This is a straightforward list of links my hand picked collection of the highest-quality resources on Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode in Search—so I don’t have to keep sending them out one at a time. 🙂
Currently 37 sources. Last updated 2025-06-22
There’s plenty of low-quality fluff on the subject, so I’m cherry-picking only the very best.
Heads-up
Google AI Overviews (GAIO) is not the same thing as Google AI Mode; they sound similar, but they behave quite differently and it’s important to keep them separate. GAIO doesn’t siphon off as much traffic, whereas AI Mode—still unavailable in CZ for now, but fully live in the US—is likely to be a killer for information sites with largely static content.
Summary
Google AI Overviews is a new generative feature in Google Search that serves users a consolidated answer in so-called “position zero”, stitched together from multiple web sources and sometimes accompanied by direct links back to the originals—though sometimes not. First introduced inside the Search Generative Experience (SGE) at Google I/O 2024, it has since rolled out from the US into various EU markets and is landing in the Czech Republic and Slovakia next. (Update: It’s already live in CZ & SK)
https://blog.google/intl/cs-cz/produkty-sluzby/objevujte-ziskavejte-odpovedi/google-spousti-v-cesku-prehledy-od-ai/
Google’s own guidance on how to craft content that performs well in GAIO:
https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2025/05/succeeding-in-ai-search
Further reading (ordered chronologically)
Rand Fishkin – 2024 Zero-Click Search Study: For every 1,000 EU Google searches, only 374 clicks go to the open web. In the US, it’s 360. (2024-06-01)
58.5 % of searches are zero-click.
https://sparktoro.com/blog/2024-zero-click-search-study-for-every-1000-us-google-searches-only-374-clicks-go-to-the-open-web-in-the-eu-its-360/
SE Ranking – The State of AI Overviews in 2024: Research Insights and Future Forecasts (2024-12-02)
A comprehensive study, including sector-by-sector impact analysis.
https://seranking.com/blog/ai-overviews-2024-recap-research/
Cressive DX – 10 Essential Insights from Our Google AI Overviews Study (2025-01-21)
https://cressive.com/key-insights-from-our-google-ai-overviews-study/
Growth Memo – The Impact of AI Overviews on SEO: Analysis of 19 Studies (2025-02-17)
A meta-study summarising 19 other pieces of research.
https://www.growth-memo.com/p/the-impact-of-ai-overviews-on-seo
Google – Expanding AI Overviews and Introducing AI Mode (2025-03-05)
Google’s official announcement of AI Overviews and AI Mode.
https://blog.google/products/search/ai-mode-search/
Columbia Journalism Review – AI Search Has a Citation Problem (2025-03-06)
https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/we-compared-eight-ai-search-engines-theyre-all-bad-at-citing-news.php
A comparison showing how different LLM-powered engines cope with news citations. Perplexity Pro tops the list at 63 % success, while Gemini brings up the rear.
Cyrus Shepard – How AI Overviews Shift Traffic from Publishers to Google (2025-03-08)
https://zyppy.com/list/ai-overviews-to-google-ads/
A deep-dive into how GAIO links often point users straight back into Google rather than to the originating sites—slashing click-through opportunities for publishers.
Google AI Search Shift Leaves Website Makers Feeling ‘Betrayed’ (2025-04-07)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-07/google-ai-search-shift-leaves-website-makers-feeling-betrayed
Ahrefs – AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5 % (2025-04-17)
https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-overviews-reduce-clicks/
Maginative – The Future of Google Search: Talking AI Mode with Robby Stein (2025-04-22)
- Podcast interview
- Robby Stein is the lead product thinker behind AI Mode at Google.
