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Is your digital strategy obsolete?
A new study reveals how Google’s AI Overviews are fundamentally changing customer behavior—and why your current digital strategy may already be obsolete.
If you’ve noticed a mysterious drop in website traffic over the past year, you’re not imagining it. Google’s AI Overviews — those AI-generated answer boxes appearing at the top of search results—are quietly revolutionizing how customers find and interact with businesses online.
The bottom line? Desktop outbound click-through rates can fall by two-thirds the moment an AI Overview appears; mobile fares better, but still loses almost half its clicks.
Click-Through Rates:
The Moment An AI Overview
Appears In Search
For the first time ever, researchers conducted an in-depth behavioral study tracking 70 real users across 400+ AI Overview encounters to understand exactly how this shift affects businesses. The findings reveal a new reality that every business owner needs to understand—and adapt to—immediately.
The New Customer Journey: From Clicks to Glances
Here’s what’s really happening when your potential customers search for your products or services:
Most customers never scroll past the first few lines of AI answers. 7 in 10 searchers never read past the first third of an AI Overview, meaning if your business isn’t mentioned in those opening sentences, you’re effectively invisible.
Think about what this means for your marketing budget. You might be spending thousands on SEO and content marketing, only to have Google’s AI summarize your competitors’ information while burying your brand at the bottom of a summary most people will never see.
The study revealed a harsh truth: Users treat an AI Overview as a fact sheet: quick scan, expand if needed, minimal internal navigation. Instead of clicking through to your website to learn more, customers are getting their answers and making decisions without ever visiting your site.
The Trust Revolution: Why Authority Now Trumps Everything
Perhaps the most significant finding for business owners is how customer decision-making has fundamentally changed. Brand/Authority is now the first gate, search intent/relevance the second — a complete reversal of traditional search behavior.
This means customers are no longer asking “Does this answer my question?” first. Instead, they’re asking “Do I trust this source?” and then considering relevance.
The practical impact: Whenever a recognised brand, authority site, .gov or .edu appeared, it was chosen first in 58% of the cases where such a link was present.
For smaller businesses, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. You can no longer compete solely on having the best answer or the most relevant content. You must establish authority and trust before customers even search for you.
7 in 10 searchers never read past the first third of an AI Overview, meaning if your business isn’t mentioned in those opening sentences, you’re effectively invisible.
The Demographic Divide: Your Customer’s Age Determines Their Behavior
The study uncovered a striking generational split that has immediate implications for your marketing strategy:
Younger customers (25-34) embrace AI answers. They’re comfortable trusting AI summaries and often use social platforms like Reddit for validation. 25 to 34-year-olds on mobile are the power users: They pick AI Overviews as the final answer in 1 of 2 queries.
Older customers still prefer traditional results. They’re more likely to click through to actual websites and prefer authoritative sources they recognize.
What this means for your business: You need different strategies based on your customer demographics. If you serve older customers, traditional SEO and website optimization remain crucial. If your customers skew younger, you need to focus on getting cited in AI answers and building a presence on validation platforms like Reddit and YouTube.
Here’s the part that might surprise you: Even when customers do click away from Google after viewing AI Overview answers, they’re often bypassing business websites entirely.
The study found that when users seek additional information beyond what AI provides and are increasingly turning to community platforms for validation. 18% of clicks go to community platforms when users want to verify or expand on AI answers—especially among younger users who want to hear from real people, not just brands.
What customers are doing instead of visiting your website:
This behavior is most pronounced among 25-34 year olds—ironically, the same group that trusts AI answers the most. They’ll accept the AI summary as a starting point, then validate it through peer experiences rather than official brand sources.
The opportunity: The businesses winning in this new landscape aren’t just optimizing their websites—they’re building authentic relationships where customers are actually going for validation.
25 to 34-year-olds on mobile are the power users: They pick AI Overviews as the final answer in 1 of 2 queries.
What you must do right now
1. Shift your success metrics
Stop measuring success solely by website visits. Visibility, not raw referral traffic, is becoming the main currency of organic search.
Track:
2. Invest in authority building
Trust is the gatekeeper in this new search landscape.
Focus:
3. Optimize for skimmers
Since most customers only read the first few lines of AI answers, your content must be:
4. Expand beyond your website
Build authentic presences where customers are validating information:
5. Prepare stakeholder for the new reality
Expect—and budget for—a structural drop in organic sessions. This isn’t temporary—it’s the new normal. Revenue models dependent on website traffic need diversification strategies.
I want to thank you personally for your leadership, insights and knowledge which allowed us the confidence to trust you as our fractional Chief Marketing Officer.
Because of you and your team our business has more than doubled over a relatively short period of time and so has my personal income.
I can’t tell you enough how grateful we are for what you have been able to accomplish for us and we want to continue to add to our marketing cost because our formula has been that
for every dollar we spend with you we are putting at least 5 back into our pocket AFTER we subtract what we spent.
That’s an amazing cost/benefit that I have never received before in any of our previous marketing endeavors. Feel free to use me as a reference.
I am happy to share our experience with anyone who is fortunate enough for you to take them on as a client.
Daniel C Goodwin
Provident 1031
Chief Investment Strategist
July 4, 2025
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The Bigger Picture: Adapting to the Visibility Economy
We’re witnessing the transition from what researchers call a “click economy” to a “visibility economy.” Success is no longer about driving traffic to your website—it’s about being present and trusted wherever customers are making decisions.
The businesses that thrive will be those that recognize this shift early and adapt their strategies accordingly. They’ll focus on building authority, establishing trust, and meeting customers where they are—not just where they want them to be.
The businesses that struggle will continue optimizing for yesterday’s customer behavior while their competitors capture mindshare in tomorrow’s search landscape.
Your Next Steps
The search revolution is already here. The question isn’t whether these changes will affect your business—it’s whether you’ll adapt quickly enough to turn them to your advantage.
The data in this article comes from the first-ever comprehensive UX study of Google’s AI Overviews, conducted by researchers who tracked 70 users across 400+ real search sessions. This groundbreaking research provides the first quantitative look at how AI is reshaping customer behavior online.
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This is one of the best written, most informative email newsletters I’ve ever read!
Thank you for sharing your expertise, and hope you’re doing well.
Beth Zimmerman
Founder, Executive Director
July 3, 2025
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