How AI Overviews Are Killing Your Clicks and What to Do About It

Do you remember when being #1 on Google meant a gush of traffic?

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You'd spend so many weeks building backlinks, optimizing your H1s, sprinkling keywords like SEO fairy dust — and voilà: traffic, leads, sales.

Well… those days are well in the past.

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Welcome to the AI Overview Era — where Google gives the answer before anyone ever even gets their eyes on your blue link.

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"Clicks are down, impressions are up, and your traffic graph is a dismal ski slope."

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If you're relying on the old tricks — blog posts, SEO'd pages, and hoping your meta description wins the day — you're already behind.

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The Silent Killer: AI Answers Above the Fold

Search for anything now — “best protein for women,” “how to set up Shopify payments,” or “why is my dog licking the wall” — and you’ll see it:

A big fat AI-generated blob of text.
And your carefully crafted page? Buried.

Google has gone from librarian to fortune teller — it’s giving people the answer, not where to find it.

The result?

- Click-through rates are plummeting.

- Even being #1 isn't what it used to be.

- Your content? It's becoming free training data for AI that's stealing your audience.

This Is Not a Drill — It's an Algorithmic Coup

Let's be crystal clear: this isn't a tweak.
This is Google eating its own search results.
And you, the content creator, the entrepreneur, the marketer — you're feeding the beast that's starving your business.

"You're investing in SEO just to rank, so that AI can strip-mine your content and puke out the answer for you."

That's like building the world's best food truck. behind a vending machine.

So What You Do Now?

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The smart marketers?
They're already adapting. Here's how:

1. Build Moats, Not Just Traffic

Start thinking like a media company.
Build email lists. Roll out communities. Win attention off-platform.
Google might own the click — but you need to own the relationship.

2. Play Where AI Can't Compete

AI can recall facts, but it cannot narrate, stir emotions, or paint personal experience.
Double down on opinion-based, experiential, or data-driven content.

3. Make Offers Too Good to Ignore

If users click, don't let it be for nothing.
Turn browsers into buyers in no time. Use magnetic offers, clear CTAs, and value-packed lead magnets.

4. Don't Just Rank — Convert

SEO isn't about traffic anymore. It's about speed of conversion.
Which is to say pages that convert eyeballs into email, clicks into calls, and visits into money.

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The Bottom Line
The blue link economy is on its deathbed.
And AI just pulled the plug.

You can sit around wishing for algorithmic mercy.
Or you can change, adapt, and build an unfair advantage while your competition stays stuck in 2017.

Because in the world of AI, it's not the best content that wins —
It's the best placed.

It's time to shift from "ranking" to "revenue."
Let the machines take questions.
You? You build brand, relationship, and bank.

In need of help future-proofing your traffic game?
Slide into the DMs.
Let's make sure you're not just another link Google forgets.

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