Ever since Google first debuted the AI-generated search summaries, web creators have feared the overviews will siphon precious clicks and upend a search experience publishers have relied upon for years. Now, it seems they have their proof.

According to a new study from the Pew Research Center, Google users who are met with an AI summary are not only less likely to click through to other websites but are also more likely to end their browsing session entirely.

Researchers found that just 8% of users who were presented with Google’s AI-generated overviews clicked on a traditional search result link, as opposed to those who did not encounter an AI summary, who clicked on a search result nearly twice as often.

Just over a quarter of searches that produced an AI summary were closed without users clicking through to any links, compared with 16% of pages with only traditional search results.

The summaries are also becoming more common. According to Pew, around one in five Google searches in March 2025 produced an AI summary, with 18% of all the Google searches in the study producing an AI summary.

AI’s search revolution

It’s easy to see why the summaries are popular. Apart from a few minor user experience tweaks, search has remained largely untouched since its conception. Up until AI-powered search entered the scene, users had been presented with a list of links, ranked by an ever-changing Google algorithm, in response to what is normally a natural-language query.

After the launch of AI-powered chatbots such as ChatGPT, the logical jump to technology’s search potential was so obvious that Google declared a “code red” internally and began pouring resources into its AI development.

Fast forward three years, and Google’s AI Overviews are facing off against AI-powered search competitors like Perplexity and ChatGPT Search.

More often than not, users who come to search engines are looking for an answer to a question. AI allows for a new, cleaner way to provide these answers, one that utilizes natural language and speeds up the search process for users.

But the trade-off for this improved experience is the lack of click-through to other websites, potentially resulting in a catastrophic decline in website traffic, especially for sites that rely on informational content or rank highly for keywords. 

The study found that Google is far more likely to serve up an AI Overview in response to longer, more natural-sounding queries or questions. Just 8% of one or two-word searches produced an AI-generated summary. That figure jumps to 53% for searches containing ten words or more.

Queries phrased as full sentences, especially those that include both a noun and a verb, triggered summaries 36% of the time. Meanwhile, question-based searches were the most likely to invoke an AI response, with 60% of queries beginning with “who,” “what,” “when,” or “why” generating an Overview.

Common sources

While the overviews do link out and cite web sources, more often than not, the summaries lean heavily on a trio of Wikipedia, YouTube, and Reddit.

Collectively, these three platforms accounted for 15% of all citations in AI Overviews, almost mirroring the three sites’ 17% share of links in standard search results. Researchers found that AI Overviews were more likely to include links to Wikipedia and government websites, while standard search results featured YouTube links more prominently. Government sources represented 6% of AI-linked content, compared to just 2% in traditional results.

In another potentially ominous sign for publishers hoping to capitalize on the AI revolution, news organizations remain largely flat in both formats, making up just 5% of links in AI Overviews and standard search results alike.

Things are likely to get worse for web creators before they get better as Google leans further into AI in its search business. In May, Google unveiled a new “AI mode” search feature that intends to provide more direct answers to user questions. The answers provided by the new feature are similar to AI Overviews, and blend AI-generated responses with summarized and linked content from around the internet.

Google has continually brushed off concerns that the overviews could negatively affect web traffic for creators. The company did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment on the Pew survey.