Ranking first on Google now earns about half the clicks it did
Ahrefs studied 300,000 keywords. Where Google shows an AI summary, the top result's click-through rate fell 58%.
Ahrefs compared Google Search Console data for 300,000 keywords, December 2025 against December 2023. Where Google showed an AI Overview, the click-through rate for the page ranked first fell by about 58%, up from a 34.5% fall measured in April 2025. Lower positions lost between roughly 19% and 51%.
What it means if you sell to businesses
For years the plan was simple: rank, get the click, capture the lead. That plan now leaks at the first step. The buyer reads the summary, gets a shortlist of names, and moves on. Many never visit anyone's website.
Two things follow. First, being named in the answer matters as much as ranking. That is why we now test it monthly (see the AI Answer Check). Second, waiting for inbound traffic is a weaker plan than it was. The companies that keep growing are the ones that go and find the buyer first, with a dated reason to call.
That second point is what our Prospect Desk does: a live list of real companies that need what you sell, each with a named contact and a reason to call this month.
See your market on one page. Free.
Tell us what you sell and where. Within days you get a one-page Market Brief: the companies buying now, who decides, why now, and how AI tools describe your company.
