AI Overviews Cut the Top Result's Clicks by 58%. What a #1 Ranking and a Backlink Are Worth Now
•October 19, 2026•8 min read
For years the whole point of SEO was to rank #1 and collect the click. Google's AI Overviews are quietly dismantling that deal. Ahrefs' most recent analysis found that when an AI Overview appears, the top organic result loses about 58% of its click-through rate - and a year earlier the same measurement was 34.5%, so the effect is growing fast. Pew's data tells the same story from the user side: roughly 8% of searches with an AI summary produce an organic click, versus about 15% without, and the sources cited inside the AI answer get clicked only around 1% of the time. If the click is evaporating from the results page, the obvious question for anyone buying links is blunt: what is a top ranking - and the backlink you bought to earn it - actually worth now? The 2026 data has a clear answer, and it is not "nothing."
Summary
- The headline: Ahrefs (December 2025 data, 300,000 keywords) found an AI Overview cuts the #1 result's CTR by about 58% - position-one CTR fell from ~7.3% to ~1.6%. Position 2 dropped ~50.8%, position 3 ~46.4%.
- It is accelerating: Ahrefs' earlier study (March 2024 vs March 2025) put the position-one hit at 34.5%. In a year it nearly doubled.
- User side (Pew): ~8% of AI-summary searches yield an organic click vs ~15% without; AI-summary sessions end without any click 26% of the time vs 16%. Google disputes the methodology.
- The citation itself barely gets clicked: Pew found links inside the AI Overview are clicked only ~1% of the time. Being cited is about visibility and trust, not traffic.
- A 2026 nuance: Seer Interactive found CTR on AI-Overview queries fell to 1.31% (Dec 2025) then partly recovered to 2.36% (Feb 2026) - damage is real but may be stabilising.
- What it means for links: the value of a backlink shifts from "win the click at #1" to "be in the set of sources AI trusts and cites, and build the brand authority that puts you there."
What the newest data actually shows
The clearest number comes from Ahrefs' updated study, which used December 2025 click data across 300,000 keywords. On queries where an AI Overview is shown, the top-ranking organic result's click-through rate drops by about 58% - in absolute terms, position-one CTR falls from roughly 7.3% to roughly 1.6%. The effect fades as you go down the page but stays severe: around a 50.8% drop for the second result and 46.4% for the third. Ahrefs is careful to call this an association rather than proven causation, and notes the run is desktop-only and focused on informational queries, where AI Overviews appear most.
The trajectory matters as much as the number. Ahrefs' previous analysis, comparing March 2024 with March 2025, measured the position-one impact at 34.5%. So in roughly a year the top-result CTR hit grew from about a third to nearly three-fifths. Pew Research's panel study (about 900 US adults, ~69,000 searches) approached it from user behaviour and found organic clicks on searches with an AI summary at about 8%, versus about 15% without - close to half - with browsing sessions ending outright 26% of the time when an AI summary appeared, against 16% without. Google has publicly disputed Pew's methodology, which is worth noting, but multiple independent studies point the same direction.
There is a counter-signal worth being honest about. Seer Interactive's 2026 analysis found CTR on AI-Overview queries bottomed at 1.31% in December 2025 and recovered to 2.36% by February 2026 - still well below the no-overview baseline, but a sign the freefall may be levelling off as users and interfaces adjust. The damage is real and large; it is not necessarily infinite.
| Metric (2025-2026) | Finding | Source |
|---|---|---|
| #1 result CTR with AI Overview present | ~58% lower (from ~7.3% to ~1.6%) | Ahrefs, Dec 2025 |
| #1 CTR hit a year earlier | 34.5% | Ahrefs, Mar 2024-25 |
| Organic click rate, AI summary vs none | ~8% vs ~15% | Pew |
| Clicks on links inside the AI answer | ~1% of visits | Pew |
| CTR on AIO queries, Dec 2025 → Feb 2026 | 1.31% → 2.36% (partial recovery) | Seer |
Why a #1 ranking is worth less, but a backlink is not
It is tempting to read these numbers as "SEO is dead" or "links don't matter." That is the wrong lesson. What is losing value is one specific thing: the click from a blue link on the results page. The underlying thing links do - signal authority and relevance to the systems that decide who gets seen - is doing more work than ever, because those systems now include the model that writes the AI Overview.
