Quick Answer
Yes and no, and the difference decides whether you should worry. AI Overviews are taking clicks from some pages and barely touching others.
The pages losing traffic are the informational ones: definitions, "what is" explainers, quick-fact pages. Google now answers those at the top, so people read the answer and never click. The pages holding steady are the high-intent ones, where someone is close to buying and wants to see the actual business, not a summary.
So the honest move is not to panic and not to pretend nothing changed. It is to see which of your pages are exposed, then shift toward being the source the AI credits. That work is SEO and AEO, the practice behind our SEO, AEO and GEO service.
What are AI Overviews, and why the panic?
AI Overviews are the AI-written answers Google now places above the blue links for many searches. You have seen them: a paragraph or two that answers the question directly, with a few source links tucked to the side.
The panic is real and it has a cause. When Google answers the question itself, the searcher often has no reason to click through to any website. The industry name for this is a zero-click search, and AI Overviews pushed the share of them up sharply after their wider 2024 and 2025 rollout. Multiple analyses through 2025 found that when an AI Overview appears, the click-through rate on the top organic result drops, sometimes by a large margin.
That is a genuine change to the deal websites have had with Google for two decades. But "traffic is down on some queries" is not the same as "traffic is dead", and treating them as the same leads to bad decisions.
Are they actually taking your traffic?
For most sites, some of it, and not the part you think. The loss is concentrated, not spread evenly.
AI Overviews hit hardest on queries with a simple, factual answer. "What is a web app", "how long does web development take", "what does GEO stand for". Google can answer those in two sentences, so it does, and the click that used to come to your explainer stays on Google. If your traffic leans on that kind of top-of-funnel content, you will feel it.
They barely touch queries where the answer is a decision, not a fact. "Best web studio in Singapore", "web app development agency near me", "hire a Next.js developer". A two-sentence summary does not close those, because the person needs to see who they would actually work with. Those clicks still come through. So the real question is not whether AI Overviews take traffic. It is which of your pages they take it from.
Which pages get hit hardest?
The informational, top-of-funnel pages. The ones that answer a question a machine can now answer just as well.
If a page exists mainly to define a term, list a quick fact, or explain a simple how-to, it is exposed. Google will increasingly serve that answer itself. This is not a reason to delete those pages. They still build topical authority and still feed the AI answers, which can name you as the source. But you should stop counting on them for raw click volume, because that volume is what AI Overviews absorb first.
The tell is in your data. A page whose search impressions hold steady or rise while its clicks fall is a page an AI Overview is now answering on your behalf. You are still being read. You are just being read on Google's page instead of yours, which changes what "winning" that query looks like.
Which pages barely notice?
The high-intent, commercial, and local pages. The closer a query sits to a buying decision, the safer the click.
Someone comparing studios, checking prices, or looking for a provider in their city wants specifics only a business can give: the work, the team, the actual quote. Google's summary cannot stand in for that, so the searcher clicks through to judge for themselves. Your service pages, pricing pages, portfolio, and contact-driving content sit in this protected zone.
This is the strategic read hiding inside the panic. AI Overviews are pushing the value of your site toward the money end of the funnel and away from the pure-information top. For a business that sells something, that is survivable, and often fine. The traffic you lose was the least likely to convert. The traffic you keep is the traffic that was going to hire you.
How do you tell if AI Overviews are hurting you?
Go to Google Search Console and look for one specific pattern: impressions flat or up, clicks down, so click-through rate falling.
That gap is the fingerprint of an AI Overview eating your clicks. Your page still ranks and still shows, which is why impressions hold, but fewer people click because Google answered above you. Sort your pages by that pattern and you have a precise list of what is exposed, instead of a vague fear that everything is dying.
Then split that list. Informational pages showing the pattern are doing their new job, feeding answers and authority, and you accept the lower click count. Commercial pages showing it are a real problem worth fixing, because those clicks were meant to convert. That sorting turns "are AI Overviews killing my traffic" from a panic into a two-column to-do list.
What should you do about it?
Stop fighting for the click you lost, and start earning the credit inside the answer. Then move your effort toward the queries AI Overviews cannot close.
Three concrete moves:
- Be the cited source. If Google is going to answer with your information, make sure your page is the one it names. That means clear, liftable answers and structure, the work covered in the AI search optimization guide.
- Shift weight to high-intent content. Invest in the commercial and local pages that AI Overviews leave alone, because that is where the surviving clicks and the conversions are.
- Keep the informational pages, reframe their job. They earn authority and citations now, not raw traffic. Judge them on being named, not just on clicks.
None of this is a rebuild. It is a reweighting of work you already do.
So is SEO dead?
No, and the people saying it is are usually selling the replacement. SEO changed shape. It did not end.
Google still sends more traffic than every AI tool combined, AI Overviews still link to sources, and ranking well is still what gets you into those overviews in the first place. What died is the assumption that a top ranking on an informational query automatically means a click. What replaced it is a game with three outcomes instead of one: the click, being read back, and being credited. If you want the full picture of how those fit together, start with which do you need first.
Frequently asked questions
Are AI Overviews really reducing website traffic?
Yes, on some queries. AI Overviews answer factual, informational searches at the top of the page, so people read the answer without clicking, and studies through 2025 found the top result's click-through rate drops when an overview appears. But the loss is concentrated on top-of-funnel informational pages. High-intent commercial and local queries, where the searcher needs to see the actual business, keep most of their clicks.
Which pages lose the most traffic to AI Overviews?
Informational, top-of-funnel pages: definitions, "what is" explainers, and simple how-tos with a factual answer Google can serve itself. If a page exists mainly to state a fact or define a term, it is the most exposed. Pages tied to a buying decision, like service, pricing, and local pages, are far safer, because a short AI summary cannot replace seeing the business you are about to hire.
How do I know if AI Overviews are affecting my site?
Check Google Search Console for pages where impressions stay flat or rise while clicks fall, meaning a dropping click-through rate. That pattern is the signature of an AI Overview answering the query above your result. Sort your pages by it to get a precise list of what is exposed, then separate the informational pages, which now trade clicks for authority, from the commercial pages, where lost clicks are a real problem to fix.
Should I delete pages that lost traffic to AI Overviews?
Usually not. Informational pages that lost clicks still build topical authority and still feed the AI answers that can name you as the source, so deleting them can weaken your standing. Instead, reframe their job: judge them on being cited and on supporting your commercial pages, not on raw click volume. Reserve deletion for genuinely thin or outdated pages, which was good practice before AI Overviews too.
Is SEO dead because of AI Overviews?
No. Google still drives more traffic than all AI tools combined, AI Overviews still cite and link to sources, and ranking well is what gets you into an overview in the first place. SEO changed from a one-outcome game, the click, into a three-outcome game: the click, being read back, and being credited. Businesses that keep the fundamentals and add the new work do better, not worse, than before.
How do I get my content into AI Overviews instead of buried by them?
Make your page the clearest, most liftable answer to the question, and make sure it ranks, since overviews mostly pull from page-one results. Lead with a direct answer, use question-shaped headings, keep passages self-contained, and add FAQ schema. That way, if Google is going to answer with your information, it answers with your page named as the source. The step-by-step is in the AI search optimization guide.
About &7: We are a Singapore web studio that builds sites to survive AI Overviews, by being the source Google cites and by winning the high-intent queries overviews cannot close. That is our SEO, AEO and GEO service, run on our own site first. If your traffic is slipping and you want to know which pages to defend, start a conversation.