“The Great Decoupling” sounds like a dystopian thriller starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt (spoiler: it’s not — it’s more real and way worse).
If you’ve noticed your organic traffic dropping despite maintaining good rankings, you’re not imagining things. A seismic shift is happening in search, and it’s fundamentally changing how users interact with search results.
The culprit? AI-powered search features like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT Search, and Perplexity are creating what industry experts call “The Great Decoupling”—a phenomenon where website impressions remain stable or even increase while click-through rates drop. According to recent studies, organic click-through rates have dropped by 34.5% when AI Overviews are present, with some sites experiencing traffic declines of 18-64%.
^ As an example, here’s some year-over-year data from one of our client’s sites. You’ll notice a significant increase in impressions, driven by high-value keywords rising in SERP rankings. However, unlike in previous years — when clicks would typically increase alongside impressions — we’re now seeing clicks actually decrease despite the improved visibility.
The Numbers Don’t Lie: AI is Eating Your Clicks (& It Likes the Taste)
Multiple independent studies paint a stark picture of the current search landscape:
The Scale of the Problem:
- Google search impressions are up 49% year-over-year, but click-through rates are down 30%
- 40.3% of U.S. Google searchers clicked on an organic result in March 2025, down from 44.2% the prior year
- AI Overviews now appear in 7.64% of queries as of February 2025, up 18% from January
- Zero-click searches increased from 24.4% to 27.2% year-over-year
The Most Devastating Impacts:
- Ahrefs analysis of 300,000 keywords found 34.5% drop in position 1 CTR when AI Overviews were present
- Amsive reported average 15.49% CTR drop, with non-branded keywords experiencing -19.98% decline
- For informational queries, organic click-through rates were cut by more than half, from 1.4% to 0.64%
Understanding the AI Search Revolution
What Are AI Overviews and Why Do They Matter?
AI Overviews don’t just pull one source — they combine multiple, summarize them conversationally, and often display follow-up prompts, making it even less likely a user will feel the need to dig deeper. These AI-generated summaries now appear at the top of search results, providing comprehensive answers that often eliminate the need for users to click through to individual websites.
The New Search Landscape:
- Since mid-2024, the average text length of AI Overviews has almost doubled, from 2,633 characters in July to 5,337 characters in November
- AI Overviews push organic results further down by as much as 1,500 pixels — equivalent to two full desktop screens
- 88.1% of queries that trigger an AI Overview are informational
^ Searched “what is the AI Overview” to pull up Google’s AI Overview for the sake of visually reinforcing what the AI Overview section is. Brilliant. 4D Chess.
The Industries Hit Hardest
Not all sectors are experiencing equal impact. Healthcare and education have been hit the hardest — approaching 90% query coverage for AI Overviews with a sharp CTR decline, while B2B tech grew from 36% to 70% coverage in just one year.
Most Affected Industries:
- Health and medical information sites
- Educational content creators
- How-to and tutorial publishers
- Science and technology blogs
- DIY and lifestyle brands
Less Affected Sectors:
- E-commerce and transactional queries
- Local business searches
- Branded searches (which actually see +18.68% CTR boost when AI Overviews appear)
The Great Decoupling: When Impressions Rise But Clicks Fall
“The Great Decoupling” describes the sharp gap between clicks and impressions in Google Search Console reports, where impressions remain level or increase while clicks plummet. This phenomenon represents a fundamental shift in how search visibility translates to website traffic.
Why This is Happening:
- Enhanced SERP Features: AI Overviews provide comprehensive answers directly in search results
- User Satisfaction at SERP Level: Users increasingly find sufficient information without visiting websites
- Query Expansion: AI processes more complex, conversational queries, generating more impressions but fewer clicks
- Attention Economy Shift: User attention is captured and retained on the search platform itself
Beyond Google: The Broader AI Search Ecosystem
While Google’s AI Overviews dominate headlines, the shift extends across the entire search ecosystem:
Market Share of AI Search Engines:
- ChatGPT: 59.4% of AI search market share
- Microsoft Copilot: 14.4%
- Google Gemini: 13.5%
- Perplexity: 5.8%
ChatGPT search experienced remarkable 44% month-over-month growth in referrals, while Perplexity skyrocketed 71% in the same period. This diversification of search channels means businesses can no longer rely solely on Google optimization.
Strategic Responses: How You Can Win Right Now
At 5K, we help clients succeed in today’s changing search environment by combining proven SEO fundamentals with AI-powered marketing strategies. Our approach focuses on blending time-tested strategies with fresh tactics that are currently working:
1. Optimize for AI Overview Inclusion
Authority and Expertise Focus:
- Create comprehensive, well-researched content that demonstrates E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)
- Include author credentials, citations to authoritative sources, and regular content updates
- Build topical authority through content clusters around your areas of expertise
Content Structure for AI Consumption:
- Use clear headings, bullet points, and concise paragraphs
- Position main answers at the beginning of content (this has been BIG for our clients to help them gain “position 0” in Google and earn them high-quality backlinks)
- Implement FAQ sections and structured formatting that AI can easily parse (another big one)
2. Build Brand Recognition and Authority
Branded keywords are less likely to trigger AI Overviews (only 4.79%) and when they do, they get a +18.68% CTR boost. This makes brand building more critical than ever.
