Not appearing in Google AI Overviews significantly harms webpages: Study

A new study by Terakeet reveals the significant impact of Google's AI Overviews on webpage traffic. Inclusion in these overviews boosts traffic, while exclusion leads to measurable harm.

The Benefits of AI Overview Inclusion: The study shows consistent traffic increases for pages featured in AI Overviews, regardless of their initial search ranking. Specifically:

• High-ranking pages (transactional searches): Experienced a 3.2x increase in clicks.
• Lower-ranking pages (informational searches): Saw a 1.1x increase in clicks compared to SERPs without AI Overviews.
• Lower-ranking pages (transactional searches): Showed a 1.2x increase in clicks.
• High-ranking pages (informational searches): Experienced a 1.5x increase in clicks.

Informational vs. Transactional Queries: The positive impact of AI Overviews applies to both informational and transactional search queries. However, the study notes a shift in traffic distribution:

• Informational queries: AI Overviews diverted traffic from top-ranked pages (positions 1-2) but increased traffic for pages ranked 3-10.
• Transactional queries: AI Overviews consistently increased traffic regardless of page position.

Why This Matters: The emergence of AI Overviews significantly alters user behavior and traffic patterns. Reliance on high SERP rankings alone is no longer a guarantee of consistent traffic.

Expert Opinion: Adi Srikanth, senior data scientist at Terakeet, emphasizes the substantial positive effects of inclusion and negative effects of exclusion from AI Overviews on webpage traffic.

Real-World Impact: The study's findings are supported by observations from companies like Chegg (which is suing Google over traffic losses), NerdWallet, and Ziff Davis. While NerdWallet noted a negative impact on non-commercial pages due to AI Overviews answering simple questions, Ziff Davis found no significant overall impact on click-through rates for queries where their rank remained consistent despite the presence of AI Overviews.

Further Research: The full report, "Exploring the Impact of AIOs on Web Traffic," provides a detailed analysis.

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