Search dominance has always been a moving target, but in 2025, it’s evolving faster than ever. With the introduction of Google’s AI Overviews last year, SEOs are facing a new wave of disruption. These AI-generated summaries appear prominently on the search engine results page, often above organic listings, pulling in pieces of content from across the web. The result for brands? Lowered organic visibility, and even fewer clicks.
As AI Overviews continues to reshape search results, it’s crucial to understand their real-world impact. To do this, we conducted an in-depth analysis across multiple industries to track how AI Overviews are affecting CTRs, especially in comparison to traditional SEO features like organic listings and Featured Snippets.
Here’s what we found.
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Understanding the impact of AI Overviews on CTR
To understand how AI Overviews impact CTR, we analyzed 700K keywords across 10 total websites in 5 key industries: finance, education, SaaS, healthcare, and pets. The focus was on 10K keywords that triggered AI Overviews, and were already ranking organically.
The goal? To compare the effect of AI Overviews on CTR against traditional organic listings and Featured Snippets.
Study overview: 700K keywords, 5 industries, 10 websites
Now that we’ve set the stage, let’s dive deeper into the data to explore how AI Overviews are shifting CTR trends and impacting organic visibility across key industries.
CTR decline across AI Overview-triggered keywords
Overall, keywords that now trigger AI Overviews saw a CTR decline of -15.49% on average.
This means that AI Overviews are routinely taking a significant share of visibility away from organic results.
Branded keywords are less likely to trigger AI Overviews
Only 4.79% of branded keywords triggered AI Overviews. While branded terms typically have higher CTRs, the percentage of branded terms triggering AI Overviews is much smaller compared to non-branded keywords.
When branded keywords do trigger AI Overviews, CTRs improve
Interestingly, branded keywords that triggered AI Overviews saw a CTR increase of +18.68% on average.
Unlike non-branded terms, branded queries seem to benefit from AI Overviews, likely due to increased brand recognition and user intent.
Non-branded keywords experience sharper CTR drops
For non-branded keywords, there was a CTR decline of -19.98% across the board.
Non-branded keywords are hit harder by the appearance of AI Overviews, which means the traditional approach to ranking for these terms is less effective now.
Lower-ranking keywords are hit the hardest
Keywords ranking outside the top 3 positions experienced a larger CTR decline (-27.04% on average), indicating that AI Overviews are more detrimental to organic clicks for terms in lower positions.
Overlap with Featured Snippets causes major visibility loss
Keywords that triggered both AI Overviews and Featured Snippets saw the largest drop in CTR, with an average decrease of -37.04%.
The combined presence of these two are likely to crowd out the entire page above the fold, leaving little space for organic results to be clicked.
As AI Overviews continue to reshape the search landscape, it’s clear that traditional SEO strategies need to be rethought. The data shows a significant CTR decline for keywords triggering AI Overviews, particularly for non-branded terms and lower-ranking positions.
Adapting your SEO strategy for an AIO-driven landscape
While the disruption is real, there are still ways to navigate these changes and optimize for success. Here’s how you can adapt your strategy in an AIO-driven world:
Top positions still matter—but they’re not enough
Ranking in the top 1-3 positions are still important, but they’re not the whole story anymore. AI Overviews and other rich results can still eat into your CTR, even if you’re ranking high. The real sweet spot? A combination of top rankings and Featured Snippets.
Double down on Featured Snippet optimization
AI Overviews can seriously impact CTR, so it’s crucial to double down on securing Featured Snippets wherever possible. They’re still one of the most clickable elements on the page. While AI Overviews are on the newer side, and we’re all learning how to optimize around them, we’ve got a better grasp on how to capture Featured Snippets.
Target high-intent, non-branded queries and craft content that either has clear FAQs or list-formatted content. These layouts can improve the chances of both appearing as a snippet and driving traffic.
Focus on high-intent, non-branded queries
Non-branded keywords are being hit hardest by AI Overviews—especially broad, top-of-funnel terms. Given the sharp decline in CTRs, the value of targeting high-volume, awareness-stage keywords is shrinking.
It’s more effective to instead prioritize mid- to bottom-funnel non-branded queries, where intent is higher and users are closer to conversion. These keywords may not always have the same volume, but they tend to drive more meaningful engagement—even in an AIO-dominated landscape.
Branded keywords, while less likely to trigger AI Overviews, are showing signs of resilience. In some cases, we’re even seeing a slight increase in CTR when they do appear alongside AIOs. This presents a strong opportunity to double down on brand visibility and capture more clicks.
Moving forward: Your new SEO playbook
Search is no longer synonymous with just “Googling” something. As AI Overviews, social platforms, and answer engines like ChatGPT redefine how people discover information, the traditional SEO playbook must evolve. Consumers are finding products and making decisions through a wider range of channels than ever before. The data is clear: visibility in organic search is shrinking, especially for non-branded and lower-ranking keywords.
While AI Overviews (and Featured Snippets, to an extent) are creating new challenges for organic listings, they also provide an opportunity for those who know how to navigate them. The key takeaway here is that position still matters—but so does the type of rich result your content is eligible for.
By creating content optimized for Featured Snippets, optimizing for high-intent queries, and keeping a close watch on CTR fluctuations, you can continually capture valuable organic traffic, even in an AI-dominated search landscape. There’s still plenty of opportunity in the SERPs—you just need to be strategic in how you approach it.
By studying SEO’s colorful past, marketers can better predict future algorithmic changes and avoid repeating outdated or risky strategies. Explore the seven eras of SEO in Lily Ray’s most recent article, or let’s talk about how Amsive can help you future-proof your marketing strategy.