Strategic Brand Building:
- Develop consistent brand messaging across all digital touchpoints
- Invest in thought leadership content that establishes your brand as an authoritative source
- Pursue high-quality backlinks from reputable sources as AI algorithms favor externally validated pages
Speaking of brand building — check out this article and learn how we’re helping our client become unforgettable with scroll-stopping ads and memorable brand assets.
3. Diversify Your Traffic Sources
Smart brands — when and where it makes sense — are reducing their dependence on solely organic search through integrated digital marketing approaches:
- Direct Traffic: Email marketing, social media, and brand building
- Referral Traffic: Partnerships and content syndication
- Paid Advertising: Strategic paid campaigns to complement organic efforts
- AI Platform Optimization: Creating content specifically for ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI search engines
4. Adapt Measurement and Success Metrics
Brand visibility depends less on driving traffic from an organic search result, and more on being seen as part of the AI-generated answer itself — creating legitimacy for your brand that later translates into traffic to your site from many different sources.
New Metrics to Track:
- Brand mention frequency in AI responses (this is difficult right now without analytics from AI platforms, but it’s something we help our clients with)
- Share of voice in AI-generated content
- Branded search volume increases
- Engagement quality from traffic that does arrive
- Cross-platform brand recognition metrics
We created a report in GA4 for our clients that captures traffic coming from AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perlexity, and Claude. If your agency isn’t currently doing this, bring it up to them — this is important!
The Technical Side: Structured Data and AI Optimization
Success in the AI era requires technical optimization that serves both human and artificial intelligence:
Essential Technical Elements:
- Comprehensive schema markup for reviews, products, FAQs, and how-to content
- Mobile optimization and fast page loading times
- Clean site architecture for AI crawling efficiency
- Optimization for Core Web Vitals as ranking factors
AI-Friendly Content Structure:
- Natural language optimization that matches conversational queries (think NLP style keywords, topical terms, the things an expert in any given industry would naturally include when writing about a subject)
- Comprehensive answer formats that AI can confidently cite
- Multiple perspectives and sources to increase chances of inclusion
Who’s Winning and Losing
The Winners:
- Brands with strong domain authority and consistent mention patterns
- Companies that appear frequently in AI Overview citations
- Businesses with robust branded search presence
- Brands that have diversified their traffic sources early
The Losers:
- HubSpot’s extensive marketing blog content lost around 80% of its organic traffic within a year
- Sites dependent solely on informational, top-of-funnel content
- Brands without strong recognition or authority signals
- Websites that haven’t adapted their content strategy for AI consumption
The Future of Search: What’s Coming Next
Google’s new AI Mode is coming, which uses AI Overviews as the centerpiece of the entire search experience, much like ChatGPT Search. This suggests the current trends will only accelerate.
Predictions for 2025-2026:
- Increased AI Overview coverage across more query types
- Greater integration of AI features in traditional search results
- Continued growth of alternative AI search platforms
- Evolution of “answer engines” replacing traditional search engines
Your Roadmap to AI-Era Success
AI-powered search is already here, not something to worry about later. But this doesn’t mean SEO is dead or that you should panic.
You can identify genuine SEO experts by how they respond to these changes:
- They don’t claim SEO no longer matters
- They don’t insist everything stays the same and ignore the shifts happening
We tell clients that quality content and strong link building remain the foundation of successful SEO. However, these fundamentals need constant refreshing and adaptation. Success comes from mastering the basics while staying alert to emerging trends and preparing for what’s next. The bread and butter are still the bread and butter — but you need to keep ’em fresh.
Organizations that adapt quickly will gain competitive advantages, while those that wait risk being left behind.
Immediate Actions:
- Audit your current traffic sources and identify over-dependence on organic search
- Assess your content for AI Overview optimization opportunities
- Implement structured data across your website
- Begin brand-building initiatives to strengthen recognition
- Diversify your marketing channels beyond traditional SEO (at least, explore the opportunities)
Long-term Strategy:
- Develop AI-specific content strategies (focus on the fundamentals and learn to decipher what AI favors in your industry)
- Invest in brand authority and thought leadership
- Create comprehensive topic clusters that establish expertise (this is something our PowerPage™ methodology does quite well)
- Build direct relationships with your audience
- Monitor and adapt to emerging AI platforms
If You Ain’t Growing, You’re Dying
The data clearly shows that organic search remains a vital channel for businesses in 2025. However, the approach to SEO must evolve to account for AI advancements, changing user behaviors, and new search platforms.
The decline in organic clicks is likely the new reality and not a temporary blip. But this shift also presents unprecedented opportunities for brands willing to grow. By better understanding how AI systems work, optimizing for visibility in AI-generated responses, and building strong brand recognition, you can thrive in this new landscape.
It’s a roller coaster. It’s not boring. It takes some work. But you can be successful.
The future belongs to brands that can successfully navigate both traditional search optimization and the emerging requirements of AI-powered discovery platforms. The question isn’t whether AI will continue to impact search — it’s whether your business will be visible when it does.
Ready to adapt your digital strategy for the AI era? At 5k, we’re helping forward-thinking brands navigate this transformation through data-driven strategies that work across traditional and AI-powered search platforms. Contact us to learn how we can help your brand maintain visibility and growth in the evolving search landscape.
