Google AI Overviews Are Cutting Your Clicks: What to Know

Key Takeaways

• 68.01 percent of US Google searches ended without a click in the first four months of 2026, up from 60.45 percent in 2024. The share of searches generating any click fell 9.51 percentage points in two years, a 22.9 percent decline.
• Google AI Overviews now appear on more than 20 percent of all searches, and when they do, click-through rate drops by almost 60 percent on the underlying organic listings.
• AI Mode passed one billion monthly users by Google I/O 2026, and Google says query volume is more than doubling every quarter. Only 0.34 percent of searches transitioned to AI Mode during the study window, so the current zero-click problem will get worse before it stabilises.
• Branded queries, local searches, and high-intent transactional queries still earn clicks reliably. Informational top-of-funnel content is taking the heaviest hit.
• Brands acting on this now should pair AI Overview citation work with off-Google brand building. Our experienced team in AI SEO in Malaysia handles both sides through the ElevateSEO™ approach.

 

The single most important number for any brand running organic search in 2026 is 68.01 percent. That is the share of US Google searches that ended without a click in the first four months of this year, according to SparkToro’s June 2026 study based on Similarweb clickstream data. Just two years ago, that figure was 60.45 percent.

For Malaysian brands that built their search strategy on the assumption that page one means traffic, the rules have changed. We’ll walk you through what the data actually says about Google AI Overviews, why clicks are falling so fast, what categories still earn traffic, and what to do about it.

The 68 Percent Zero-Click Reality

The headline numbers from SparkToro’s research are stark. Between 2024 and 2026, the share of Google searches generating at least one click (organic, paid, or to Google-owned properties like Maps and YouTube) fell 9.51 percentage points. That is a 22.9 percent decline in two years.

What replaced the lost clicks is just as telling. The share of searches that led to another Google search rose 7.2 percentage points over the same period, meaning that Google is keeping users inside Google. The walled garden has new walls.

If you look at the longer arc, the picture is sharper. Ten years ago, around 45 percent of Google searches were zero-click, and it has risen to 68 percent today. That is a 23 percentage point shift, or a 33.8 percent increase, over a decade.

Why AI Overviews Are the Click Killer

The biggest accelerant in the last two years is Google AI Overviews. Per Ahrefs research cited in the SparkToro study, AI Overviews now appear on more than 20 percent of all Google searches. When they do, click-through rates on the underlying organic listings drop by nearly 60 percent.

The mechanic is straightforward. An AI Overview answers the user’s question directly at the top of the results page, often with a few sentences plus a small set of cited sources. For informational queries (definitions, how-tos, comparisons, list-style questions), the answer is frequently complete enough that the user simply moves on without clicking anything.

The pages that still get cited inside the AI Overview itself fare better, but even citation does not guarantee a click. Simply because the user can read the summary, get the answer, and leave Google for an entirely separate query without ever visiting a source.

AI Mode Is About to Make This Worse

The data so far has barely accounted for AI Mode. SparkToro found that only 0.34 percent of searches transitioned into Google’s dedicated AI Mode during the January to April 2026 study window. That figure is misleadingly small, because AI Mode has grown rapidly since.

At Google I/O 2026, Google said AI Mode had surpassed one billion monthly users and that query volume was more than doubling every quarter. If those trajectories hold, AI Mode will grow to command a meaningful share of search volume by late 2026. In Google AI Search 2026 terms, that means a second wave of click decline is queued up behind the current AI Overview impact.

For brands planning the rest of the year, the practical implication here is that zero-click rates are likely to climb further before they level off.

What This Means for Malaysian Businesses

Malaysian search behaviour mirrors the broader pattern. Mobile-first usage is high, AI Overviews surface on the same kinds of informational queries here as in the US, and the same AI Mode rollout is reaching Malaysian users. 

The practical effect on Malaysian organic traffic is that informational top-of-funnel content is the most exposed category, while branded, local, and high-intent commercial queries continue to convert.

What this changes operationally:

• Traffic as a primary KPI is becoming unreliable. Some pages will lose half their clicks in a quarter and still drive the same revenue, because the AI Overview is doing the brand-awareness work upstream.
• Brand-level visibility in AI answers matters more than ranking position. A brand mentioned three times across a 20-source AI Overview answer outperforms a number-three ranking that no longer gets clicked.
• Site authority still feeds AI answers. Pages that rank well are pulled into AI Overview citations disproportionately, so traditional ranking work continues to compound, just on a different output metric.

How to Rank in Google AI Overviews

So, the question now is: how to rank in Google AI Overviews? The honest answer is that AI Overviews favour a specific shape of content, and the brands optimising for that shape are pulling ahead.

