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Fewer Clicks From Google: What AI Overviews Mean for Local Businesses

By Rahul Bhole · · 2 min read

The short version

  • When Google shows an AI summary, people click regular results far less often.
  • Fewer website visits doesn’t always mean less demand. Your analytics may just be seeing less of it.
  • Track impressions, calls, direction requests, and “how did you hear about us,” not only website traffic.

If your website traffic from Google has slipped over the past year while your rankings look about the same, you’re not imagining it. More searches now end with an AI-written summary at the top of the page, and fewer people scroll past it.

What the research shows

Pew Research Center looked at the real browsing activity of about 900 U.S. adults. When a Google search showed an AI summary, people clicked a regular search result on 8% of visits. When there was no summary, they clicked on 15%.

How often people clicked a regular search result

  • No AI summary on the page15%
  • AI summary on the page8%
Source: Pew Research Center, based on searches made in March 2025.

Pew also found people rarely clicked the links inside the summary itself, and were more likely to end their browsing session right there. A larger study from Ahrefs, published in February 2026, found the top-ranking result got 58% fewer clicks on searches where an AI Overview appeared.

Why this hits local businesses differently

For a local business, the website visit was never the goal. A call, a booking, or someone walking through the door is. Many local searches now get answered with a summary, a map, and a phone number, so the customer may call you without ever loading your site.

That means two things. Some of your demand is still there but invisible to website analytics. And the businesses Google mentions in those summaries get a bigger share of attention than before.

Measure the whole path, not just the click

Where to look at each step

  1. 1

    You show up

    Impressions in Google Search Console

  2. 2

    You get chosen

    Clicks, calls, and direction requests in your Google Business Profile

  3. 3

    They reach out

    Leads by source in your CRM or a spreadsheet

  4. 4

    They buy

    Customers and revenue by source

If impressions hold steady but clicks fall, the AI summary is probably answering the question. Check calls and leads before you assume demand dropped.
  • Google Search Console: compare impressions and clicks month over month. Rising impressions with falling clicks is the classic AI Overview pattern.
  • Google Business Profile: watch calls, website clicks, and direction requests. For many local businesses these matter more than site visits.
  • Ask every new customer how they found you. One question on your intake form catches the people who never touched your website.
  • Branded searches: if more people search your business name, word of mouth and visibility are working, even if generic clicks fall.

What you can do about it

Nobody controls what Google puts in its summaries. But the basics that help people choose you also help AI systems describe you accurately: a clear page for each service, the areas you serve, honest answers to common questions, current hours, and plenty of recent reviews.

Sources

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