Google’s head of search has claimed that the platform is seeing “slightly more quality clicks to websites than a year ago” following the launch of AI Overviews.
In response multiple SEO experts have pointed out that many websites are seeing declines in traffic as documented by the Google Search Console measurement tool, and that there are various surveys showing a drop in clickthroughs.
They also contended that any overall stability or growth in search traffic is largely benefitting the major players such as Reddit or Google’s own Youtube, not the wider web ecosystem of smaller publishers and other websites.
Google’s VP, head of search Liz Reid published a blog post in response to recent criticism of the impact on AI Overviews and, more recently, AI Mode (now launched in the UK as well as the US) on traffic from the platform.
She wrote: “Overall, total organic click volume from Google Search to websites has been relatively stable year-over-year.
“Additionally, average click quality has increased and we’re actually sending slightly more quality clicks to websites than a year ago (by quality clicks, we mean those where users don’t quickly click back — typically a signal that a user is interested in the website).
“This data is in contrast to third-party reports that inaccurately suggest dramatic declines in aggregate traffic — often based on flawed methodologies, isolated examples, or traffic changes that occurred prior to the roll out of AI features in Search.”
SEO expert Lily Ray, vice president of SEO strategy and research at Amsive, questioned on Linkedin: “Do the hundreds of thousands of Google Search Console [GSC] screenshots showing impressions remaining flat (or increasing) this year, while clicks dramatically decline – since AI Overviews were rolled out more broadly – count as ‘flawed methodologies’ or ‘isolated examples’?
“Thousands of us are seeing it… but it must just be some big coincidence?”
Radu Tyrsina, the chief executive of Reflector Media which publishes websites like Windows Report and Mac Observer, commented on Ray’s post that “Of course, reddit.com is a website.”
Press Gazette reported earlier this week that Reddit is the most-cited source on both Google AI Overviews and rival model Perplexity.
Reddit struck a $60 million-per-year deal with Google to licence content from its users for AI training in 2024. Since then it has received a massive boost to its visibility on Google platforms
Press Gazette has published the findings of numerous studies appearing to show AI Overviews are having an impact on clickthroughs from Google with an increase in “zero-click searches”.
Research by AI search and SEO platform Authoritas, submitted as part of a legal complaint to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, found that when an AI Overview is present, publishers are seeing a drop of 47.5% in per-query clickthrough rate on desktop, and 37.7% on mobile.
Similarweb data found that among the top 100 news and media websites globally, the average rate of zero-click searches has gone from 50.5% to 52.7% in the past year. Among a wider dataset, zero-click news searches were said to have increased from 56% when AI Overviews were first launched in the US in May 2024 to almost 69% in May this year.
And publishers are seeing a huge drop in how visible they are in search results due to AI Overviews: a report by Enders Analysis looking at Sistrix data for the Financial Times, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Sun, Mirror and The Guardian found “some correlation” between the decline in visibility and the rollout of AI Overviews.
Leaders at multiple major publishers have specifically said they are seeing less traffic coming from Google, from The Wall Street Journal to Radio Times publisher Immediate and Australian lifestyle brand Man of Many. The Daily Mail’s global head of SEO Carly Steven has said AI Overviews has led to a dramatic reduction in clickthroughs from Google.
Google: ‘Click quality’ is increasing
But Reid defended Google by saying the clicks that publishers are receiving are actually better for them: “With AI Overviews, people are searching more and asking new questions that are often longer and more complex. In addition, with AI Overviews people are seeing more links on the page than before. More queries and more links mean more opportunities for websites to surface and get clicked.
“For some questions where people are looking for a quick answer, like ‘when is the next full moon,’ people may be satisfied with the initial response and not click further. This has also been true for other answer features we’ve added, like the Knowledge Graph or sports scores.
“But for many other types of questions, people continue to click through, as they want to dig deeper into a topic, explore further or make a purchase.
“This is why we see click quality increasing — an AI response might provide the lay of the land, but people click to dive deeper and learn more, and when they do, these clicks are more valuable.”
Reid added: “While overall traffic to sites is relatively stable, the web is vast, and user trends are shifting traffic to different sites, resulting in decreased traffic to some sites and increased traffic to others.