Here are some practical moves that move the needle:

1. Front-load the answer in every section. Open each H2 with the direct answer to the question the H2 poses. AI Overviews lift cleanly from content that delivers the answer in the first sentence.
2. Use descriptive H2 and H3 headers that match real queries. “What is X” and “How to do Y” structures mirror how users phrase questions to Gemini.
3. Add FAQ and Article schema on pages targeting AI Overview placements. The structured data makes the content easier for Google’s models to extract.
4. Cite specific data, named sources, and dates. Concrete claims with numbers do better than vague generalities for citation selection.
5. Refresh older pages. AI engines favour recently updated content, and a quarterly refresh on your highest-value pages compounds quickly.

Where SEO Still Earns Clicks

Despite the shifts, not every query is affected equally. SparkToro’s research, and adjacent work from Cyrus Shepard’s Zyppy team, both point to three categories where SEO still earns you reliable clicks:

• Branded searches. When a user types your brand name, AI Overviews rarely intercept the click. This means brand authority work is more valuable than ever.
• Local business queries. “Near me” intent, opening hours, contact details, directions, all of these still drive clicks to the listed business via the Map Pack and organic results.
• High-intent transactional or tactical queries. “Buy X,” “book Y,” “compare A vs B for purchase” still convert because the user needs to act, not just learn.

The implication here is to defend and expand these categories aggressively, while accepting that some informational pages will earn fewer clicks even when they rank well.

Build Influence Beyond Your Website

The other half of the answer is something Rand Fishkin has been pushing for years: brand influence has to live on platforms beyond your own site. This is because AI Overviews and AI Mode draw heavily from third-party citations, YouTube content, Reddit threads, LinkedIn discussions, and high-authority publications.

For Malaysian brands, that means a digital PR programme, a YouTube content strategy, active presence in industry communities, and consistent brand mentions across the wider web all feed back into AI search visibility. When your brand is mentioned across many trusted sources, it is more likely to be cited or named in AI answers, regardless of whether the user clicks anything.

Adapt Your SEO for Google AI Search 2026 with ElevateSEO™

Zero-click is not a temporary anomaly. It is the new shape of Google, and Malaysian brands that adapt early will hold ground while slower competitors watch their traffic drift. Staying ahead runs in two parallel tracks: structural changes to your existing content so it gets cited in AI Overviews, and brand-building work that lives beyond your site so AI engines have multiple authority signals to draw from.

Here at Primal, we run both tracks under one roof through our ElevateSEO™ approach. Our AI SEO services cover AI Overview citation work, content restructuring, schema implementation, and entity authority, paired with digital PR and brand-mention tracking so the same brand shows up consistently across AI answers, classic SERPs, and ChatGPT alike.

 

Reach out to our SEO agency in Kuala Lumpur today. With our expertise in AI SEO in Malaysia, we’ll help you get a clear read on where your content sits in AI Overviews and what it takes to recover the clicks that still matter.

 

References:

1. In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click. Retrieved June 30, 2026, from https://sparktoro.com/blog/in-2026-less-than-one-third-of-google-searches-still-send-a-click/ 
2. Google Zero-Click Searches Hit 68% in Early 2026: Study. Retrieved June 30, 2026, from https://searchengineland.com/google-zero-click-searches-2026-study-479717 
3. Search at I/O 2026: AI Mode, Search Live and More. Retrieved June 30, 2026, from https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/search-io-2026/ 
4. AI Overviews Now Appear on Over 20% of Searches. Retrieved June 30, 2026, from https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-overview-triggers/ 

 

Frequently Asked Questions About Google AI Overviews

What are Google AI Overviews?

Google AI Overviews are AI-generated answers that appear at the top of Google search results for many queries. They synthesise information from multiple sources into a direct response, with a small set of cited source links shown alongside. They now appear on more than 20 percent of Google searches, according to Ahrefs research published in 2026.

Why are clicks dropping on Google in 2026?

In the first four months of 2026, 68.01 percent of US Google searches ended without any click, up from 60.45 percent in 2024. The largest driver is AI Overviews answering the user’s question directly at the top of the results page, which reduces click-through rate on the underlying organic listings by nearly 60 percent when an AI Overview is present.

How to rank in Google AI Overviews as a Malaysian brand?

Front-load the answer at the top of every section, use descriptive H2 and H3 headers that match real queries, add FAQ and Article schema, cite specific data and named sources, and refresh older pages quarterly. Topical authority and brand entity signals across the wider web (YouTube, Reddit, LinkedIn, industry publications) also feed citation selection, so off-site brand work is as important as on-page optimisation.

Is SEO still worth it in Google AI Search 2026?

Yes, but the output measure has shifted. Branded searches, local queries, and high-intent transactional searches still earn reliable clicks. Informational top-of-funnel content earns fewer clicks but feeds AI Overview citations, which build brand visibility upstream. Traffic alone is no longer the right KPI for SEO, as visibility in AI answers, citation share, and revenue from defended categories matter more.