Google Keeps 58 Out of Every 100 Clicks Now
The one thing you need to know in AI today | AI-Ready CMO
Google is stealing your traffic, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Ahrefs ran an updated study on the impact of AI Overviews, and the numbers got worse.
A lot worse.
In April 2025, their research showed AI Overviews reduced clicks to the top-ranking page by 34.5%. Their new data, pulled from December 2025, puts that number at 58%. For every 100 clicks a position-one page used to earn, Google now keeps 58 of them. The lower positions aren’t spared either—position five loses a third of its clicks, and even position ten takes a 19% hit. Other researchers are seeing similar or worse: Seer Interactive reports drops up to 65%, and the Daily Mail claims 80-90% (it’s the Daily Mail so, well, take it with a pinch of salt).
The trend line is pointing one direction, and it’s not yours.
None of this should surprise anyone who’s been paying attention, but the speed of the decline might. The original Ahrefs study predicted exactly this: as novelty wears off and users get comfortable letting Goog…