“People are increasingly seeking out and clicking on sites with forums, videos, podcasts, and posts where they can hear authentic voices and first-hand perspectives. People are also more likely to click into web content that helps them learn more — such as an in-depth review, an original post, a unique perspective or a thoughtful first-person analysis.
“Sites that meet these evolving user needs are benefiting from this shift and are generally seeing an increase in traffic.”
Experts criticise ‘quality click’ metric
Laurence O’Toole, the chief executive of Authoritas which carried out the clickthrough rate study, said it was “about time” Google shared some data.
Reid had said she “wanted to share some insights on the data we’re seeing” but did not share actual figures.
O’Toole told Press Gazette: “If they were genuinely sending more traffic to websites then surely Google would show data and charts showing the change pre- and post- generative AI implementation.
“Instead, she has come up with a ‘new’ metric of ‘quality clicks’ to divert attention away from the fact that a much lower percentage of users are clicking through to websites than before due to generative responses.”
O’Toole also pointed out that Google has said the overall volume of search queries is growing but that Reid claimed traffic to websites is “relatively stable”. He asked: “So doesn’t this also infer that clickthrough rate is down?”
David Buttle, founder of media and tech consultancy DJB strategies and former director of platform strategy and public affairs for the Financial Times, told Press Gazette: “I’m not sure what Google is hoping to achieve by publishing this blog post.
“It claims it is to ‘share some insights’ but it contains no data whatsoever. It tells us ‘quality clicks’ are increasing but I’ve never heard of a ‘quality click’ before and Google doesn’t deign to define it for us here. This is a continuation of Google’s desperate conjecture and spin.
“A few months ago we asked Google 12 straightforward questions about the integration of AI features into search. Its response was derisory. The facts are simple, Google continues to take publisher content using the monopoly it has for search and is using that to create substitutional products, effectively demonetising segments of the media.”
“There was a time when Google was the responsible face of Big Tech. That time has long-since passed.”
Barry Adams, a specialised SEO consultant for news publishers at Polemic Digital, told Press Gazette the Google blog reminded him of a quote from George Orwell’s dystopian book 1984: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
Adams added: “How many reports and studies do we need before Google acknowledges what we can all see with our own eyes and ears? Every single study done on the impact of AI Overviews, from every single source, shows the exact same thing: A significant drop in clicks from the search result to the listed pages.
“It appears Google lives in an entirely separate reality, one where they haven’t been the web’s largest parasite extracting value from almost every revenue stream while giving precious little in return.
“The integration of AI in its search results is Google’s latest move to extract value from the web (in the form of information produced by websites) while giving very little back (in the form of clicks and visits).”
Google told to ‘stop the BS’
Google’s Reid also said: “As a search company, we care passionately – perhaps more than any other company – about the health of the web ecosystem. We continue to send billions of clicks to websites every day and believe that Search’s value exchange with the web remains strong.”
SEO consultant Aleyda Solis wrote in response: “Sorry, but if most of the sites that have ultimately increased in clicks/traffic despite AI Overviews are mainly the biggest platforms on the web owned by big corps (that Google has partnerships with as well, like Reddit) and Google’s own ones (like Youtube), rather than independent sites offering information, products and services, owned by small or medium sized businesses it *does* hurt the health of the web ecosystem.
“It’s sad how they try to manipulate our perception of what’s happening using half-baked half-truths.”
Solis also objected to the idea that industry studies have been based on “flawed methodologies”: “This is simply wrong. There are plenty of first-party GSC and Analytics data showing the decrease in organic search traffic directly correlated with the inclusion of AI Overviews.”
Glenn Gabe, an SEO consultant at G-Squared, wrote that Google “needs to stop the BS and just explain that AIOs and AI mode are causing drops in traffic to a number of sites. Sure, I have some clients that are not being impacted by AIOs at all (yet), but many are being impacted. All of the GSC screenshots of decoupling show that. It’s ridiculous they would not admit that is going on.
“Liz Reid did say some sites are decreasing traffic-wise, but that was late in the article and not directly attributed to AIOs. It’s not a good look for them. People are not dumb, they have eyes, and can read charts and interpret the data.”
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