Single Grain – Eric Siu – How AEO Can Help with Zero-Click Searches: Reclaiming Visibility in 2025 (2025-05-02)
Zero-click searches stood at 65 % globally in 2024 and are forecast to break 70 % in 2025.
https://www.singlegrain.com/digital-marketing-strategy/how-aeo-can-help-with-zero-click-searches-in-2025/
Bloomberg – Google Can Train Search AI with Web Content After AI Opt-Out (2025-05-03)
Google is ignoring attempts to block AI Overviews from scraping content.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-03/google-can-train-search-ai-with-web-content-even-after-opt-out
Similarweb – Breakdown of AI Traffic (2025-05-07)
Today:
ChatGPT – 80.1 %
DeepSeek – 6.5 %
Google – 5.6 %
Grok – 2.6 %
Perplexity – 1.5 %
https://www.similarweb.com/corp/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/attachment-Global-AI-Tracker-13.pdf
Semrush AI Overviews Study: What 2025 SEO Data Tells Us About Google’s Search Shift (2025-05-05)
Arguably the largest and most detailed study to date on GAIO—essential reading, breaking down GAIO visibility by category.
https://www.semrush.com/blog/semrush-ai-overviews-study/
iloveseo.net – Why AI Mode Will Replace Traditional Search as Google’s Default Interface (2025-05-08)
https://www.iloveseo.net/why-ai-mode-will-replace-traditional-search-as-googles-default-interface/
Similarweb – The Top 10 Websites in the World (total monthly visits), April 2025 (2025-05-09)
ChatGPT now ranks 5th, up 14 places year-on-year.
https://x.com/Similarweb/status/1920725435979034861/photo/1
Goog Enough – Remember: They can still hallucinate, especially Google.
https://x.com/Goog_Enough/status/1921173382881509885/photo/1
Rich Sanger SEO – AI Overviews Research: Articles, Studies, and Insights
A link hub of GAIO resources—most from 2024.
https://richsanger.com/google-ai-overviews-research/
Search Engine Journal – Google Links to Itself: 43 % of AI Overviews Point Back to Google (2025-05-14)
43 % of GAIO links don’t point to the source, but straight back to Google.
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-links-to-itself-43-of-ai-overviews-point-back-to-google/546574/
Glen Allsopp – The State of SEO in 2025 (2025-05-15)
https://detailed.com/state-of-seo/
Ahrefs – Insights from 55.8 M AI Overviews Across 590 M Searches — A Study by Ahrefs (2025-05-19)
Headline numbers:
54.61 % of all Google results now include GAIO
97.7 % of informational queries trigger GAIO
71.67 % of GAIO results are ad-free
https://ahrefs.com/blog/insights-from-56-million-ai-overviews/
Barry Schwartz – Google AI Overviews Expand Again & Lead to 10 % Query Growth (2025-05-21)
Google boasts that GAIO and the self-links in AI Mode are driving more searches. Asked for click-through comparisons before and after GAIO, they declined to comment—telling in itself. They’ve also confirmed they won’t be adding GAIO data to Google Search Console.
https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-overviews-expand-39445.html
Ahrefs – Generative Engines Are Breaking Web Analytics and Hurting Their Future (2025-05-26)
https://ahrefs.com/blog/generative-engines-are-breaking-web-analytics/
| Generative engine | Passes referrer? |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT | ⚠️ |
| Gemini | ⚠️ |
| Copilot (Web) | ✅ |
| Copilot (Windows) | ❌ |
| Perplexity (Web) | ✅ |
| Perplexity (Desktop) | ❌ |
| Claude | ✅ |
| Grok | ❌ |
| DeepSeek | ⚠️ |
| Meta AI | ✅ |
| Mistral | ✅ |
The Death of Web Traffic: How Brands Can Survive in a New Era of Marketing – with Rand Fishkin (2025-05-27)
- The age of referral traffic is over: clicks from Google and social platforms are sharply down—or already gone.
- Why: Google and AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, etc.) provide instant answers inside their own interface, so users no longer need to click through to third-party sites. This shift is deliberate and in line with user preferences.
- Zero-click marketing: The opportunity lies in being present where attention already is—podcasts, email newsletters, YouTube channels, and, yes, inside AI answer boxes themselves.
