AI Overviews Are Nabbing The Fold: 9 Moves To Keep Your Organic Clicks

Your rankings are fine. Your traffic is dying.

Organic click through rates for informational queries featuring AI Overviews fell 61% since mid 2024. Paid CTRs on those same queries plunged 68%. Even on queries without AI Overviews, organic CTRs fell 41%. This suggests users are simply clicking less, everywhere.

The traffic isn't coming back.

For Australian businesses, this represents the most fundamental restructuring of digital visibility in 25 years. Companies like HubSpot, with one of the best SEO teams globally, experienced 70% to 80% traffic drops. CNN declined 27% to 38%. If industry leaders with massive resources are struggling, what chance do small to medium Australian businesses have?

Here's the uncomfortable truth. Success metrics are shifting from clicks and traffic to visibility and share of voice. The businesses that adapt survive. Those that don't become invisible within months, not years.

The Brutal Reality: What The Data Actually Shows

Let's establish exactly what's happening before we discuss solutions. Between June 2024 and September 2025, analysis of 3,119 informational queries across 42 organizations tracking 25.1 million organic impressions revealed devastating patterns.

Organic CTRs for AI Overview queries dropped from 1.76% to 0.61%. That's not a dip. That's collapse. Paid CTRs for AI Overview queries fell from 19.7% to 6.34%, with July 2025 showing particularly severe drops where paid CTR crashed from roughly 11% to 3% in a single month.

Two independent studies from Ahrefs and Amsive confirmed the damage. Ahrefs found a 34.5% drop in position one CTR when AI Overviews were present. Amsive found an average 15.49% CTR drop, with much larger losses in specific cases like 37.04% when combined with featured snippets.

The most alarming finding? Queries without AI Overviews are NOT increasing in CTR. They're just declining slower. While they still outperform AI Overview queries significantly at 1.62% versus 0.61% organic CTR, they've lost 41% of their click through rate year over year.

This isn't about avoiding AI Overviews. That's impossible. This is about adapting to a search landscape where traditional organic visibility no longer guarantees traffic.

Why Australian Businesses Face Unique Challenges

The Australian market presents specific complications that amplify AI Overview impact.

With 49% of Australians now using generative AI in the past year and 33% using voice search daily, Australian consumers adopted AI search behaviours faster than many markets. This accelerated adoption means Australian businesses experience traffic erosion earlier and more severely than international competitors still dealing with lower AI penetration.

AI Overviews now appear for 13.14% of all queries, more than doubling from 6.49% in January 2025. When AI Overviews are present, click through rates plummet to just 8%, compared to 15% for traditional search results. That 47% CTR drop represents real revenue for Australian businesses operating on tight margins.

The Australian content ecosystem is smaller than US or UK markets, meaning there's less existing high authority content competing for AI citations. This creates opportunity for businesses willing to invest strategically. But it also means Australian businesses lack the massive content libraries and backlink profiles that protect larger international competitors from traffic crashes.

The Zero Click Crisis: Where Your Traffic Actually Went

Approximately 60% of Google searches now end without any click to a website, up from 58% in 2024. This isn't just AI Overviews. Users now seek answers on ChatGPT with 800 million weekly active users, Perplexity with 780 million queries in May 2025, social platforms where 46% of Gen Z and 35% of millennials prefer searching, or go directly to trusted brands they already know.

For informational queries that Australian businesses rely on for top of funnel awareness, the traffic loss is catastrophic. Analysis shows 88% of AI Overview appearances have informational intent rather than transactional, navigational, or commercial intent.

Think about what this means for content marketing strategies. That comprehensive how to guide you spent weeks creating? The industry report packed with original research? The detailed comparison article? All designed to attract informational query traffic that's now being answered directly by AI without users ever reaching your site.

The paradox? When users DO click through from AI sources, they convert 4.4 times better than regular organic traffic. Lower volume. Higher quality. This fundamental shift requires rethinking how Australian businesses measure content success.

Move 1: Shift From Traffic Metrics To Visibility Metrics

Stop measuring success by clicks and traffic. Start tracking visibility and share of voice across AI platforms.

Traditional Share of Voice measures your brand's visibility across channels like paid ads, organic search rankings, and social media compared to competitors. In the AI era, extend this to AI Overview presence, ChatGPT citation frequency, Perplexity mentions, and Google Gemini recommendations.

Use SEO platforms like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Moz to track which keywords trigger AI Overviews for your domain. Most major tools now include AI Overview tracking in their SERP feature reports. Manually test your target keywords to see if AI Overviews appear and whether your brand is mentioned.

