The numbers we read the landscape against — pulled from the most reliable, dated studies in the industry, with every figure attributed so you can trace it back.
Magnitudes vary by methodology and keyword set — but the direction is unambiguous. These are the figures we brief every client on.
A curated shelf of the research that actually holds up — longitudinal samples, large query sets, and transparent methods.
Click-through on AIO queries fell roughly 65%, then partly rebounded — but the gap versus non-AIO queries is now the baseline to plan around.
Position-1 CTR drops about 58% when an AIO is present; YouTube and branded mentions correlate most strongly with AI brand visibility.
Most AI Mode answers show a source sidebar averaging seven domains — and only a small share of citations overlap with AI Overviews.
Coverage settled near a quarter of queries after Google recalibrated in late 2025 — though figures swing widely by method.
Google referrals to publishers fell about a third in the year to late 2025; chatbot traffic is nowhere near offsetting the loss yet.
Listicles, articles and product pages dominate AI citations — and search intent decides which format wins the answer.
Click-through on AIO queries fell roughly 65%, then partly rebounded — but the gap versus non-AIO queries is now the baseline to plan around.
Position-1 CTR drops about 58% when an AIO is present; YouTube and branded mentions correlate most strongly with AI brand visibility.
Most AI Mode answers show a source sidebar averaging seven domains — and only a small share of citations overlap with AI Overviews.
Coverage settled near a quarter of queries after Google recalibrated in late 2025 — though figures swing widely by method.
Google referrals to publishers fell about a third in the year to late 2025; chatbot traffic is nowhere near offsetting the loss yet.
Listicles, articles and product pages dominate AI citations — and search intent decides which format wins the answer.
It depends entirely on who’s counting. The same question yields wildly different answers across trackers — which is exactly why a single headline number is dangerous.
A free GEO audit benchmarks your brand against the same data you see here.