- New KPIs: Instead of traffic and conversions, marketers should track engagement, views, and listens (LinkedIn followers, YouTube views, podcast downloads)—metrics once dismissed as vanity figures.
- Long-term thinking and trust: This new approach needs sustained investment and patience. Sales may surface after 3–6 months—or even 3 years—while short-term metrics vanish from classic analytics.
The Verge – Google CEO Sundar Pichai on the Future of Search, AI Agents, and Selling Chrome (2025-05-28)
- Key passage at 21:46 – “AI Mode and publisher concerns”, where Pichai repeatedly sidesteps the traffic-loss question, tacitly confirming it.
- Glossary:
- Higher-quality traffic = fewer visits overall, but the ones that do click are supposedly more valuable.
- “Will traffic drop? … People search more” = searches in Google rise, but site visits drop.
- More searches might also mean users can’t find what they need.
Similar web – AI Global – Global Sector Trends on Generative AI (2025-06-06)
https://www.similarweb.com/corp/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/attachment-Global-AI-Tracker.pdf
🗓️ Today:
ChatGPT: 78.9%
Google: 8.0%
DeepSeek: 5.3%
Grok: 2.1%
Perplexity: 1.7%
Claude: 1.4%
The Wall Street Journal – News Sites Are Getting Crushed by Google’s New AI Tools (2025-06-10)
| Publisher | Impact on search traffic | Strategy / Other impacts |
|---|---|---|
| HuffPost | Organic traffic: >50% drop (3 years). | – |
| Washington Post | Similar drop as HuffPost. | Seeking new revenue for the “post-search era.” |
| Business Insider | Organic traffic: -55% (Q4/2022-Q4/2024). | 21% of staff laid off. |
| The Atlantic | Expects traffic from Google to drop to zero. | Changing business model, building reader relationships (apps, print, events). |
| New York Times | Share of organic traffic: drop from ~44% to 36.5% (3 years). | – |
| The Wall Street Journal | Share of organic traffic: drop from 29% to 24%. | Focusing on direct habit-forming traffic. |
| Dotdash Meredith | Share of Google traffic: drop from ~60% to ~33% (since 2021). | Overall traffic growing (newsletters). AI = “the last straw.” |
Of interest the growth of ChatGPT and the fall of Google in search. (2025-06-11)
(According to data from a large study by Similar Web at the same time I must point out that Google is growing radially in AI search, but still ChatGPT is still around 80%)
https://x.com/EugeneNg_VCap/status/1932457175361986634/photo/1
Google AI Overviews is growing quite nicely and the growth isn’t stopping. That is, Google is pushing it. (2025-06-16)
https://x.com/patrickstox/status/1934616429145260135
Measure Up – Decoding the Future of SEO (Measurement) with Mike King (2025-06-25)
Google’s AI Overviews hit by EU antitrust complaint from independent publishers (2025-07-04)
https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/googles-ai-overviews-hit-by-eu-antitrust-complaint-independent-publishers-2025-07-04/
Marketing Miner – Growth of the share of AI Overviews in search in the Czech Republic – AI Overviews already appears for 20.41 % of measured queries. (2025-07-17)
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7351555882456883201/
Similarweb – The Impact of Generative AI: Publishers – report on GPT, Search, AI uses, and traffic (2025-07-17)
https://www.similarweb.com/corp/reports/the-impact-of-generative-ai-publishers-us/
Pew Research – Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results (2025-07-22)
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/
Ahrefs – New Study: AI Assistants Prefer to Cite “Fresher” Content (17 Million Citations Analyzed) (2025-07-28)
https://ahrefs.com/blog/do-ai-assistants-prefer-to-cite-fresh-content/
PressGazette – AI Overviews cutting publisher click-through rates by 50 %, new report finds (2025-07-30)
https://pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/google-ai-overviews-publishers-r