Several studies indicate that AI is a change in search features and using AI chatbots to kill traffic on publishers’ sites. But Google denied the matter on Wednesday, at least overall. Instead, the search giants say that the total organic click volume from its search engine to the websites has been “relatively stable” year-on-year and this average click quality has increased slightly.
“This data is contrary to the third-party reports, which incorrectly suggest dramatic decline in traffic-often based on flawed functioning, individual examples, or traffic changes, which were before the roll out of AI features in search,” Writes in Google VP and Search, the head of the Google VP and Search. A new blog post,
Although Google has not shared any specific data to support its findings, even though we consider Google’s claims correct, it does not mean that AI does not have an effect.
Even Google must accept this, as Reid has admitted that “the user trends are transferring traffic to various sites, resulting in a decrease in traffic on some sites and others have increased traffic.”
The word “something” is working here heavy, because Google does not share the data how many sites are receiving or losing. And while chatbots like Chatgpt have certainly seen an increase in traffic in recent months, it does not mean that online publishers are not suffering.
The Google Search Results has been rebuilding its search engine for years to answer more questions directly on the page, and now do this through its “AI overview” with AI that appears on top of the search results. Google allows users to interact with AI chatbot for some questions. Nevertheless, Google denied that this discovery is re -shaping the scenario. Rather, it indicates users to focus on other sites to start their questions.
“People are rapidly clicking on sites with forums, videos, podcasts, and posts,” says Reid and where they can hear authentic voice and first hand outlook. “
Reading between lines, it seems that Google.com is not necessarily the first stop of people on the web these days. But this is something we know for some time. Back in 2022, a Google execution even said that social sites like Tiktok and Instagram were eating in Google’s main products, such as search and maps.
“In our study, about 40% of young people, something like young people, when they are looking for a place for lunch, they do not go in Google Maps or Search,” said Google SVP Prabhakar Raghavan, who launched the company’s knowledge and information organization at that time (he is now its main technician). “They go to Tiktok or Instagram,” they said.
Google has long been worried that Amazon.com had become the first stop for people for online shopping discoveries, and Reddit.com became the first stop to research the subjects of interest.
Over the years, the company has tried to come up with compelling features for both consumers and retailers that will attract more users for Google shopping. These attempts include universal shopping carts, local inventory checks, deals finders, purchases from product images on websites, and more. It even made its shopping listing free for traders in 2020.
Meanwhile, as users Complained that Google search quality was decreasingThe search giants were looking so much demand for reddit that it eventually added a “reddit” filter, allowing users to reduce the results on the relevant search query. (Now that filter only reads, “stage.”)
So perhaps there is some truth in Google’s refusal – this is not AI which is completely responsible for killing the search. The search was already dying.
Google’s new blog post also tries to move the target post slightly for Google’s websites. Now, instead of counting clicks, it wants publisher to think of click quality.
The company says that the average click quality has increased, and Google is sending “a little more quality click” to the websites than a year ago. , The company only suggests that when people click on the AI response at the source, they are more likely to dive, so they are more valuable clicks.
What’s more, Paint Google AI as an opportunity to get increased performance as an opportunity for web publishers, saying that “… with AI overview, people are looking at more links on the page than before,” as the reid is written. “More questions and more links means that websites have more opportunities to surface and click.”
But AI, while an increasing referral source, is not yet making a difference in the context of clicks, reports have shown. A similar recent study indicates that the number of news discoveries on the web has increased by 56% as a result of zero clicks on news websites (when Google launched AI overview in May 2024) increased to 69% by May 2025.
Google knows that it is a trend, also, because it has recently launched a product for publishers that helps them to mudlize their declining traffic by other ways that do not only rely on advertising, such as micropraments or newsletters sign-up.
The fact is that Google is emphasizing it ,AI search is not the end of traffic! “PR now makes the situation more serious only.