While Google Search Console includes AI Overview data in performance reports, it doesn't separate this traffic from traditional results, making direct attribution challenging. The most reliable method combines SEO tool data showing AI Overview presence with Search Console performance metrics for those specific queries.

Track both impressions, which will be higher when appearing in AI Overviews and traditional results simultaneously, and clicks to understand your AI performance. When you're cited in an AI Overview, you get 35% more organic clicks and 91% more paid clicks compared to appearing in traditional results without citation.

Move 2: Structure Content For AI Comprehension

AI systems extract concise, relevant passages to address user queries. The easier you make it for them to identify answers, the better your visibility.

Add a TL;DR box at the top of every article. Give three to five bullet points with direct answers. AI systems love pulling these clean summaries. Use question based headings instead of clever or vague titles. Replace "Performance Tips" with "How Do You Improve Page Speed in WordPress?"

Give complete answers upfront. Don't build suspense or bury your main point. Answer the core question directly in the first one to two sentences of your intro or section, then expand with supporting details after establishing the primary answer.

Structure sections in Q&A format or include an FAQ block with clear, scannable responses. For example, if addressing "How much does SEO cost in Australia?" your content should include a line that reads: "Professional SEO services in Australia typically cost between $1,500 and $5,000 monthly depending on competition and scope."

This direct, declarative format makes your content quotable by AI systems that prioritize clarity over creativity.

Move 3: Implement Comprehensive Structured Data

Structured data helps AI systems understand your content context and authority. This isn't optional. It's foundational for AI visibility.

Implement schema markup for articles using Article or BlogPosting schema, how to guides with HowTo schema, FAQ sections with FAQPage schema, local business information with LocalBusiness schema, products and services with Product or Service schema, reviews and ratings with Review schema, and speakable content for voice search with Speakable schema.

Adding speakable structured data specifically helps AI powered assistants identify which content portions to focus on when answering queries. This increases your chances of appearing in AI Overviews and voice search results.

Use Google's Rich Results Test and Schema Markup Validator to ensure your markup is error free and properly implemented. Monitor how AI systems interpret your structured data through regular searches of your key topics and tracking which structured elements appear in AI responses.

Move 4: Create Original Research And Proprietary Data

AI generated summaries pull information from multiple sources, often stripping away essential context. But they cannot replicate original research, proprietary data, or first hand experiences.

This creates your competitive moat. Conduct industry surveys revealing insights competitors don't have. Analyse market trends using your customer data. Generate original statistics that journalists and AI systems want to cite. Publish case studies showing actual results with specific numbers and outcomes.

When you become the primary source of new information rather than recycling existing knowledge, AI systems must cite you because no alternative source exists. This transforms your content from replaceable to irreplaceable in the information ecosystem.

Australian businesses have particular advantage here. Local authoritative sources like government agencies dominated AI Overview citations in UK analysis, highlighting the importance of regional context. Create Australian specific research, analyse local market data, and position your brand as the authoritative Australian voice in your industry.

Move 5: Optimize For The Citation, Not The Click

Traditional SEO optimised for clicks. AI search optimises for citations. When AI systems trust your expertise enough to reference your brand among only three to five options, you've earned something more valuable than a click. You've established market authority.

Analysis shows 92.36% of successful AI Overview citations come from domains already ranking in the top 10 organic positions. Strong technical SEO, quality backlinks, and authoritative content still drive visibility. What's changing is how you measure success.

Instead of focusing solely on rankings and clicks, track visibility in AI responses, citation frequency across platforms, share of voice versus competitors, and brand mention volume in AI generated content. Continue building backlinks, optimizing technical elements, creating comprehensive content, and earning traditional rankings.

But add new layers. Update content more frequently because AI favours fresh information. Structure answers more directly to facilitate AI extraction. Build more authoritative citations as AI systems verify expertise. Track your presence across AI platforms using emerging monitoring tools.

Move 6: Leverage Video Content Strategically

Nearly 30% of all AI Overviews cite YouTube in their results, and AI search results cite YouTube videos 200 times more than any other video platform. For Australian businesses, video represents the fastest path to AI visibility.

Create videos answering common customer questions with clear, concise explanations. Optimize video titles and descriptions using question based keywords. Include timestamps marking specific sections addressing different aspects of the topic. Embed relevant videos in blog posts to provide multi format answers.

The businesses seeing maintained or improved traffic invest in video content alongside written resources. They understand that AI systems prefer diverse content formats and YouTube's authority gives video citations disproportionate weight in AI responses.

