The presence of an AI Overview correlates with a 58% lower average click-through rate for the top-ranking page, based on December 2025 data.
Source: Ahrefs, Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58% (2025)
Global
AI Search Statistics: 19 Verified Stats With Sources
AI answers are changing what a search result is worth. These figures cover how often AI summaries appear, how people use AI assistants to search and what that means for clicks, all traced to the original research.
Key stats
58%
The presence of an AI Overview correlates with a 58% lower average click-through rate for the top-ranking page, based on December 2025 data.
Ahrefs, 2025 49%
Search impressions increased by over 49% since the launch of AI Overviews, while click-throughs declined by nearly 30% over the same period.
BrightEdge, 2025 68.01%
In the first four months of 2026, 68.01% of Google searches ended without a click, the highest zero-click rate ever recorded.
SparkToro, 2026 one billion
Google AI Mode surpassed one billion monthly users just one year after its debut, with queries more than doubling every quarter since launch.
Google, 2026 23x
AI search visitors convert at a 23x higher rate than traditional organic search visitors, based on Ahrefs' own analytics data.
Ahrefs, 2025On this page
AI Overviews and AI Mode
An earlier Ahrefs study from April 2025 found that AI Overviews reduced clicks to top-ranking content by 34.5%, despite Google's statements to the contrary.
Source: Ahrefs, Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58% (2025)
Global
AI Overviews show for approximately 16% of all US keywords on desktop, appearing on around 24.9 million out of 156 million search terms.
Source: Ahrefs, Insights From 55.8M AI Overviews Across 590M Searches (2025)
United States
AI Overviews peaked at nearly 25% of all keywords in July 2025 before settling at 15.69% by November 2025, after starting the year at 6.49%.
Source: Semrush, Semrush AI Overviews Study: What 2025 SEO Data Tells Us About Google's Search Shift (2025)
United States
Search impressions increased by over 49% since the launch of AI Overviews, while click-throughs declined by nearly 30% over the same period.
Source: BrightEdge, One Year Into Google AI Overviews, BrightEdge Data Reveals Google Search Usage Increases by 49% (2025)
Global
AI Overviews now appear in over 11% of Google queries, a 22% increase since the feature debuted in May 2024.
Source: BrightEdge, One Year Into Google AI Overviews, BrightEdge Data Reveals Google Search Usage Increases by 49% (2025)
Global
Zero-click search
In the first four months of 2026, 68.01% of Google searches ended without a click, the highest zero-click rate ever recorded.
Source: SparkToro, In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click (2026)
United States
US zero-click searches on Google stood at 60.45% in 2024, rising to 68.01% in early 2026, a 12.5% increase over two years.
Source: SparkToro, In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click (2024)
United StatesOlder data
AI Overviews now appear on more than 20% of all Google searches, and when present, reduce click-through rate by nearly 60%.
Source: SparkToro, In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click (2026)
United States
AI assistants and chat search
Google AI Mode surpassed one billion monthly users just one year after its debut, with queries more than doubling every quarter since launch.
Source: Google, Google Search's I/O 2026 updates: AI agents and more (2026)
Global
ChatGPT is the largest AI traffic referrer, accounting for 50% of all AI referral traffic across websites studied.
Source: Ahrefs, 63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic (New Study of 3,000 Sites) (2025)
Global
Impact on traffic
63% of websites receive referral traffic from AI chatbots, with ChatGPT accounting for 50% of all AI referrals.
Source: Ahrefs, 63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic (New Study of 3,000 Sites) (2025)
Global
On average, just 0.17% of a website's visitors come from AI chatbots, with smaller sites capturing a proportionally higher share.
Source: Ahrefs, 63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic (New Study of 3,000 Sites) (2025)
Global
AI search visitors convert at a 23x higher rate than traditional organic search visitors, based on Ahrefs' own analytics data.
Source: Ahrefs, Does AI Search Traffic Convert Better Than Traditional Search? For Ahrefs, Yes: 0.5% of Visitors Drove 12.1% of Signups (2025)
Global
AI search visitors are 4.1% more likely to bounce than traditional search visitors and 5.4% more likely to bounce than the average site visitor.
Source: Ahrefs, AI Visitors Visit Fewer Pages and Bounce More Often Than Traditional Search Visitors (2025)
Global
AI platform visitors view an average of 4 pages per visit, which is 1.2 fewer pages than visitors arriving from traditional search.
Source: Ahrefs, AI Visitors Visit Fewer Pages and Bounce More Often Than Traditional Search Visitors (2025)
Global
Over 80% of Ahrefs' AI search referral traffic goes to just three content types: free tools, product pages, and the homepage.
Source: Ahrefs, 80% of Our AI Search Traffic Goes to Our Homepage, Product Pages, and Free Tools (2025)
Global
Optimising for AI answers
The share of AI Overview citations that also rank organically grew from 32.3% to 54.5% over 16 months, a 69% relative increase.
Source: BrightEdge, AI Overview Citations Now 54% from Organic Rankings (2025)
Global
Only 15.2% of topic categories in ChatGPT have a clear brand owner, meaning 85% of topics remain open to competitors building consistent AI visibility.
Source: Semrush, AI visibility is a topic-level game: A study of 50,000 brands in ChatGPT (2026)
Global
Where these numbers come from
Ahrefs
- Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58% (2025)
- Insights From 55.8M AI Overviews Across 590M Searches (2025)
- 63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic (New Study of 3,000 Sites) (2025)
- Does AI Search Traffic Convert Better Than Traditional Search? For Ahrefs, Yes: 0.5% of Visitors Drove 12.1% of Signups (2025)
- AI Visitors Visit Fewer Pages and Bounce More Often Than Traditional Search Visitors (2025)
- 80% of Our AI Search Traffic Goes to Our Homepage, Product Pages, and Free Tools (2025)
BrightEdge
Semrush
SparkToro
AI Search statistics: FAQs
How much do AI Overviews reduce click-through rates on Google?
A large-scale Ahrefs study in 2026 found the presence of an AI Overview correlates with a 58% lower average click-through rate compared with results pages that lack one. An earlier Ahrefs study from April 2025 measured the reduction at 34.5%. The range reflects different methodologies and the rapid evolution of how often AI Overviews display and how prominently they appear.
What share of Google searches end without any click?
SparkToro data shows 68.01% of Google searches in early 2026 ended without the user clicking any result, up from 60.45% in 2024. AI Overviews now appear on more than 20% of all Google searches, and SparkToro found their presence correlates directly with a further increase in zero-click outcomes. This is the single most disruptive trend for SEO-reliant content marketers.
How much traffic do AI chatbots send to websites?
Currently very little. Ahrefs found that on average just 0.17% of a website's visitors arrive from AI chatbots. ChatGPT accounts for the largest share at 50% of all AI referral traffic, and 63% of websites receive at least some AI chatbot traffic. AI platform visitors view an average of 4 pages per visit, which is 1.2 fewer pages than traditional organic search visitors.
Do AI search visitors convert better than organic search visitors?
Yes, considerably. Ahrefs' 2025 analysis found AI search visitors convert at a rate 23 times higher than traditional organic search visitors. They also show 4.1% higher bounce rates, suggesting they are more purposeful but also quicker to leave if content doesn't match intent. Over 80% of AI search referral traffic goes to just three content types: product pages, blog articles, and tool pages.
How big is the AI search audience?
Google AI Mode surpassed one billion monthly users just one year after its debut in 2026, according to Google's own announcements. Only 15.2% of topic categories in ChatGPT have a clear brand owner, meaning 85% of informational territory remains up for grabs for brands that invest in AI search optimisation, per Semrush 2026.