website traffic and wondering whether their site is about to stop producing leads. The answer depends on which traffic you mean. Some of it is at real risk. The part that pays your bills mostly is not, if you adjust.
What does the data say about AI Overviews and clicks?
The most cited study comes from Pew Research Center, which analyzed the real browsing of 900 U.S. adults in March 2025. When a Google search showed an AI summary, users clicked a traditional result in 8% of visits. Without a summary, they clicked in 15% of visits. Only 1% of visits included a click on a link inside the summary itself, and sessions ended after 26% of visits with a summary, compared with 16% without.
AI Overviews also show up often on local searches. When Whitespark ran 540 local business searches in three U.S. cities across six industries, an AI Overview appeared on 68% of them.
So yes, when an AI Overview answers the question, fewer people click. The question is which of your searches that applies to.
Which kinds of traffic are most at risk?
General how-to and informational posts. "How do I unclog a drain" or "what is a good credit score for a mortgage" can be answered fully by an AI summary. If your blog traffic is built on questions like these, expect fewer clicks.
Definitions and simple facts. Anything a sentence can answer is the easiest for AI to summarize.
Which kinds of traffic are safer?
Service plus town searches. "Water heater replacement Biddeford" shows buyers who need a business, not an explanation. The map pack and service pages still carry these.
Near me and emergency searches. People who need help today want a phone number.
Branded searches. Someone searching your name already wants you.
Calls and direction requests from your Google Business Profile. These never touch your website, and they often matter more than site visits for local businesses.
This is why website sessions are the wrong scoreboard. A business can lose 30% of its blog traffic and still book more jobs, because the traffic it lost was never going to call.
How can a local business protect its leads?
Track leads, not sessions. Measure calls, forms, and booked jobs by source. That is the number that matters.
Strengthen your Google Business Profile. AI summaries pull from your profile, your website, and your reviews. Accurate services, categories, and recent reviews help you get mentioned correctly.
Write answer-first pages. If AI is going to summarize an answer, make sure it is summarizing yours. Clear answers under question headings get quoted. Our post on what AEO is explains how.
Build pages for every service and town. These target the high-intent searches that still drive clicks and calls.
Publish what AI cannot make up. Your real prices or price ranges, local job photos, case studies, before and after examples, and free tools give buyers a reason to visit your site.
If your business is not appearing in AI answers at all, start with our post on why a business is not showing up in AI Overviews. For the full playbook, read our Local SEO and AEO guide.
Should you still write blog posts?
Yes, but write different ones. Skip the generic "10 tips" posts that any AI can answer. Write the posts only you can write: what jobs cost in your area, what you see on real jobs, how you handle common problems, and answers to the questions your customers ask on the phone. Those posts earn trust, get quoted by AI tools, and give buyers a reason to call you instead of the next name.
Frequently asked questions
Do AI Overviews show up on local searches?
Often. Whitespark found AI Overviews on 68% of the 540 local business searches it studied. Map pack results still appear for many local searches, so a strong Google Business Profile remains one of the most valuable things a local business can build.
Can I stop Google from using my content in AI Overviews?
Google offers controls that limit how your content appears in search features, but blocking it can also limit how your pages show in regular results. For most local businesses, the better strategy is to make sure the AI summarizes your business accurately and favorably.
Should I worry if my website traffic is down but leads are steady?
Not much. Lost traffic from informational searches rarely brings in customers. If calls, forms, and booked jobs are holding steady or growing, your marketing is working. Investigate only if leads drop along with traffic.
Does being cited in an AI Overview bring customers?
It can. Even when people do not click, being named in the answer builds recognition, and many buyers search for the business by name afterward or call straight from the map pack. That is why accurate profiles and answer-first pages matter.
What should you do next?
See what Google's AI has to work with about your business. Run the free Google Profile AI Check, a five-minute audit of the profile details AI summaries draw from.
Sources: Pew Research Center findings, reported by Search Engine Roundtable; Whitespark, The prevalence of AI Overviews in local search
