A study suggests some technology websites may have lost up to 97% of their Google traffic after the expansion of AI Overviews.
A new analysis is raising concerns about how Google’s AI Overviews may be affecting traffic to technology websites.
According to a study cited in recent reports, some tech publications have seen major drops in search traffic following the expansion of Google’s AI-generated summaries in search results.
AI Overviews display a generated answer at the top of the results page, often summarizing information directly in Google without requiring users to visit external websites.
For publishers that rely heavily on search traffic, this can significantly reduce click-through rates.
Some of the data being discussed suggests that certain technology sites may have lost more than 80% of their Google traffic. In a few extreme cases, the reported decline reached close to 97%.
The dynamic is relatively simple. When the search engine answers the query directly on the results page, fewer users feel the need to open the original sources.
This shift has led many publishers and SEO professionals to question how sustainable traditional search traffic models will be in an AI-driven search environment.
Google has previously responded to similar reports by saying traffic fluctuations can be caused by many factors and that search continues to connect users with valuable websites.
Still, as AI summaries appear in more queries, the relationship between search engines and publishers may be entering a new phase.
More details about the study discussed can be found here:
https://pepelac.news/it/posts/id31614-crollo-traffico-siti-tecnologici-occidentali-per-ai-overview-di-google
