If you’ve ever searched for a recipe and scrolled through a 3,000-word memoir about caramel pumpkin cheesecake before you finally got to the ingredients, you can appreciate the impact of AI overviews on organic traffic.
Now, you can type the same query and get just the recipe you want, without the never-ending backstory.
The ability to find exactly what you need to know faster with AI-generated answers in search is shifting the ways people seek out information.
At the same time, Google’s AI overviews and zero-click searches have changed the search page and marketing at large.
Many brands are seeing a decline in organic website traffic with the disruption of AI and zero-click content.
Even HubSpot publicly addressed the topic in this explainer blog and video.
“You have to understand now that the total addressable market that any company has out there in terms of search traffic they can go after has shrunk,” HubSpot CMO Kipp Bodnar said in the video. “You have to be smart, have differentiated data and point of view that make you uniquely qualified. And if you don’t, it’s going to be very hard to be successful.”
If your team is grappling with this shift, you’re not alone. But you’re not powerless, either.
The good news is that many foundational strategies you may already be using for search engine optimization can help you optimize content for AI overviews and mitigate the effects AIOs have on traffic and bottom-line KPIs.
Why Do AI Overviews Matter?
Unlike a traditional Featured Snippet that displays one box of information from a single page or a Knowledge Panel with key details you can claim and verify from your own company, Google’s AI overviews synthesizes information from multiple sources and attempts to address your query.
It also gives you the option to see an expanded version of the answer, which can push traditional search results farther down the page, reducing organic traffic.
I recently took a trip to Greece and we had to figure out how to get from the Athens airport to a small village in the mountains where we were staying.The rest of our group has already booked a van for the week, leaving us without transportation.
The AI overview is a more helpful response than the links it’s pulling from below, which required me to read through numerous bus routes to figure out the answer myself.
I still visited the Rome2Rio website to verify this route was still running and see what times the bus left, but the AI overview gave me most of what I needed to know.
The good news is that these steps also improve your visibility in search engines.
AI Overviews’ Very Real Impact on Organic Traffic
Are clickthrough rates declining because of AI?
It’s the big question here, and in short, the answer is yes. But there’s a lot more nuance to it.
The most recent analysis by audience research platform SparkToro and Semrush company Datos found that Google searches increased by nearly 22% in the past year, and it still had 14 billion searches a day, 373 times as many searches as ChatGPT.
However, their 2024 study found nearly 60% of searches ended without a click.
一个 Similarweb research report also showed an increase in zero-click searches, from 56% to 69% within a year of AIOs. As more people turn to AI for updates on stocks, sports, weather, politics and other current events, news websites are seeing the impact, with traffic collectively dropping from 2.3 billion visits to less than 1.7 billion after AI overviews.
If you monitor Google Search Console closely, the story often looks like this:
- Impressions rise as your content is still surfaced (or referenced) in AI-generated summaries
- Clickthrough rates fall because users get quick answers on the AI-generated search results page.
- For brands with strong products and how-to libraries, conversion rates on remaining clicks can hold steady or even improve as they see less casual traffic and more serious intent.
This isn’t only because of AI. It represents a continuation of a trend that’s been happening for years with content channel diversification.
As HubSpot CEO Yamini Rangan said in her INBOUND keynote speech in September, the impacts of AI and “zero click” engagement on other platforms like social media has upended the traditional marketing funnel.
“The top of the funnel has scattered,” she said. “Buyers are on TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, podcasts. Buyers used to start with content on your website. Now, they are everywhere but your website.”
AI overviews have also affected the middle of the funnel, she said, as buyers can more quickly get recommendations or compare their options. But the bottom of the funnel is “transforming” – AI makes it easier to deliver more personal, relevant content to people who are more ready to buy.
As a HubSpot Diamond Partner, we used to focus so much of our time and attention to the top of the funnel, casting that wide net with helpful, educational content. That helped our clients’ website traffic continue to grow year after year, but inevitably, we also noticed a percentage of that traffic was researchers, other marketers and even competitors, those with no intention of ever buying.
Now, the focus has shifted to finding buyers who fit ideal customer profiles and targeting them more specifically with content that answers specific questions like:
- Why do we really need this product or service?
- What makes it different from the status quo and the competition?
