How much do AI Overviews reduce click-through rate?
In the 2026 re-run of Ahrefs' study, an AI Overview was linked to about 58% lower click-through for the page ranking first. In the update published on 4 February 2026, Ahrefs wrote that "the presence of an AI Overview now correlates with a 58% lower average clickthrough rate for the top-ranking page". Ryan Law, Ahrefs' Director of Content Marketing, wrote it, with Xibeijia Guan listed as contributor.
It is the second run of the same method. The original study, published on 17 April 2025, found a 34.5% lower click-through rate (CTR) for the top result. Ahrefs then repeated the 58% figure in a press release on 19 May 2026, using the same December 2023 to December 2025 comparison.
| Ahrefs publication | Date | Months compared | Keywords | Position 1 CTR linked to AI Overviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original study | 17 Apr 2025 | March 2024 vs March 2025 | 300,000 | About 34.5% lower |
| Update | 4 Feb 2026 | December 2023 vs December 2025 | 300,000 | About 58% lower |
| Press release | 19 May 2026 | Same data as the update | 300,000 | Repeats 58% |
Ahrefs puts the result in plain terms: for every 100 clicks a top-ranking page could once earn, Google now keeps 58.
How did Ahrefs calculate the 58%, and what doesn't it show?
Ahrefs compared two groups of keywords and used one as a baseline for the other. It selected 150,000 keywords with an AI Overview and 150,000 informational keywords without one from its Keywords Explorer database, then used aggregated Google Search Console data to get each keyword's average desktop CTR per month.
| Position 1 average desktop CTR | Dec 2023 | Dec 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Informational keywords, no AI Overview | 0.076 (7.6%) | 0.039 (3.9%) |
| Keywords with an AI Overview in Dec 2025 | 0.073 (7.3%) | 0.016 (1.6%) |
Ahrefs applied the drop in the first group to the second to estimate what the AI Overview keywords would have earned without AI Overviews: 0.037. The actual figure was 0.016, about 58% lower than that forecast. Note that CTR fell in the group without AI Overviews too. Ahrefs puts that down to other search features, such as featured snippets, that answer queries on the results page.
Four limits are worth knowing before you quote the number:
- It is a correlation. Ahrefs' main finding says "correlates"; its title, its calculation and its closing section use stronger wording ("reduce").
- It is desktop only. The CTR data is average desktop click-through rate.
- It mostly covers informational queries. The baseline group was informational by design, and in Ahrefs' separate analysis of September 2025 results pages, 99.9% of keywords that triggered AI Overviews were informational.
- Google disagrees with the broad picture. Liz Reid, VP and Head of Google Search, wrote on 6 August 2025, before the 2026 update, that total organic click volume to websites had been relatively stable year over year, and said some third-party reports used flawed methods.
Do AI Overviews cut clicks for positions 2 to 10 too?
In Ahrefs' data, yes, though the gap is smaller than at position one. Ahrefs ran the same analysis for lower positions in the February 2026 update:
| Position | CTR impact when an AI Overview shows (Ahrefs, Dec 2025 data) |
|---|---|
| 1 | -58.0% |
| 2 | -50.8% |
| 3 | -46.4% |
| 4 | -38.8% |
| 5 | -32.6% |
| 6 | -30.5% |
| 7 | -29.7% |
| 8 | -28.8% |
| 9 | -29.7% |
| 10 | -19.4% |
Where the AI Overview sits also seems to matter. The February update notes that around 9% of AI Overviews appear outside position one on the results page. In Ahrefs' July 2025 check of its own keywords, results pages where the AI Overview sat below position one showed clicks holding steady or growing, though Ahrefs calls that sample very small-scale.
The pattern matters for planning. In Ahrefs' data, every position from one to ten had a lower CTR than forecast when an AI Overview showed, so a page one ranking on an informational query with an AI Overview is likely to earn fewer clicks than it once did. For a small B2B team with limited writing time, that changes which pages deserve the next hour of work.
Which searches trigger AI Overviews least often?
Navigational searches trigger them least often, followed by transactional and commercial searches. In What Triggers AI Overviews?, published by Ahrefs on 10 November 2025 and based on desktop results pages from September 2025, AI Overviews appeared on 20.5% of 146,122,391 results pages. The rate varied a lot by query type:
| Query type (Ahrefs' labels) | Share of results pages with an AI Overview |
|---|---|
| All keywords (baseline) | 20.5% |
| Question queries | 57.9% |
| Queries of seven or more words | 46.4% |
| Non-branded | 24.9% |
| Informational intent | 21.4% |
| Branded | 13.1% |
| Single-word queries | 9.5% |
| Commercial intent | 4.3% |
| Transactional intent | 2.1% |
| Navigational intent | 0.9% |
So the 58% figure describes the kind of query that shows an AI Overview: mostly informational, and in Ahrefs' data 66.5% of them phrased as questions. A buyer searching a vendor name plus pricing, or comparing two tools by name, is in a group where Ahrefs saw AI Overviews far less often. Ahrefs notes that keywords can carry more than one intent label.
One more finding matters for B2B budgets. Ahrefs saw little obvious link between a keyword's cost per click and whether it triggered an AI Overview, with most CPC buckets within a couple of percentage points of the 20.5% baseline. A high cost per click alone does not mean a query is free of AI Overviews.
