Pew: Impact of AI Overviews on Google Search Click Rates
A recent report from the Pew Research Center reveals that Google searchers are significantly less inclined to click on external links when AI Overviews appear in search results. Here’s what you need to know:
Key Findings from the Pew Research Report
- Click Rates Drop: Only 8% of users clicked on links to external websites when an AI Overview was displayed, compared to 15% when no AI Overview was present. In simple terms, that’s nearly half the clicks!
- Minuscule Clicks from AI Overviews: A mere 1% of searchers opted to click on links provided within the AI Overview itself.
The Data Breakdown
According to Pew’s findings:
- Users exposed to an AI summary clicked on traditional search result links just 8% of the time. In contrast, those who did not see an AI summary clicked nearly twice as often (15%).
- Additionally, 26% of users exited their browsing session after visiting a search page with an AI summary, compared to only 16% for traditional search results.
The Growth of AI Summaries
- Frequency of AI Summaries: In March 2025, roughly one in five Google searches yielded an AI summary. Specifically, 18% of all searches produced such a summary, with 88% of these summaries referencing three or more sources. Only 1% cited a single source.
- Characteristics of AI-Generated Searches: Searches that feature more words, especially questions or complete sentences, are more likely to generate AI summaries. For instance, about 8% of searches with one or two words resulted in AI summaries, but that percentage jumped to 53% for searches that included ten or more words.
Popular Sources in AI Summaries
- The most frequently cited sources across both AI summaries and standard search results include:
- Wikipedia
- YouTube
- Reddit
These three platforms accounted for 15% of the sources listed in AI summaries and a similar 17% in standard search results.
Understanding the Larger Trend
Despite skepticism from some Google executives regarding these studies, the data suggests a growing trend where searchers are less likely to visit external websites when AI Overviews are present.
- Search Console Transparency: Google has the capability to share relevant data via Search Console; however, transparency in sharing this information has been lacking, despite numerous requests.
Respondent Analysis
The Pew Research Center’s report analyzed responses from 900 U.S. adults who agreed to share their online browsing activities. It was noted that 58% had conducted at least one Google search in March 2025 that resulted in an AI-generated summary.
Glenn Gabe, a noted commentator, adds an interesting perspective on the data:
“Another way to think about this is that 82% of results did not yield an AI Overview. For these results, 15% clicked a link versus 8% when encountering an AI Overview.” This indicates the significant impact AI Overviews are having in the realm of search behavior.
Stay updated with further discussions on platforms like X and WebmasterWorld for insights and discussions about these findings.
