Notice Your Website Traffic is Declining Lately? Why You’re Not Alone

In the past, a sudden drop in website traffic would’ve been likely due to issues that you were not aware of: slow-loading pages, content that didn’t hit the mark, misconfigured robots.txt files, failure to pivot after a Google algorithm update — issues that we used to associate with low rankings.

But recently, declining traffic means fewer people are clicking through to your site via the organic results on the search engine results page (SERPs). And you’re not alone; the same is happening to businesses everywhere. The primary cause? Artificial intelligence (AI).

With the introduction of AI Overviews and AI Mode, Google’s recent additions to its search experience, users no longer have a reason to click through the 10 blue links in the search results, not when they can get answers to their queries in AI summaries on page one.

In this blog, we discuss why you don’t need to beat yourself up for declining traffic and why you should start optimizing for AI Overviews and AI Mode, instead.

Included in this blog:

• Let’s (Re)Introduce Google AI Overviews and AI Mode
• How These AI Features Are Eating Away at Website Traffic
• Why Is Website Traffic Down Worldwide?
• Where AI Overviews Show Up — And Where They Don’t
• It’s Not Just About Traffic Anymore — It’s About Visibility

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Let’s (Re)Introduce Google AI Overviews and AI Mode

If you’ve been following Google search algorithm updates over the past year, you’ve probably heard of AI Overviews, Search Generative Experience and, most recently, AI Mode. Together, these developments are shaping how billions of people interact with search.

So what exactly are they?

Google AI Overviews

AI Overviews are summaries that appear at the top of some or most search results pages. Powered by Google’s generative AI, these overviews aim to provide users with quick, synthesized answers to their queries — often without requiring them to click through to a website.

“That prime placement means users rarely feel the need to scroll,” said Ronnel Viloria, Lead SEO Strategist at Thrive Internet Marketing Agency. “If your content gets cited, you’ve made it — but if it doesn’t, you’re left competing for scraps further down the page.”

After each query, AI Mode users now see:

• A multi-sentence paragraph that answers their question
• Supporting information pulled from different websites
• A few clickable citations underneath

This is also one reason search engine optimization (SEO) has diversified into another branch, AI SEO or generative engine optimization (GEO).

So basically, businesses now have to work for ranking their content in the generative search engines along with regular search engines. GEO optimizes your website’s content to boost its visibility in AI-driven platforms such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot, along with Google AI Overviews.

Google AI Mode

As if Google AI Overviews was not leading the list of answers to “why is my website traffic dropping,” AI Mode goes one step further. It’s a more immersive version of the search experience where generative AI takes center stage.

When Google announced AI Mode in March, it was only available to U.S. users to opt into via Search Labs; now you no longer need to opt into it. When turned on, AI Mode changes the entire layout of the search results page. Users are greeted with a conversational, AI-powered response that reads more like a ChatGPT summary than a traditional search listing. In many cases, these responses dominate the screen, pushing traditional results (including your site) further down or off the first view entirely.

Read also: How Google’s AI Mode Is Reshaping Search and What It Means for Your Brand

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How These AI Features Are Eating Away Your Website Traffic

Here’s where it starts to hit home.

With AI Overviews and AI Mode, Google is working hard to answer questions before users click. That means:

• Your carefully written blog post may be summarized in a few lines — with or without a link.
• Your product or service might be mentioned, but not clicked on.
• Your brand might get visibility without actual traffic.

That sudden drop in website traffic is due to the rise of zero-click search — and it’s a growing trend. And when more users stay on the search results page, fewer end up on yours.

If you are asking, “Why is my website traffic dropping?” then a quick way to find out whether it’s due to Google is by comparing it with your competitors using Google Analytics. If you see a graph where most or all competitors’ traffic drops at the same time as yours, that’s a sign Google is stealing your traffic.

Image Source: Ahrefs

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Why Is Website Traffic Down Worldwide?

There was a time when ranking No. 1 on Google SERPs was synonymous with its position at the top of the result page. So, in 2019, a Google search result for a phrase like “best ecommerce agency in the US” might have looked like this.

• One sponsored ad at the top
• A modest People Also Ask box
• The #1 organic result — your website — right there, easily visible
• Then the rest of the organic links (#2–#10)
• Maybe a few results with site links or review stars

This resulted in high visibility, a decent click-through rate (CTR) and, obviously, high website traffic. Now, consider what happens today for the same keyword.

Google SERP in 2025 (Same Informational Query):

• AI Overview panel at the very top — summarizing key answers
• Featured Snippet pulled from a source (possibly not yours)
• Expanded People Also Ask questions
• What People Are Saying — quotes from forums or Reddit
• Discussions & Forums (Reddit, Quora, etc.)
• Video results — YouTube or TikTok shorts
• Finally… the No. 1 organic listing, pushed far down the page

After this Google algorithm update, for the same ranking, you get a drastically lower visibility and click-through rate (CTR). The result: website traffic down. The below image shows a quick differentiation of the SERP between then and now.

