SourceAhrefs
PublishedApril 17, 2025
TypeTool vendor study
Sample300,000 keywords (150,000 with an AI Overview, 150,000 informational without), March 2024 vs March 2025
The short version: Ranking first is worth less on informational queries than it was. Re-forecast traffic for informational content with lower CTR assumptions.
What they studied
Ahrefs compared desktop click-through rates for the top-ranking page before and after AI Overviews rolled out in the U.S., using aggregated Search Console data, with similar informational keywords as a control group.
Key findings
- The top-ranking page got about 34.5% lower average CTR when an AI Overview was present than the control group trend would predict.
- 99.2% of keywords with an AI Overview were informational.
Key learnings
- Ranking first is worth less on informational queries than it was. Re-forecast traffic for informational content with lower CTR assumptions.
- Put more effort into the commercial and navigational pages where AI Overviews rarely appear.
Things to keep in mind
- Desktop only.
- The 34.5% depends on an assumption that AI Overview keywords would otherwise have followed the control group trend.
- Search Console cannot separate AI Overview clicks from other clicks, so the effect cannot be checked directly.
- Ahrefs sells SEO tools; it re-ran the study for 2026.
Read it alongside
- AI Overviews and click-through rate: 15 months of client data (Seer Interactive, 2025)
- Google users click less when an AI summary appears (Pew Research Center, 2025)
- Zero-click search in 2024: most Google searches end without a click (SparkToro (data from Datos), 2024)
Source
Tool vendor study by Ryan Law and Xibeijia Guan, published by Ahrefs, April 17, 2025.
We read the source and checked every figure on this page against it on October 13, 2026. Summaries and learnings are ours. Spotted an error? Tell us.
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