Less traffic from Google? That could be good news!
What if having less traffic from Google were a positive sign? No, it’s not the heat talking, and it’s not forced optimism. Let’s think about it. Today, the number of clicks actually sent by Google to websites has plummeted: much content is read, resolved, or incorporated directly into SERPs, and AI Overview, already present in 16–42% of queries depending on the market, has accelerated this trend. The average CTR of the top organic positions drops between 34% and 37% in the presence of these boxes, and in some cases organic clicks drop by up to 64%. Is this a tragedy? Not necessarily, because the impact is not necessarily negative: many companies, especially e-commerce, are in fact recording more conversions, more sales, and more returns. This is because traffic has not disappeared and is adapting to the decline of the old funnel model: now the mouth is narrower, but it brings a more selective and often more useful target to the site. However, this also requires a transformation of business models, especially in certain sectors such as online information and SEO journalism.
Having less traffic is not always a problem
The decline in organic clicks is a direct consequence of how Google is evolving SERP. Users are increasingly getting a complete answer without having to visit other sites. AI Overview occupies the above-the-fold space — especially on mobile, where they often cover the entire first screen — and marginalizes classic results. For many queries, whether informational or commercial, there is simply no need to click anymore.
Organic visibility is “absorbed”: according to various analyses, clicks from Google drop between 15% and 64% when an AI Overview is present. However, not everyone loses out.
The sites mentioned in the Overviews can get up to 219% more clicks than their previous organic visibility, especially when they are in the top position among sources (a place that, at this stage, Google has often reserved for e-commerce and authoritative editorial sources, although now it seems that something is changing, starting in the US). Google effectively “selects” the brands it considers reliable: those that manage to get into these boxes gain exposure, authority, and more qualified traffic—highly intentional, with a greater impact on performance.
The click crisis and its consequences: not just publishing
For now, it is mainly business models based on visibility and clicks that are paying the price—and in particular the publishing sector, where fewer visits mean fewer advertisements, fewer subscriptions, and less revenue.
According to Similarweb, between May 2024 and February 2025, the leading US news sites lost an average of 15% of their visits from Google—about 800,000 fewer sessions per month per publication. During the same period, referrals from artificial intelligence-based search engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) increased by 2,100%, but we are still talking about low volumes: 6 million total visits in February 2025, compared to 2.3 billion generated by traditional engines.
With the gradual erosion of clickable visibility, the balance is shifting. In 2024 alone, the sector lost nearly 15,000 jobs through layoffs, restructuring, and editorial team cuts. HuffPost has cut 22% of its staff, Vox Media continues with progressive reductions. And the Washington Post lost over $100 million in 2024, laying off 4% of its staff, and is now trying to fight back: it has recently signed an agreement with OpenAI to actively appear in AI responses with traceable quotes, links, and summaries.
But this issue affects everyone. Because when clicks dry up, those who live off traffic—not just publishing, but also e-commerce, news sites, vertical platforms, and content hubs—must change their model, not just their strategy.
They must be relevant, chosen, and measurable. And they must learn to turn every visit—even a few—into real value.
When traffic drops but business grows
To resort to an old saying, it is perhaps surprising to discover that “every cloud has a silver lining.” As we already mentioned in our SEOZoom Caffè, a drop in traffic does not always correspond to a deterioration in results. According to the Datos/SparkToro report, in the first quarter of 2025, 23.6% of sites that recorded a reduction in organic clicks saw an improvement in their conversion rate compared to the previous quarter. The quantity has decreased, but the quality has increased.
The phenomenon is linked to natural selection: SERPs are more informative, users are quicker to make decisions, and clicks are more thoughtful. The traffic arriving today is often closer to the final intent, and this improves performance even at lower volumes.
For e-commerce, the phenomenon is even more evident: the pages cited in AI Overview — implicitly validated by Google — receive high-intent clicks, which generate significantly higher conversion rates. Although there are no direct studies on post-AI Overview revenue, similar sector benchmarks show increases of +20–40% in revenue, +25–35% in average order value (AOV), and +10–30% in conversion rate, even without an increase in traffic.
The funnel is getting shorter — and the “right” traffic is better than “lots” of traffic
Traffic is decreasing, but conversions are increasing: this is a sign that the funnel is getting shorter. The old wide-mouth funnel is now giving way to a sort of cylinder: less quantity at the entrance, but more quality in the results!
Data confirms that the average time to convert fell by 11% in the first quarter of 2025, confirming a more mature and action-oriented audience.
In lead-driven industries such as consulting, training, and software, conversion rates on optimized landing pages grew by an average of 13.2% compared to the same period in 2024, despite a 7.1% decline in traffic.
Not all visits are equal. SparkToro found that less competitive but high-intent queries generate twice as many conversions per session, while generating up to five times less traffic than high-volume keywords.
This is a key insight: today, it’s not about coming first on everything, but about attracting those who are truly ready to take the next step.
If you’re not measuring correctly, you’re looking at the wrong data
The lesson is that looking only at the number of visits is no longer enough and that superficial metrics do not tell the whole story: user behavior has changed, and traffic also manifests itself through interactions that do not translate into clicks.
As the reports show, the time users spend on the sites they visit is increasing in information-rich sectors, a sign of greater qualitative engagement. At the same time, analysis of post-SERP behavior shows that the second most frequent action after a search is a new intent or a move to another Google property, and not necessarily a click to an external site.
KPIs to monitor today
These movements are often invisible to those who stop at reading volumes alone. To understand whether traffic is delivering results, you need to measure what happens after—or even without—the click.
Among the most reliable indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of organic traffic today are measurable actions, funnel progress, and value signals, which help understand where and how the user is really moving.