- What can we expect to spend on this?
- How do you successfully plan for and implement it?
- How are other companies in my industry using it to achieve better results?
Content marketing is still important, but the approach has shifted. Buyers are more likely to initially hear about brands on a podcast or social media platform. They might go to a platform like Reddit to get more honest answers from a community already using it.
They may sign up for a newsletter as they research other options. And, at some point, they’ll want to see proof of its performance in the form of testimonials and case studies.
This may be when they visit the website or return to it and interact with more decision-focused content, like pricing pages or quote calculators.
Which types of queries are most affected?
So far, Google AI overviews have been overwhelmingly from informational searches.
This makes a lot of sense for the search experience. If you want to know how to do something, especially if it’s something that can be easily broken down into steps, these AI summaries provide answers faster and often without requiring you to visit anyone’s website.
一个 Semrush report of all search queries that triggered AI overviews in March showed:
- 88% are informational
- Nearly 9% are commercial, meaning someone is researching brands or products; however, this has grown steadily in the past year
- 1.76% are transactional, where someone is looking to make a purchase; another area expected to grow
- Only 1.4% are navigational, indicating someone is looking for a specific website
It’s also worth noting that “AI Mode,” Google’s experimental AI-only search, breaks down search terms and questions into related queries that can redefine or reshape user journeys.
Users can continue asking follow-up questions and get answers from a variety of sources, summarized in a conversational way.
Going back to Greece for a minute, we had a lot of input from family as we planned our trip, but we also wanted to find the best beaches within a driveable distance of where we stayed. Here’s a portion of the summary in AI mode:
With each question, there’s a list of related questions I can explore to learn more:
Savvy brands are already deconstructing AI Mode and using the findings to update their content.
For instance, you can use Locomotive Agency’s Query Fan-Out Tool or similar tools to analyze how well a page answers typical questions that would surface within an AI search.
Here are some examples of recommendations the tool made for our website design services page:
We’ve used this tool to identify areas where clients could add new sections to existing pages, such as:
- Charts comparing their solution to others on the market
- Adding a short, simple “how to use this in three steps” section
- New sections with frequently asked questions and answers
- Pricing or ROI calculators
- Other new resources people can explore to learn more
In short, it’s still possible to rank in AI overviews and drive traffic with the right content strategy. You need to structure your content in a way that will help it gain visibility on AIOs, while also designing content in ways that maximize the time people spend on your pages and compels them to take the next action.
You need compelling, click-worthy reasons: deeper first-hand expertise, original data, tools, short video demos, clear next steps. We’ve seen this with clients whose informational pages lost casual top-funnel traffic but improved lead quality after we added decision-stage content and on-page conversion paths.
What Makes Content Eligible for AIO and Clicks?
Many of the same best practices marketers have used for years to optimize for search also help improve visibility in AI.
In displaying AI overviews, Google considers content quality signals, authority, structured data, and the semantic context around the query. This means pages with clear structure, accurate information, and strong experience, expertise, authority and trust (E-E-A-T signals) have a better chance of being cited in, or informing, an AIO.
Here are some of the most important factors:
- Clarity and helpfulness – Lead with the answer and follow with more depth.
- Freshness – Content that has been recently published or updated is more likely to be displayed compared to older content.
- Structure – Content that has a natural visual hierarchy and clear headings and subheads aligned with search intent, such as frequently asked questions, performs better
- Schema markup – Schema is the preferred language of Google and helps both search engines and large language models better understand your content. For instance, you can add schema designating a new section as frequently asked questions or a how-to guide.
- Experience – While generic how-to content is less likely to drive traffic to your website, people are still looking for specific educational content from someone who has actually created the video with the software, taken the trip, or spent time working with CEOs from their industry.
This rankings cheat sheet shows some more specific steps you can take to improve your visibility in AI overviews.
For one client, a welding technologies provider, we’ve focused on systematically adding FAQs to product and blog pages. These questions and answers are already appearing in ChatGPT and Perplexity, giving this client increased visibility while preserving site traffic.
How To Optimize Content for AI Overviews and CTR
Lead With Expertise
This is the foundation for content that drives AI search traffic and engagement.
Think about what you can offer that no one else in your industry can. That could be original research like SparkToro’s reports, hands-on experience with a product or honest reviews that help people decide.
