If high-ranking pages on your site keep the same impressions and positions but suddenly get fewer clicks, Google’s AI Overviews (AIOs) are a likely cause. Academic research from the Indian School of Business and Carnegie Mellon University suggests AIOs can shave as much as 38% off clicks to webpages. There’s no single report that quantifies this loss for you, but you can diagnose where clicks are being lost and prioritize fixes using existing data.

Step 1 — Identify which keywords trigger AI Overviews

Start by building two comparable keyword cohorts: queries that trigger AIOs and closely related queries that don’t.

• Manual checks: Search a sample of your historically high-traffic queries from the target geography (use a VPN or geolocation testing) and note whether an AIO appears and whether it cites or links to webpages.

• Tracking tools: Use your keyword tracker’s SERP-feature history to find when AIOs started appearing for each query. If the tool provides historical SERP snapshots, capture that start date.

The goal is to assemble groups of keywords with similar search intent and volume so later comparisons are meaningful.

Step 2 — Compare metrics before and after AIOs appeared

Use Google Search Console (GSC) and your analytics platform to compare impressions, average position and click-through rate (CTR) for each keyword or page. Practical constraints to note:

• GSC retention: Search Console stores data for up to 16 months—choose comparison windows you can support (for example, 30 days before vs. 30 days after the AIO start date).

• Data caveat: Google confirmed Search Console over-reported impressions between May 2025 and April 2026; factor that into any impression comparisons covering that period.

You’re looking for a clear pattern: stable impressions and rankings but a dropped CTR. That pattern strongly indicates users are getting answers from the AIO instead of clicking through.

If you lack historical SERP snapshots, compare matched cohorts of similar queries where one group triggers AIOs and the other does not—matching on impression volume and average position reduces noise.

Step 3 — Group affected keywords and set priorities

Not all lost clicks are equally valuable. Split affected keywords into three buckets so you can focus where it matters:

Keywords to defend — Commercial queries that historically drove conversions or led to transactional pages. Try to reclaim these because they still have conversion potential.

Keywords to adapt — Commercially relevant queries where the AIO no longer cites sources or drives clicks but downstream value remains. These require new approaches to become the authoritative next step after the AIO.

Keywords to depreciate — Broad informational queries that the AIO fully satisfies and historically delivered low-value traffic. These usually don’t justify heavy investment to recover clicks.

Practical tactics by bucket

Defend — reclaim clicks and conversions

  • Offer site experiences the AIO cannot display: interactive tools, calculators, downloadable assets or gated content that require a visit.
  • Increase the chance your pages are cited: use structured data and clearly attributed, original content so AIOs can—and ideally will—cite your site.
  • Strengthen direct incentives: exclusive offers, membership benefits or conversion nudges visible on landing pages encourage clicks to convert.

Adapt — become the obvious next step after the AIO

  • Publish first-party data, original research or deeper analysis. AIOs tend to cite sources that add unique value.
  • Map follow-up questions the AIO leaves open, and produce content that answers those next-turn queries—position your pages as the logical continuation of the AIO response.

Depreciate — measure then reallocate

  • Analyze downstream behavior: if pages historically driven by these queries rarely convert or engage, reduce investment.
  • Reallocate resources toward defended and adapted keywords where you can move business metrics.

Operational checklist and ongoing monitoring

• Maintain a keywords-to-action tracker: record which queries trigger AIOs, the CTR change, business value and assigned remediation bucket.

• Recheck AIO presence regularly: AIOs and their formats change. Use periodic SERP snapshots—automated where possible—or scheduled manual checks to detect new AIOs, format changes, or when your domain gets cited.

• Combine quantitative and qualitative signals: CTR drops with stable impressions and position flag click-loss, but inspect the AIO itself—does it show product links, cite competitors, or fully answer the query?

• Consider conversion lifts: if residual traffic converts less, optimize landing pages and CTAs to capture the higher-intent visitors who still click through.

What to watch next

Google added a Generative AI features performance report to Search Console, but it currently lacks the detail needed to attribute click loss to AIOs for individual queries. Until reporting improves, the practical playbook is the same: monitor SERPs, run cohort CTR analyses, and prioritize content and site experiences that the AIO cannot reproduce.

Don’t chase every lost click. Diagnose which queries matter to conversions, defend those, adapt where you can become the authoritative follow-up, and cut losses on low-value informational queries. That directs effort toward measurable business outcomes rather than SERP appearances.