Do Google's AI Overviews reduce website traffic?

For many informational queries, yes — when Google answers the question directly on the results page, fewer people click through. The clicks that remain skew toward higher intent: people who need more than a summary.

The strategic response isn't to fight the overview, it's to be the source it cites and to own the queries it can't fully answer — pricing specifics, local availability, comparisons, and anything requiring a quote or booking.

That means measuring what changed (which pages lost impressions vs. clicks), doubling down on bottom-of-funnel content, and making sure your business facts are structured so that when AI does answer, it answers with you in it.