Statistics · Updated October 2026
SEO statistics for the AI search era
These SEO statistics show how AI Overviews change clicks, CTR and traffic sources, with LLMReach's own measurement of what AI assistants cite.
Short answer
How much do AI Overviews hurt SEO clicks?
Pew Research Center (July 2025) found users clicked a result in 8% of visits with an AI summary versus 15% without. Ahrefs (April 2025) saw a 34.5% lower CTR for the top-ranking page.
Key figures
SEO statistics at a glance
- lower click-through rate for the top-ranking page when an AI Overview appears
- 34.5%
- lower click-through rate for the top-ranking page when an AI Overview appears
- Ahrefs, April 2025
- of Google visits end in a click on a result with vs without an AI summary
- 8% vs 15%
- of Google visits end in a click on a result with vs without an AI summary
- Pew Research Center, July 2025
- organic CTR on queries with an AI Overview in February 2026, up from 1.3% in December 2025
- 2.4%
- organic CTR on queries with an AI Overview in February 2026, up from 1.3% in December 2025
- Seer Interactive, April 2026
- organic CTR on queries without an AI Overview in February 2026, up from 2.8% in January 2025
- 3.8%
- organic CTR on queries without an AI Overview in February 2026, up from 2.8% in January 2025
- Seer Interactive, April 2026
- growth in AI traffic in 2025, still under 0.15% of total web visits
- 66%
- growth in AI traffic in 2025, still under 0.15% of total web visits
- Semrush, April 2026
- of the websites AI assistants cite rank in Google's top 10 for the same buyer question
- 13.2%
- of the websites AI assistants cite rank in Google's top 10 for the same buyer question
- LLMReach measurement, October 2026
- of AI answers cited no website from Google's top 10 (409 of 729)
- 56%
- of AI answers cited no website from Google's top 10 (409 of 729)
- LLMReach measurement, October 2026
- of buyer questions showed a Google AI Overview (201 of 249)
- 81%
- of buyer questions showed a Google AI Overview (201 of 249)
- LLMReach measurement, October 2026
All figures
Every SEO statistic on this page
| Statistic | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Visits with a click on a link inside the AI summary | 1% | Pew Research Center, July 2025 |
| Searches ending the browsing session, with vs without AI summary | 26% vs 16% | Pew Research Center, July 2025 |
| Google searches that produced an AI summary, March 2025 | 18% | Pew Research Center, July 2025 |
| One- or two-word searches vs 10+ word searches with an AI summary | 8% vs 53% | Pew Research Center, July 2025 |
| Informational queries showing an AI Overview | 36% | Seer Interactive, April 2026 |
| Comparison queries triggering an AI Overview | 95.4% | Seer Interactive, April 2026 |
| Share of web visits from organic search in 2025 | 16.04% | Semrush, April 2026 |
| Monthly users of Google AI Mode, one year after launch | 1 billion+ | Google, May 2026 |
| Predicted drop in traditional search volume by 2026 | 25% | Gartner, February 2024 |
| Keywords triggering AI Overviews that are informational | 99.2% | Ahrefs, April 2025 |
| Monthly active users of Google AI Overviews | 2.5 billion+ | Google, May 2026 |
| Searches on Google every year | 5 trillion+ | Google via Search Engine Land, 2025 |
| US Google searches ending without a click (2024) | ~60% | SparkToro and Datos, 2024 |
| Clicks to the open web per 1,000 US Google searches (2024) | 360 | SparkToro and Datos, 2024 |
| Consumers relying on zero-click results in at least 40% of searches | 80% | Bain & Company |
| Estimated drop in organic web traffic from zero-click behavior | 15% to 25% | Bain & Company |
| Google searches already showing AI summaries, expected above 75% by 2028 | ~50% | McKinsey, October 2025 |
| Possible traffic decline for unprepared brands | 20% to 50% | McKinsey, October 2025 |
| Buyer questions where Google's #1 result was cited by any AI assistant (76 of 249) | 31% | LLMReach measurement, October 2026 |
What it means
What these AI search trends mean
Rankings no longer guarantee citations
LLMReach measurement found only 13.2% of cited sites rank in Google's top 10. Strong SEO alone does not put a brand into AI answers.
Clicks shrink where summaries appear
Pew Research Center (July 2025) saw clicks fall from 15% to 8% of visits with an AI summary. Being named in the summary matters more than ranking below it.
Track AI as its own channel
Semrush (April 2026) shows AI traffic grew 66% in 2025 from a tiny base. Measure citations and mentions now, before the channel matures.