Same Rank, Less Reward: The Hidden Cost of SERP Expansion

Even if your website still technically ranks No. 1, you are now buried under a pile of competing SERP features. These additional blocks — once occasional — are now default.

This is why businesses are seeing a traffic decline despite maintaining their rankings. Users simply don’t need to click anymore. Google serves them the answer directly on the search results page.

“In many ways, it’s a wake-up call,” Viloria said. “Ranking is no longer the finish line — it’s just the start of how your content needs to show up across generative results.”

In fact, studies from platforms like Search Engine Land have shown that over 60% of searches now end without a single click. This is the reality of a zero-click search world.

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Where AI Overviews Show Up — And Where They Don’t

Understanding which queries trigger an AI Overview (AIO) helps explain why some pages see sharper traffic drops than others.

A December 2024 study of 10,000 U.S. keywords across seven industries gives us a clear picture:

What the data says	Why it matters
AIOs appear on only 29.9% of keywords, representing 11.5% of total search volume. They’re far from universal. Yet when they do show, they grab the prime real estate above organic results.	Even a rare feature can steal a meaningful slice of visibility because it sits at the very top of the SERP.
Mid-volume terms (≈ 501-2,400 monthly searches) trigger AIOs most often — 42% of the time. High-volume head terms are less likely to display one.	Pages targeting long-tail or mid-tail “how-to” or comparison queries are the most exposed to traffic siphoning.
Industry matters. Telecommunications keywords showed AIOs in 56% of cases, while Beauty & Cosmetics showed them only 14% of the time.	Complex, research-heavy verticals (tech, B2B SaaS, telecom) are more likely to see their content summarized by AI. Lifestyle niches may feel less impact — for now.
Intent matters even more. Problem-solving queries trigger an AIO 74% of the time; explicit question queries, 69%. Navigational searches almost never show one.	FAQ-style blog posts, troubleshooting guides and “how do I…” pages sit directly in the AI’s crosshairs, whereas your branded home page traffic is largely untouched.
Non-brand keywords: 33% AIO rate vs. 19.6% for brand terms.	Early-funnel discovery content is more likely to be condensed into an overview; bottom-funnel brand queries still lean on traditional clicks.

Key Takeaway for Marketers

When you find a sudden drop in organic traffic, it’s not always a Google algorithm update. Don’t assume all your traffic will vanish. Instead, audit your content and identify which portions overlap with mid-volume, question-based, non-brand queries — those are the slices most susceptible to AIO cannibalization. From there, focus on:

• Answer authority: Tight, well-structured answers to earn a coveted citation inside the AIO.
• Brand reinforcement: Strong, consistent branding so users remember you even if they don’t click.
• Experience upgrades: Interactive tools, calculators or visuals that an AI summary can’t replicate.

“We need to structure content to be scannable, factual and immediately useful in AI-driven formats,” Viloria said.

By knowing where Google’s AI is most active, you can decide how to protect traffic while still capitalizing on the visibility upside of being referenced in the overview.

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It’s Not Just About Traffic Anymore — It’s About Visibility

An apparent sudden drop in website traffic might make you feel like you’re losing ground. But to be honest, a drop in traffic doesn’t mean a drop in value; it is no longer a success metric.

Search is evolving — and so should your perspective.

In today’s AI-enhanced search landscape, your brand can be seen, trusted and remembered without a single click. AI Overviews and AI Mode are designed to give users fast, reliable answers. And to do that, Google pulls from websites it considers authoritative, helpful and accurate.

That means if your content is being:

• Quoted in AI-generated summaries,
• Cited in source links beneath overviews, or
• Referenced in featured snippets or knowledge panels.

… you’re still part of the conversation. You’re showing up — just in a new way.

Visibility = Influence

The goal is no longer just to rank and receive clicks; the new goal is to be present where decisions are being made, even if users don’t visit your site immediately.

Your brand might appear in:

• A paragraph inside an AI Overview
• A suggested product carousel
• A People Also Ask response
• A local pack or knowledge panel

These are all high-visibility placements that shape perception — and often, influence future action.

At Thrive, we’re not just preaching AI-focused SEO — we’re proving it with our own numbers. Consider this: between Q1 and Q2 of 2025, we supercharged our referral traffic from AI platforms by 2,219% — a result of our hands-on approach to generative engine optimization (GEO). Here’s a breakdown:

• +117% referral traffic uplift from Gemini
• +119% growth in traffic via ChatGPT-based search

These wins didn’t happen by chance. Thrive’s AI SEO services include:

• Structured prompt engineering and real-time experimentation across generative platforms
• Passage-level optimization, semantic SEO, schema markup, conversational query targeting
• Content crafted to be machine-synthesizable, authoritative and valuable enough to be cited by AI overviews

Put simply, Thrive helps clients show up where decisions are being made — within AI-generated answers — so your brand retains visibility even in a zero-click world. And our surge in AI-driven referrals proves that this strategy works.

If you want to stay in line with the latest Google search algorithm updates and want to optimize your website to rank on traditional search engines as well as generative search engines, then Thrive is your agency.

Contact us today.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Declining Site Traffic, AI SEO and Google AI