Google's AI Overview does not invent its answer from nothing; it assembles and cites sources. Which sources it pulls from is driven by the same authority and relevance signals that rankings always rewarded - and backlinks from trusted, topical, real-traffic sites are a core part of that. So the job of a link is shifting from "push this page to position one so it gets the click" to "help make this page one of the sources the AI trusts enough to summarise and cite." The destination of the value moved; the mechanism that earns it did not.
The catch: being cited is about visibility, not clicks
Here is the part that reframes how you should measure any of this. Pew found that even when a source is cited inside the AI Overview, it gets clicked only about 1% of the time. So if you optimise purely for "get clicked from the AI answer," you will be disappointed. The payoff of being in the answer is different: your brand and your claim are shown, in Google's own trusted voice, to the person who asked - whether or not they click. That is brand visibility, recall and authority, not a session in your analytics.
This is why the teams adapting well have stopped reporting off raw organic clicks alone and started tracking presence: are we cited in AI Overviews and other AI answers for our key queries, how often, and alongside whom? A backlink's contribution is now measured partly in citations and brand mentions, not only in referral sessions - the same shift the digital PR industry is going through.
What to do about it as a link buyer
- Stop valuing links only by the click they might send. A link on a trusted, topical, real-traffic page builds the authority that gets your pages into AI answers - value that never shows up as a referral in analytics.
- Prioritise sources AI actually cites. Genuine editorial sites with real readership are what AI Overviews pull from. That is the same quality bar that always separated a good placement from a dead, duplicated one.
- Pair every link with a brand mention. Being named in context - not just linked - is what travels into an AI answer. A placement that mentions you and links you in real editorial copy does both jobs.
- Measure presence, not just sessions. Track whether you are cited for your core queries, because a #1 ranking that loses 58% of its clicks is no longer a complete scorecard.
- Keep buying authority, deliberately. That is exactly what Rixot builds: contextual links on niche-relevant, real-traffic sites, which is the authority the models reward. You can see the model and price per placement on our pricing page.
AI Overviews are taking the click. They are not taking the reason links exist - they are quietly raising the price of ignoring it. A top ranking is worth less than it was in 2024; a backlink that earns real authority is worth more.
FAQ
How much do AI Overviews actually reduce clicks?
Ahrefs' December 2025 data found the #1 organic result loses about 58% of its CTR when an AI Overview is shown (from ~7.3% to ~1.6%). Pew found organic clicks at ~8% with an AI summary versus ~15% without. Figures vary by study and method, but all show a large drop.
Is the impact getting worse?
On balance yes: Ahrefs measured the position-one hit at 34.5% a year earlier, so it nearly doubled to ~58%. One counter-signal is Seer's finding that CTR on these queries recovered from 1.31% to 2.36% in early 2026 - still far below baseline but possibly stabilising.
Do backlinks still matter if clicks are disappearing?
Yes, arguably more. AI Overviews choose which sources to summarise and cite based on authority and relevance signals - and backlinks from trusted, topical, real-traffic sites feed those signals. The value of a link moves from winning the click to getting your page into the answer.
If a site is cited in an AI Overview, does it get traffic?
Usually very little - Pew found links inside the AI answer are clicked only about 1% of the time. The benefit is brand visibility and trust (your claim shown in Google's voice), not a referral session, so measure it as presence rather than clicks.
How should I change my link strategy for AI search?
Buy links for authority rather than for the click: prioritise genuine editorial, real-traffic sites that AI cites, pair each link with a contextual brand mention, and track whether you are cited for your core queries - not just raw organic sessions.
Sources
- Medianama - "Ahrefs Study: Google AI Overviews Cut Clicks By 58%," medianama.com
- Ahrefs - "AI Overviews Cut CTR by 23.1% in France," ahrefs.com
- Search Engine Land - "New data: Google AI Overviews are hurting click-through rates," searchengineland.com
- SISTRIX - "Pew Research: AI Overviews halve click-through rates," sistrix.com
- PPC Land - "Google disputes Pew study showing AI Overviews reduce clicks by half," ppc.land