- CTR on strategic queries – Data obtained from Search Console, indicates whether the user finds our snippet credible and relevant to their intent.
- Average engagement per session – Shows how much the user interacts with the content, even without an immediate conversion.
- Average time per action – According to Datos, this value is decreasing, which means that those who arrive on the site are closer to performing a useful action.
- Scroll depth – When available, this is a concrete sign of the level of attention and real engagement.
- Micro-conversions – Clicks on secondary elements, downloads, interactions with calls to action: all signals that anticipate intent.
- Cross-channel behavior – More and more users make initial contact in SERPs, then return to you via direct access, branded search, or newsletters. Tracking this is essential to correctly interpret the impact of SEO.
From SEO to positioning everywhere: how to build visibility today
Today, dominating Google is no longer enough. Searches are fragmented across channels, formats, devices, and platforms, and content is not just about getting clicks: it’s about building reputation, presence, and recognition — wherever the user is looking. That’s why we’ve embraced the redefinition of SEO as Search Everywhere Optimization!
Studies clearly show this shift: ChatGPT.com is now among the top 5 sites reached by traditional searches, surpassing long-standing portals such as eBay and StackOverflow. At the same time, YouTube is the top desktop destination from Google, followed by Reddit, Instagram, and GitHub.
In this context, content can be useful even without generating a direct visit. It can appear in an AI Overview, in a voice result, in an information box, in a quote from LLM; it can strengthen the brand, inspire further research, and stimulate a return via branded search.
Strategies to get found, even without clicks
SEO today means designing content that creates value even outside the site. It is no longer just about competing with Google, but about the fragmentation of user interest across alternative, native, or generated channels.
So, after measuring the effectiveness of the traffic received—with KPIs such as CTR, engagement, micro-conversions, and time per action—you need to take it one step further: understand where and how content generates value even without clicks.
Digital visibility no longer ends with the traditional query → click → session flow. Today, content can help build authority, trust, and recognition even outside the site: in an AI response, in an unlinked quote, in a subsequent branded search, or in an interaction on a third-party channel.
It is therefore necessary to broaden the concept of visibility: it is no longer just about attracting visits, but about being findable, recognizable, and relevant — even without an active session.
To do this, less conventional but increasingly strategic indicators come into play, such as:
- Share of voice on key queries: measures organic presence compared to competitors, regardless of clicks.
- Growing branded searches: a sign that the user has remembered us and is coming back to search for us by name.
- Mentions in AI results or LLM models: visibility without direct traffic, but with a reputational effect.
- Presence in “zero-click” environments: snippets, interactive boxes, carousels, overviews.
In this scenario, SEO does not lose value, but changes form. It is no longer just about bringing people to the site, but about guarding every useful moment of the user journey, even when the click does not come, because positioning is no longer measured only by ranking and is built in the mind of the user.
What really matters, beyond the drop in visits: the main FAQs
We have seen that the drop in traffic from Google is not always a negative sign and, in many cases, is a direct consequence of the transformation of SERPs: with the introduction of AI Overview, answers are now often served directly on the results page, and for some informational or transactional queries, organic traffic can drop by as much as 60%. Yet fewer clicks do not mean fewer results, and the data proves it: 23.6% of sites that lost traffic in the first quarter of 2025 still improved their conversion rate. And in B2B or lead-driven industries, conversions rose even with a 7% reduction in traffic.
It is no longer enough to measure visits: you need to understand what users are doing, where they are coming from, and how they are interacting, even outside the site. To clarify the most frequently asked questions, we have compiled some concise answers to the most discussed topics on the evolution of online visibility.
- Why am I getting fewer clicks from Google?
Because Google now provides many answers directly in the SERP: AI Overview, featured snippets, information panels, and proprietary results (YouTube, Maps, Shopping) take up space and satisfy the user before they click. According to studies, the second most frequent action after a search is… doing nothing.
- How can I tell if the traffic I’m getting is useful?
Look at post-click behavior: time spent on site, number of pages per session, conversion rate, but also micro-goals completed (clicks on calls to action, sign-ups, downloads). If people stay on the site, view multiple pages, complete micro-actions, or convert, then the traffic is qualified—even if it is numerically lower than in the past.
- Does zero clicks mean zero value?
No. Content that is visible in SERPs, even without generating visits, can influence user behavior. It strengthens brand awareness, increases trust, and can stimulate more specific subsequent searches. It’s the principle of “visibility ROI”: you count even if you don’t get clicked on right away.
- Is it still worth investing in SEO content?
Yes, but the goal changes. Today, content must be designed to cover not only the website, but also the information spaces of SERPs, AI boxes, and zero-click contexts. You need useful, structured, up-to-date texts — and above all, texts designed to be reused in the formats offered by Google (and others).
- How does the strategy change for those involved in e-commerce?
There are fewer clicks, but they are ‘warmer’. Product pages included in AI Overview can get much more qualified traffic. Even with fewer visits, there are increases in conversion rates, average order value, and revenue. The focus must shift from ‘bringing everyone in’ to ‘being chosen first’.
- And for those working in B2B or with informational content?
Traffic may decline, but if the audience is more qualified, the funnel shortens. According to studies, the average time to conversion has decreased by 11%, which means that those who arrive at the site are closer to taking action. Even in B2B, it is more valuable to attract the right user than to chase volume.
Yes, more than ever. Your website remains the reference point where you control your message, data, tracking, and conversions. But today, your website is only part of the ecosystem: it must be the hub of a distributed strategy, where content also works outside your domain, within SERPs, in AI, and on other channels. You need a solid website, but you also need to know that not all value comes from there anymore.