Show your methodology, the way Ahrefs and Backlinko do with their SEO studies. Walk the reader through how you actually used something.
Basecamp’s digital book of its Shape Up methodology or Inside Figma posts showing how to achieve specific designs are great examples.
Pull back the curtain on what worked, what broke, and how you fixed it. You could even embed a short video demo so users see it, not just read it. That kind of evidence earns trust in AI-shaped search because it gives models—and humans—something concrete to quote, compare, and act on.
To enhance expertise, you’ll also want to include authors with credentials on your posts.
Answer Questions the Way AI Does
For priority search queries, write succinct answers (2-3 sentences) followed by supporting context, sources, and examples. This mirrors how AIOs and People Also Ask organize information. Tools like AlsoAsked and SEMrush help you mine related questions and search intent; then reflect that hierarchy in your structured headers and on-page Q&A. (Our clients see stronger coverage—and we’re now seeing those same answers picked up by AI assistants.)
Use Schema Markup or Structured Data
Mark up the essentials, including articles, FAQ sections, How To sections and Person sections for your author bio. You can even use AI to write schema. Here’s an example:
{ "@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Navigating AI Overviews’ Impact on Website Traffic and CTR",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Annie Zelm",
"jobTitle": "Content Director",
"worksFor": {"@type": "Organization","name": "Kuno Creative"}
},
"dateModified": "2025-10-24",
"mainEntityOfPage": "https://www.kunocreative.com/blog/ai-overviews-on-organic-traffic",
"about": ["AI Overviews", "organic traffic", "CTR", "SEO strategy"]}
Schema markup helps Google understand your intent and increases eligibility for AI-generated summaries and featured snippets.
Make sure your product data is easy for AI to read, too. OpenAI just introduced instant check-out capabilities in ChatGPT, making it even easier for people to research something and then buy it.
While B2C companies are sure to jump on this new feature, it could make sense for some aspects of B2B selling as well, especially if you sell certain products directly to customers or offer a “freemium” model with a low barrier to entry.
Diversify Content Formats
We all know people aren’t just reading blogs and downloading whitepapers the way they once did. They’re watching videos, listening to podcasts, scrolling social media, attending in-person events and hearing about your brand in so many other ways.
That means your content calendar can’t just be a list of keywords and blog posts. Think about how you can create core pieces like webinars and turn them into multiple resources like videos to add to your YouTube channel, shorter video clips and sound bites for social channels, blogs and emails.
Nearly 30% of all AI overviews cite YouTube in their results, and AI search results cite YouTube videos 200 times more than any other video platform, according to research from Search Engine Land.
We’ve seen this for our own clients. Those who invest in video content see a faster path to ranking for relevant search terms than those that only rely on written content to dominate in organic search. They also get better click-through rates.
How Kuno Creative Helps You Stay Visible in the AI Era
In a world of AI-generated content, human clarity and originality cut through.
The best blog posts, resources and videos still start with a clear story and point of view.
Our team combines strategy, content, design, technical SEO and answer engine optimization (AEO), to help you increase visibility in AIOs and drive traffic and leads.
From developing authoritative website pages and resources to properly structuring them with FAQs, schema markup and great visuals and then promoting that content on YouTube and other social media channels, our team has the breadth and depth of knowledge to help even the most niche companies succeed in search.
We often start by recommending updating existing content that’s already getting visibility but needs to be more authoritative or structured better to perform at its best.
We look for opportunities to add lists, charts, summaries and frequently asked questions that help both large language models and people quickly find what they need.
We may also recommend more in-depth glossary pages or YouTube videos on key topics to help you compete. And we’ll propose paid media strategies that boost this content while staying within your budget.
Most importantly, we do it with your goals and ideal customer profiles in mind, rather than focusing on broadly driving traffic.
Once you have the right people consuming your content (wherever that may be), our RevOps team builds workflows to help your sales team qualify and follow up with them. They’ll build dashboards in HubSpot so you can more easily see who is engaging, what deals are in the pipeline and how all your marketing activities are impacting your revenue.
If your best buyers aren’t finding you in an AI-powered search landscape, let’s fix that.
Schedule a consultation with us, and we’ll map out the fastest path from visibility to revenue.
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