Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to disrupt many different industries, but it’s impact is currently most prominent in how people search online. For years, users were accustomed to using search engines (primarily Google) for their search needs, which then directed them to relevant web pages. However, the advent of chatbots and AI overviews is shaping up to be a death knell for the traditional search process and potentially the websites and businesses that rely on it too.
During their Q2 2025 earnings call, Alphabet said that its AI overview has over 2 billion monthly users. CEO Sundar Pichai said that these “are now driving over 10% more queries globally for the types of queries that show them, and this growth continues to increase over time.”
Google has tried to dispel fears that overviews would negatively impact web traffic. However, we now have new research that corroborates the worst fears of online publishers that web traffic has indeed been hit due to AI overviews. Pew Research Center analyzed data collected in March 2025 from 900 users of the Ipsos KnowledgePanel. Pew’s analysis of the test group revealed that the inclusion of an AI Overview on a search results page substantially reduced user clicks on traditional search results.
Pew Research’s Study Shows AI Overviews Lead to Lower Click Rates
“Users who encountered an AI summary clicked on a traditional search result link in 8% of all visits. Those who did not encounter an AI summary clicked on a search result nearly twice as often (15% of visits),” said Pew in its report.
The study shows that users who were shown an AI summary seldom clicked on the links in the summary. Moreover, Pew found that 26% users end their browsing session when they visit a search page with an AI summary. The corresponding number for traditional search is only 16%.
This finding is particularly worrisome as, by Google’s assertion, AI overviews are not perfect and are prone to errors. With over a quarter of users ending their session only by reading the overview, likely, many walk away with bad information. Users relying on only summaries generated using artificial intelligence could be quite problematic, considering the tendency of models to hallucinate. Most recently, Grok was in the news for its blatant anti-semitic content, after it went on a posting spree calling itself “Mecha hitler.”
As expected, Google does not agree with Pew Research’s findings. In its response, the company said, “People are gravitating to AI-powered experiences, and AI features in Search enable people to ask even more questions, creating new opportunities for people to connect with websites. This study uses a flawed methodology and skewed queryset that is not representative of Search traffic. We consistently direct billions of clicks to websites daily and have not observed significant drops in aggregate web traffic as is being suggested.”
Chegg Sued Google Over AI Overviews
AI overviews have already severely impacted businesses that rely heavily on SEO. A perfect example is the online education company Chegg, which faces utter collapse if the trends don’t reverse.
In February, Chegg sued Google, arguing that the AI overviews have turned it into an “answer engine” from a “search engine.” It said that these overviews ensure that traffic remains on Google, thereby eliminating the need to go to third-party content source sites like Chegg.
“We believe this isn’t just about Chegg—it’s about students losing access to quality, step-by-step learning in favor of low-quality, unverified AI summaries. It’s about the digital publishing industry. It’s about the future of internet search,” said Chegg.
Meanwhile, while many publishers have been witnessing a fall in traffic on their websites with the advent of AI overviews, Google’s Search revenues tell a different tale, with revenues rising 12% year-over-year in Q2.
Online Search Is Set to Be Redefined
It seems that no matter what happens next, online search will be redefined amid the AI pivot. Notably, in May, Eddy Cue, who heads Apple’s lucrative Services business, said that he believes that standard search engines such as Google will eventually be replaced by an AI search engine. Importantly, he said that searches on Apple’s Safari browser fell for the first time in history in April, which he attributed to the growing popularity of platforms like ChatGPT.
Notably, Alphabet is believed to be paying around $20 billion annually to Apple to keep Google as the default search engine on Safari, but regulators are already scrutinizing that partnership over antitrust concerns.
How Businesses Can Navigate AI Overviews?
AI overviews remain a challenge for businesses that rely on organic search. While these might sound like a catastrophe for the SEO industry, businesses might simply need to evolve their strategies to keep their content relevant and high quality, and optimized for AI overviews. The overviews still link to sources, and businesses would need to focus on EEAT (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) to increase the likelihood of their content getting highlighted in AI overviews.
The video below details some strategies that can help rank higher in Google AI overviews.
Refreshing evergreen content is another strategy that might help. However, the key issue here is that users leave only after reading the overviews without clicking on the source link. There is precious little that businesses can do here, and if anything, the percentage of people walking away after just reading the AI overviews might only increase as they get better with time.
One way of adapting would be to increase the moat around the brand and invest in brand building. Companies offering great value to consumers would be able to navigate the evolving landscape better than those offering me-too solutions.