Loading…
AI search: how ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews are changing traffic
6 minutes · 9 steps · workout 5 of 6 in this module
What you'll be able to do
By the end of this workout, you'll be able to spot an AI Overview traffic drop in your data, estimate what it costs, decide which pages still deserve effort, and measure the traffic that AI assistants send you.
A first look: How AI search changes who clicks
In 2026, three things sit between a search and your site. Google's AI Overviews summarise the answer at the top of many results pages. Assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude answer questions directly and cite a few sources. And more people ask a question in a chat instead of typing a keyword at all. The effect is uneven. Informational queries (“how to,” “what is,” “best way to”) lose the most clicks, because the summary is the answer. Comparison, brand and purchase queries lose less, because the person still needs to go somewhere to decide or buy. So the question isn't “is my traffic down,” it's “which kind of traffic is down, and did it ever convert?”
Example: Northpack's “What is a daypack?” post lost half its clicks in a year. Its “Northpack vs. the two most popular commuter backpacks” page lost almost none and is cited in AI answers.
What this workout covers
- How AI search changes who clicks
- Case: Where does Northpack put its content effort?
- Getting cited by AI answers, and measuring it
A question from this workout
Green Garden Skincare's article “How to layer skincare in the morning” still ranks #1 on Google. Over the last quarter its impressions stayed flat but clicks fell 35%. Before we explain, use your judgement: what's the most likely cause?
- The ranking dropped and Search Console is showing it wrong
- An AI Overview now answers the question above the results, so fewer people click through
- People stopped caring about skincare routines
- The article's title was changed and lost its keywords
Pick your answer first, then open the reasoning below.
Show the answer and the reasoning
Answer: B. An AI Overview now answers the question above the results, so fewer people click through
Flat impressions with falling clicks means the page is still being shown but is no longer being clicked, and for how-to questions that's the signature of an AI Overview: the answer sits above the results and many people stop there. The most common mistake is assuming the ranking dropped. If it had, impressions would fall too. Always look at impressions and clicks together.
The other steps work the same way: you decide first, then see why each option is right or wrong.
How you practice here
- 2 short concept cards
- 2 multiple-choice questions
- 1 campaign case with real-looking numbers
- 1 put-in-order exercise
- 2 guided calculations
- 1 recall question from an earlier workout
Part of the module: AI in Marketing
Make AI your teammate for content, ad creative, analysis and research, and understand how AI search is changing marketing.
More workouts in this module
- Writing good prompts: role, context, examples, format
- Creating content with AI: speed, brand voice and control
- AI for ad images and video creative
- AI for data analysis: from spreadsheet to insight
- Risks: hallucinations, copyright, privacy and brand safety
Programs that include this workout