AI Overviews traffic drop: why rankings held but clicks fell

The pattern

Average position in Search Console is flat or improving. Impressions are steady. Clicks and click-through rate are down, mostly on informational queries. Nothing on the site changed.

This is usually Google answering the question directly — with an AI Overview, a featured snippet or another results-page feature — so fewer people need to click. It isn't a penalty, and more link building won't fix it.

How to confirm it in Search Console

Before you explain it to the client, check that the data really shows this pattern:

• Compare the last 28 days with the same period last year to rule out seasonality.
• Filter to queries where average position is unchanged (within one place) and sort by the biggest click loss.
• Search the top losers yourself and note which ones now show an AI Overview.
• Split question-style queries (how, what, why) from commercial ones. The drop is usually concentrated in the first group.

What to tell the client

Be direct: Google now answers part of this demand on its own page. The client still appears — often inside the answer itself — but fewer people click through for simple questions. Commercial queries, where people want to compare and buy, are affected far less.

Then change what you report. Show impressions and position alongside clicks, report commercial-intent queries separately, and track whether the client's pages are cited inside the AI Overview for their most important terms.

What to do about it

• Answer the question in the first two sentences of the page, so Google can quote and cite it.
• Add the details an overview can't cover: pricing, comparisons, examples and the client's own data.
• Point informational pages to a clear next step (a calculator, a template, a demo) so the clicks you do get are worth more.
• Put more effort into commercial and comparison pages, where clicks hold up.