The Rundown
- AI web search has impacted web traffic, resulting in a 75% decline for SEO giants like HubSpot.
- Google’s AI Overviews cause 60% of searches to end without clicking.
- Businesses can still adapt to these changing trends and make AI work in their favor.
Introducing AI-powered search features, such as AI Overviews, has led businesses to wonder whether it will impact the world’s organic traffic. New data from firms about the impact of AI-generated search indicates that those concerns might be warranted to some degree.
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Does AI Search Impact Traffic?
Recent data indicates HubSpot’s traffic decreased by 75% in 2024, the same year AI Overviews was officially launched. A business that more or less built its brand on SEO, losing that much traffic in such a short period, is a definitive sign of AI’s destructive impact on traffic.
But the answer might not be that simple. There are two possible explanations for the traffic decline that top-ranking websites like HubSpot are experiencing:
- Google Algorithm Updates constantly affect rankings, particularly AI Overview updates. For example, a recent March 2025 update reduced the chances of AI Overviews citing top-ranked pages. Changes like this can have a massive impact on traffic and are hard to plan for.
- AI Search could play a role here. Google now prioritizes relevance over all else, and HubSpot’s older SEO strategy, which valued quantity over quality, could have penalized them, especially in AI Overviews citations.
This issue also extends beyond HubSpot, prompting some to wonder whether AI could potentially decimate the world’s organic traffic. 60% of all global searches now end without the user clicking on a link – these are zero-click searches.
What You Can Do
The rise of zero-click searches doesn’t have to spell the end for your website and business. Survival in the AI search era is all about adapting to change.
That means creating high-quality content that targets more specific keywords and staying up-to-date with the latest search trends, such as those related to VSO. You don’t have to be in the top 10 of organic search to get traffic, which opens up many more possibilities for smaller businesses.
Adapt To AI-Generated Search
With new changes, such as Google’s chatbot-like AI Mode on the horizon, now is the best time to adapt your marketing strategy to the latest trends. Work with Coalition Technologies, an award-winning AI SEO agency, today. Get started with a free consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does AI search affect organic traffic?
It does. Introducing AI-centric features has led to 60% of searches ending without a click. Features like Google’s AI Overviews summarize information from multiple sources to answer questions so users don’t have to click on links.
How can I utilize features like AI Overviews to boost my website traffic?
AI impacts the world’s organic traffic, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it work for you. Prioritize quality over quantity and target particular keywords to get your content cited by AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and more. A professional SEO agency can help you conduct that keyword research and build a custom content strategy.
Will AI search replace traditional search in the future?
According to Google, it’s unlikely. Users will always need an interface that allows them to explore and learn at their own pace, and even chatbot-like tools like AI Mode will need to accommodate this.
