Tech Desk 
Aug 10, 2025
In a major development, Google has pushed back against concerns that its new AI Overviews feature is lowering website traffic, stating that the overall volume of organic clicks from search has remained “relatively stable year-over-year.”
The debate centres on whether AI-generated summaries in AI Overviews are discouraging users from visiting other websites.
Some studies, including one from BrightEdge, suggest that click-through rates for top search results have dropped by more than 30% since the feature’s launch.
Google disputes these findings, attributing them to outdated trends and limited datasets.
Critics have argued that generative AI tools like AI Overviews could threaten the open web by presenting summarised content without linking users back to original sources.
Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince warned that AI-driven search results could “kill” the internet by reducing incentives for content creation.
Some publishers are exploring ways to block AI bots or seek compensation for the use of their content in summaries or training data.
However, Google maintains that AI Overviews enhance the search experience, offering more comprehensive answers and easier access to relevant sources.
Google’s Head of Search, Liz Reid, noted that the feature has led to more detailed queries and a greater number of visible links per search.
