What AI search changed about SEO, and what it did not
AI summaries take the clicks that used to go to thin pages. What still earns a visit, what stopped working, and how to tell which of yours is which.
AI summaries changed who clicks, not what a good page is. A Pew Research Center study looked at 68,879 Google searches made by 900 US adults in March 2025. People clicked a standard result on 8 percent of visits to a results page that showed an AI summary, against 15 percent when there was no summary (Pew Research Center).
So if your organic traffic fell and nothing on your site changed, the first question is not what Google did to you. It is which of your pages were only answering a question somebody can now get answered without leaving the results page. In the accounts we have looked at, the pages that lost were mostly the kind that summarised what other pages already said.
The short version
- Pew Research Center found people clicked a standard search result on 8 percent of visits when Google showed an AI summary, and on 15 percent when it did not. The data is from March 2025 and 900 US adults.
- That finding is about searches that show a summary. Pew found about 18 percent of the searches in its study produced one, so the effect on your site depends on which of your queries trigger a summary.
- Search Console keeps 16 months of performance data, which is enough to compare the same months year on year and find queries where impressions held and clicks fell.
- Google says a page needs to be indexed and eligible for a snippet to appear as a link in AI Overviews. That means the work that earns a ranking is the same work that earns a citation.
- Pages carrying something only you have, pages where the reader has to act next, and pages answering a very specific question have held up best in the accounts we manage.
- Sort pages that lost clicks into rewrite, merge or leave, and do not delete on instinct.
How much do AI summaries cut clicks?
On the searches where they appear, roughly by half. Pew Research Center measured 8 percent of visits ending in a click on a standard result when an AI summary was shown, against 15 percent without one (Pew Research Center).
Read that carefully, because it is often misquoted. It does not say organic traffic halved. It says that on the subset of searches where Google shows a summary, clicks on standard results were close to half as common. Pew found about 18 percent of the Google searches in its March 2025 data produced an AI summary. People clicked a link inside the summary on just 1 percent of those visits. They ended their browsing session on 26 percent of pages with a summary, against 16 percent without one. Which of your queries trigger a summary is the real question, and the answer is different for every site.
So before rewriting anything, look. Search Console will show you which queries kept their impressions while clicks fell. Those are the likely summarised queries. Search Console holds 16 months of performance data (Google Search Central Blog), which is enough to compare the same months a year apart.
| What Search Console shows | Impressions | Clicks | Likely cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summary taking the answer | Steady | Falling, on informational queries | An AI summary or other feature answers the question on the results page |
| Algorithm update | Falling | Falling, stepping down on a dated update | Pages reassessed. Check Google’s Search Status Dashboard for the date |
| Technical fault | Falling to zero on some pages | Falling with them | Pages dropped from the index, broken redirects, robots.txt changes |
| Seasonal dip | Falling across most queries | Falling in proportion | The same weeks last year show the same pattern |
What kind of page lost its traffic?
Pages that restate a definition. Pages that list the seven steps everybody lists. Pages written to occupy a keyword rather than to say something.
If a language model can produce your page from what is already on the web, a generated summary can now stand in for it, and the reader does not need to arrive. That was always a weak page. AI search made the weakness expensive.
Which pages held up?
Three kinds of page have held up in the accounts we have watched, and they have something in common: each is hard to write.
Pages carrying something only you have. Your own data, your own screenshots, the result of a job you did. A summary can describe the existence of your case study. It cannot reproduce the screenshot. This lines up with Google’s own guidance, which asks whether content provides original information, reporting, research or analysis, and whether it shows first-hand expertise (Google Search Central).
Pages where the reader has to act next. Booking, buying, getting a quote, checking whether you cover their postcode. A summary answers a question. It does not book an appointment.
Pages answering something so specific that summarising it is useless. “Why did my Google Ads conversions drop after Consent Mode v2” is not a question a two-line answer closes.
Photo: Vitaly Gariev on Pexels.
What should you do with pages that lost clicks?
Sort them into three piles: rewrite, merge or leave. The pile depends on whether you have real experience of the subject, whether other pages on your site cover the same ground, and whether the page still earns enquiries.
| Pile | When it applies | What to do | What to watch afterwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rewrite | You have real experience of the subject and the page does not show it | Add your own numbers, screenshots and what went wrong on the job | Clicks and enquiries on that page over the next quarter |
| Merge | Several thin pages circle the same subject | Move the useful parts into the strongest page and redirect the rest to it | The merged queries in Search Console, allowing for a short dip |
| Leave | The page still converts the few people who reach it | Nothing. The lost traffic was never worth much | Enquiries, not visits |
Do not delete on instinct. We have opened accounts where a previous agency pruned pages that were quietly carrying internal links, and the drop that followed was blamed on an algorithm update.
What did AI search not change?
Nearly all of the basics. Google says that to appear as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, a page has to be indexed and eligible to show in Search with a snippet. It says there are no extra technical requirements (Google Search Central).