Move 7: Build Direct Audience Relationships

As organic reach becomes less predictable through search, owned media becomes increasingly valuable. Email lists and community building create direct communication channels independent of search algorithms.

Offer valuable lead magnets like templates, checklists, or tools in exchange for email signups. Build engaged email lists you control completely. Create communities on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook Groups, or dedicated forums where your audience gathers. Develop newsletter content that provides unique value unavailable through search.

When AI Overviews reduce your search traffic by 40%, direct audience relationships ensure you maintain communication with customers and prospects. The businesses thriving despite AI Overviews have one thing in common. They stopped relying on single traffic sources and built comprehensive marketing systems.

Move 8: Diversify Beyond Google Search

Google processes between 9.1 and 13.6 billion searches daily, but fewer result in website visits. Industry analysts predict diversification across platforms including ChatGPT, TikTok, Instagram search, LinkedIn, and Reddit becomes mandatory for traffic stability.

With 46% of Gen Z and 35% of millennials preferring social media over traditional search engines, Australian businesses targeting younger demographics must establish presence where their audience actually searches.

Create content specifically for TikTok's discovery engine using natural keywords in captions and trending audio. Optimize Instagram content for search functionality with strategic hashtags and keywords. Build authority on LinkedIn through consistent, valuable industry insights. Engage authentically on Reddit in relevant subreddits addressing your expertise areas.

This isn't about abandoning Google. It's about reducing dependency on any single traffic source as AI fundamentally changes how each platform delivers information.

Move 9: Adapt KPIs And Team Expectations

Perhaps the most critical move is internal. Your SEO team might work insanely hard, do everything right, get visibility in AI Overviews, and still deliver fewer clicks than previous years.

Re evaluate KPIs so teams aren't optimising to metrics they've lost ability to influence. Shift focus to visibility metrics, qualified traffic over volume, conversion rates and revenue impact, share of voice across platforms, and AI citation frequency.

Prepare to reallocate resources based on quarterly analysis. AI search is volatile. What works this quarter might need adjustment next quarter as platforms evolve algorithms and user behaviour shifts.

Educate leadership on why traffic declines don't necessarily indicate SEO failure. Help stakeholders understand that fewer, higher quality clicks from AI Overview citations often deliver better business outcomes than high volume, low intent traffic from traditional organic results.

The Australian Opportunity Hidden In Crisis

While this article focuses on protecting existing traffic, there's hidden opportunity in market disruption. Many Australian businesses haven't adapted to AI search yet. Their content remains optimised for 2022 search patterns. Their metrics track outdated KPIs. Their strategies assume search behaviour that no longer exists.

For businesses willing to adapt quickly, this creates competitive advantage. Establish AI citation presence while competitors ignore the shift. Build direct audience relationships while others rely entirely on eroding search traffic. Create original research filling information gaps competitors don't address.

The Australian SEO market reached $1.5 billion with 12% year over year growth. That growth is concentrating among businesses adapting to AI search realities. The winners aren't those with the most traffic. They're those maintaining visibility, citations, and qualified engagement as the search landscape restructures around them.

The Bottom Line

AI Overviews destroyed traditional organic CTR. That's not opinion. That's measured reality across millions of impressions and thousands of queries. Organic CTR dropped 61%. Paid CTR dropped 68%. Even queries without AI Overviews fell 41%.

The traffic isn't coming back. But visibility, authority, and qualified engagement remain achievable for businesses willing to evolve their strategies, metrics, and expectations.

Traditional SEO isn't dead. It's the foundation for AI citation success. But success now requires optimising for visibility over clicks, citations over traffic, and quality over volume. The businesses that adapt quickly claim market positions that become increasingly difficult for competitors to challenge.

Your competitors are either figuring this out or watching their traffic disappear without understanding why. Which group will you join? The ones adapting to the new search reality, or the ones optimising for a landscape that no longer exists?

Protect Your Organic Visibility In The AI Era

Stop watching your traffic decline while rankings stay stable. At Maven Marketing Co., we help Australian businesses maintain visibility and qualified traffic despite AI Overviews dominating search results.

Our approach combines comprehensive AI search optimization, strategic content development optimised for citations, structured data implementation, visibility tracking across AI platforms, and traffic diversification strategies that reduce dependency on any single source.

We don't promise more clicks. We deliver sustained visibility, qualified engagement, and business outcomes that matter despite fundamental changes in how Australians discover information online.

Contact Maven Marketing Co. today for an AI visibility audit revealing exactly where your brand appears in AI Overviews, which competitors dominate citations, and the specific moves protecting your organic presence in 2025.

‍