Google’s AI Overviews has many web professionals worried about its potential impact on click-through rates. But what’s the reality?
Google hasn’t yet revealed an official timeline for the rollout of AI Overviews in Europe, but it seems to be getting closer. AI previews in search results, available almost everywhere except Europe, have begun testing in a few European countries, including Italy and Germany. But how does this new feature impact click-through rates?
Advanced Web Ranking, a position tracking tool, attempted to answer this question 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 shift. Unlike other types of queries, the observed changes only favored the site ranked first, whose click-through 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.
However, for commercial queries, the situation is different on desktop. The pages in first position did not experience a significant impact, which suggests that users continue to click on them relatively steadily. However, sites in 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 unaffected, those in second and third place experienced a notable drop in CTR, losing 2.10 and 1.25 percentage points respectively. This could be linked to greater visibility 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 platform used by the user. On desktop, short-tail keywords did not experience a significant change in click-through rate (CTR), while long-tail queries, containing four words or more, led to a decrease in CTR for sites ranked in second and third positions.
Conversely, on mobile, shorter queries, those consisting of a single word, were significantly and positively impacted. Sites ranked in first position actually benefited from a 1.94 percentage point increase in CTR.
An analysis by sector of activity
To go further, Advanced Web Ranking looks at results by industry. Its goal: to understand why certain 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 sectors saw an increase in search volume, but this didn’t always lead to an increase in click-through rate (CTR). For example, the careers, shopping, family, and parenting sectors saw strong demand (+100% or more), but a decrease in desktop CTR.
Conversely, some industries like legal, food and beverage, fashion, and business saw increased CTR and traffic. Others, like sports and personal finance, saw their CTR decline despite increased demand. Therefore, search volume doesn’t always guarantee more organic traffic.
When search volume drops
What about the sectors whose search volume declined between 2023 and 2024? The scientific sector, whose search demand decreased by more than 37%, appears to have been the most heavily impacted, with a CTR drop 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, the 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 always leads to a decrease in traffic, an increase in search volume in no way guarantees an increase in CTR. In fact, a decrease is observed in many cases.
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