Your site still has to be crawlable. Your titles still have to be worth clicking. Your Business Profile still matters for the map pack, where Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity (Google Business Profile Help). Your page still has to load on a phone on mobile data. And your tracking still has to count enquiries rather than page views, which in many accounts we open, it does not.
In the accounts we have seen, the businesses hurt worst by AI search were the ones whose organic traffic was already built on pages that said little. The shift did not create that problem. It removed the traffic that had been hiding it.
Photo: SHVETS production on Pexels.
Where should you start?
Open Search Console. Set the date range to the last 16 months. Sort by impressions, and look for the queries where impressions held and clicks fell.
That list is your work. Everything else on this page is context.
The bottom line
The pages that do well in AI search are the ones that were worth a visit before it arrived. A summary can repeat what the web already says, so the pages that still earn clicks are the ones carrying something the web does not have yet: your evidence, your prices, your next step. AI search did not change what good work looks like. It stopped paying for the other kind.
Questions people ask about this
How do I know which queries trigger an AI summary?
Search them yourself in a private window, one at a time, and note which show a generated summary above the results. Then cross-check with Search Console: set the range to the last sixteen months, compare impressions and clicks per query, and look for the ones where impressions held and clicks fell. Where both signals agree, that query is likely summarised. Do this for the pages that lost traffic first, not for the whole site.
Should I block AI crawlers from my site?
Blocking Googlebot blocks Google Search, so that is not an option for a site that wants search traffic. Google offers a separate robots.txt token, Google-Extended, to control whether your content is used for Gemini, and says it does not affect inclusion or ranking in Google Search. Other companies’ crawlers, such as OpenAI’s GPTBot, can be blocked separately. Decide on principle rather than in hope of recovering clicks.
Can I get my page cited inside the AI summary?
Sometimes, and the same things that earn a ranking earn a citation. Google says a page needs to be indexed and snippet-eligible, with no extra technical requirements. Beyond that, specific and checkable claims, a named author with real experience, original numbers and screenshots, and a page that answers the question typed all help. A citation inside a summary still sends fewer clicks than a normal result did, so treat it as visibility rather than a traffic recovery.
How do I merge thin pages without losing traffic?
Pick the page with the most links and traffic as the survivor. Move the useful material from the others into it, rewrite so it reads as one piece, and redirect each retired address permanently to the survivor. Update internal links to point at the new page. Then watch Search Console for the merged terms over a quarter. A short dip is normal. Do not merge pages that target genuinely different questions, because one page cannot rank well for both.
What counts as something only I have?
Anything a model cannot produce from the public web. Your own screenshots, results from your own accounts, photos from a job, a mistake you made and what it cost, a comparison you ran yourself. A description of a process everyone uses does not count. A test: if a competitor could paste your page and nobody would notice, it carries nothing of yours. If they would be caught, it does.
Is it worth writing blog posts at all now?
Yes, if each one earns its place. A post that restates a definition or lists the usual seven steps is the kind a summary replaces. A post that answers a specific question with your own evidence, or that a reader needs to act on, still draws visits and enquiries in the accounts we manage. Write fewer, and put your own numbers and screenshots into each. One page with something to say is worth more than ten that circle the topic.
How do I tell whether the drop was AI or an algorithm update?
Look at the pattern. A summary-related loss tends to show impressions holding while clicks fall, on specific informational queries. An algorithm update tends to drop impressions and rankings together, across many pages, around a date Google confirms on its Search Status Dashboard. A technical problem shows pages leaving the index. Check all three in Search Console before deciding, and check what changed on the site as well.
Should I add FAQ sections to every page?
Only where the questions are real and the answers are specific. A list of generic questions with two-line answers is the kind of content a summary replaces, and it adds nothing. A set of questions customers actually asked, answered with what you know from doing the work, gives the page more of what held: specificity and experience. Judge each question by whether a reader would learn something from the answer.
Does AI search affect local businesses the same way?
In our experience, less. Searches with a local intent, such as a plumber in a named town, still tend to show the map pack and local results, and the person still needs to call someone. The pages that lost were mostly informational. For a local business, the profile, reviews and service pages still do the work. The risk is the blog: how-to posts written for traffic are the ones most likely to be summarised.
How long should I wait before rewriting a page?
Long enough to be sure the loss is real and to know its cause. Compare at least three months against the same months a year earlier, so seasonality is out of the picture. Then sort the page into rewrite, merge or leave, as described above. Rewriting on a two-week dip wastes effort and destroys the evidence. If the page still converts, leaving it alone is usually right.
Can AI write the rewrite for me?
It can draft the structure, but a page produced from what is already on the web is the kind that lost traffic in the first place. The parts that hold are the parts only you can supply: the screenshot, the number from your account, the thing that went wrong. Use a tool to tidy the prose if you like. Do not use it to supply the substance, because that is the part a reader came for.
Free review
Want this looked at on your own site?
Send the address. A person reads it and writes back with the two or three things that would move your enquiry number first. Free, and yours to keep whether you hire us or not.