CTR trend
Organic CTR with and without AI Overviews
View the data as a table
| Dec 2025 | Feb 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Queries with an AI Overview | 1.3% CTR | 2.4% CTR |
| Queries without an AI Overview | 3.2% CTR | 3.8% CTR |
Source: Seer Interactive, April 2026
Our data
AI citations vs Google rankings.
How each assistant's sources line up with Google's top 10 for the same buyer question.
Per assistant, %
- ChatGPT
- Gemini
- Perplexity
Source: LLMReach measurement, 750 answers to 250 buyer questions in 25 sectors, 5 to 7 October 2026View as table
| Brand | ChatGPT | Gemini | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cite a website | 100% | 92.8% | 100% |
| Sources in Google top 10 | 10.7% | 13.4% | 14.4% |
Embed this graphic
Use this graphic on your site
<a href="https://www.llmreach.ai/ai-search-statistics/ai-seo-statistics">
<img src="https://www.llmreach.ai/charts/ai-search-statistics/ai-seo-statistics.svg" alt="AI citations vs Google rankings" width="800" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.llmreach.ai/ai-search-statistics/ai-seo-statistics">SEO statistics by LLMReach</a></p>Free to use with the credit link.
Methodology
How these figures were measured.
| Assistant | Model | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | gpt-5-6 | 250 |
| Gemini | 3.5 Flash-Lite | 250 |
| Perplexity | sonar | 250 |
10 example buyer questions, from the 250 asked to each assistant
- 01best digital marketing agency in Chicago for B2B companies
- 02best Toyota dealership in Houston
- 03what is the best CRM for a 10-person sales team?
- 04best natural deodorant that actually works
- 05best endpoint detection and response platform for a mid-size company
- 06who is the best family dentist in Houston that takes new patients?
- 07best running shoes for flat feet
- 08best online MBA program for working professionals
- 09which vendors should we evaluate for enterprise data security?
- 10best fee-only financial advisor for tech executives with stock options
- Third-party figures come from primary sources we read ourselves, linked on every figure.
- Our own figures come from 750 answers to 250 buyer questions across 25 sectors, compared with Google's top 10.
- Dates are shown on every figure, since AI search numbers change quickly.
- Different methods, panels and query sets explain why sources report different numbers for similar questions.
Cite this page
Quote these figures in your work
<p>
Source: <a href="https://www.llmreach.ai/ai-search-statistics/ai-seo-statistics">SEO statistics for the AI search era</a>,
LLMReach, updated October 2026.
</p>Writers are welcome to cite these figures and link to this page.
FAQ
SEO statistics: common questions
What are the key AI SEO statistics in 2026?
Pew Research Center (July 2025) found clicks fell from 15% to 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared. Seer Interactive (April 2026) measured 2.4% organic CTR with an AI Overview versus 3.8% without, in February 2026.
What is the AI impact on SEO clicks?
Ahrefs (April 2025) found a 34.5% lower average CTR for the top-ranking page when an AI Overview appears. Pew Research Center (July 2025) found only 1% of visits ended in a click on a link inside the summary.
How common are AI Overviews in Google search?
Pew Research Center (July 2025) found 18% of Google searches in March 2025 produced an AI summary. McKinsey (October 2025) says about 50% already do, and expects more than 75% by 2028.
Which queries trigger AI Overviews most?
Seer Interactive (April 2026) found 95.4% of comparison queries and 85.9% of question queries triggered an AI Overview, versus 36% of informational and 5% of transactional queries.
How much AI search traffic do websites get today?
Semrush (April 2026) reports AI traffic grew 66% during 2025 but is still under 0.15% of total web visits. Organic search was 16.04% of traffic and grew only 2.38%.
What did LLMReach's own measurement find about Google rankings and AI citations?
LLMReach measurement, October 2026: 750 answers to 250 buyer questions across 25 sectors. Only 13.2% of cited sites ranked in Google's top 10, and 56% of answers cited none of them.
Free AI Audit
See where your brand shows up in AI answers
You leave knowing where the gap is, what is causing it, and which changes would matter first, whether we work together or not.
What to expect
Audit
Before the call, we run your buyers' questions through ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini.
Map
On the call, we show you where competitors are cited and you are not, and what's causing it.
Decide
An honest read on whether the Citation Stack fits. If it doesn't, you'll hear it on the call.
Don't see a time that works? Email Karim directly: contact@llmreach.ai