Which B2B pages are more likely to keep clicks?
Pages that do a job a summary can't finish. This section is our reasoning from the data above. It is not a measured result: none of the studies above measures click-through rate by B2B page type.
| Page type | Example query (ours) | Related Ahrefs figure | Our reasoning |
|---|---|---|---|
| What-is explainer | what is lead scoring | Question queries: 57.9% show an AI Overview | Most exposed. A two-sentence summary answers it. |
| Long how-to guide | how to write a cold email to a cfo | 7+ word queries: 46.4% | Exposed. The overview covers the steps; some readers still click for detail. |
| Comparison or alternatives page | [tool] vs [tool], [tool] alternatives | Commercial intent: 4.3% | Likelier to keep clicks. A buyer wants the full table and the sources. |
| Pricing page | [brand] pricing | Branded: 13.1%; transactional: 2.1% | Likelier to keep clicks. Buyers want the current number from the source. |
| Templates | cold email templates | No direct figure | Likelier to keep clicks. The reader needs the full text to copy. |
| Free tool or calculator | email subject line tester | Ahrefs' own small check (below) | Likelier to keep clicks. The reader has to use the tool. |
The free-tool row has one piece of direct evidence. In a small check on its own site, published on 23 July 2025, Ahrefs profiled keywords whose CTR held or rose. Of 1,393 such keywords, 97 ranked on a results page with an AI Overview, and its free-tool pages stood out: searchers had a job to do and needed the tool. Ahrefs calls the study very small-scale, so treat it as a lead, not proof.
Google's own post points the same way. Reid wrote that people keep clicking when they want to dig deeper, explore further or make a purchase, and that they are more likely to click an in-depth review, an original post or a first-person analysis.
Siela's own site has two of these page types: a comparison page and a page of cold email templates. They are examples of the format; we have published no click data for them.
What should a B2B team change this week?
Find informational pages losing clicks
In Google Search Console, compare the last three months with the same months a year earlier. List pages where impressions held but CTR fell, and check those first for an AI Overview.
Check which of your queries show an AI Overview
Search your top 20 queries, or filter by SERP feature in your rank tracker. Mark each as question, how-to, comparison, pricing, template or tool.
Move effort toward pages with a job to do
If you have no comparison page for your top competitor, a pricing page that states plans clearly, or a template page for the task your product helps with, write one of those before your next explainer.
Make explainers worth citing
Keep informational posts, but put a direct answer in the first lines and add something an overview can't copy: original data, a worked example or a first-person account. In Ahrefs' small check, its Traffic Checker page lost one organic position but gained an AI Overview citation, which Ahrefs counts as two chances for a click.
Research before you write the next post
Check whether the target query shows an AI Overview and what already ranks before you commit to a draft. Siela's SEO Blog Writer checks search volume, cost per click, the top 10 Google results and People Also Ask, then writes an outline for you to approve before it drafts.
Frequently asked questions
How much do AI Overviews reduce click-through rate?
In Ahrefs' update published on 4 February 2026, the presence of an AI Overview correlated with a 58% lower average click-through rate for the top-ranking page. The study used 300,000 keywords and desktop Search Console data from December 2023 and December 2025. Ahrefs' April 2025 version of the same study found 34.5%.
Do AI Overviews appear on commercial keywords?
Rarely, in Ahrefs' data. Its study of 146 million desktop results pages from September 2025, published on 10 November 2025, found AI Overviews on 4.3% of commercial-intent results pages and 2.1% of transactional ones, against 21.4% for informational queries and 20.5% overall. Question queries showed them on 57.9%.
Does the Ahrefs study prove AI Overviews cause lower CTR?
No. Ahrefs' main finding describes a correlation. It compared keywords with AI Overviews against informational keywords without them and used the second group's CTR drop to forecast the first. The data is desktop only, and CTR also fell for keywords without AI Overviews. Google said in August 2025 that total organic clicks had been relatively stable.
Does ranking second or third still get clicks when an AI Overview shows?
Yes, but fewer. Ahrefs' February 2026 update found CTR impacts of about 50.8% lower at position two, 46.4% at position three and 19.4% at position ten when an AI Overview appeared, using December 2025 desktop data. The effect shrinks further down the page.
What does Google say about clicks from AI Overviews?
Liz Reid, VP and Head of Google Search, wrote on 6 August 2025, before Ahrefs' 2026 update, that total organic click volume from Google Search to websites had been relatively stable year over year, with slightly more quality clicks. Reid said some third-party reports of steep declines used flawed methods. Google's post did not publish a click-through rate for AI Overviews.
Sources
- Ahrefs: Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58% (published 4 Feb 2026)
- Ahrefs: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5% (published 17 Apr 2025)
- Ahrefs press release via Business Wire: New Research: Google's AI Overviews Now Cost Websites 58% of Their Clicks (published 19 May 2026)
- Ahrefs: What Triggers AI Overviews? 86 Factors and 146 Million SERPs Analyzed (published 10 Nov 2025)
- Ahrefs: What We Learned From Studying Our Own AI Proof Keywords (published 23 Jul 2025)
- Google: AI in Search: Driving more queries and higher quality clicks (Liz Reid) (published 6 Aug 2025)