Quick answer: Data reported this week shows AI Overviews are reducing organic click-through rate by 23.1% for affected queries in France, one of the more concrete regional figures published so far quantifying AI Overviews’ impact on traffic to publisher sites.
What happened
Search analysts tracking French search results this week published CTR data comparing queries with and without AI Overviews present. The 23.1% drop adds a hard number to a trend SEOs have anecdotally reported across markets since AI Overviews expanded: when an AI-generated answer satisfies the query directly, fewer users click through to source pages below it.
Why it matters
This kind of country-level data point gives publishers a benchmark to compare against their own Search Console numbers. It also reinforces why the global rollout of Search Console’s generative AI reporting matters — without that AI-specific data, sites would have no clean way to isolate how much of a CTR decline is attributable to AI Overviews versus other ranking factors.
Key facts
- Region: France
- Reported CTR decline: 23.1% for queries showing AI Overviews
- Reported this week by search industry analysts
- One of the clearest regional CTR-impact figures published to date
FAQ
Does this apply globally?
The 23.1% figure is specific to France; CTR impact varies by market, query type, and how often AI Overviews appear for a given topic.
How can I check my own site’s AI Overviews impact?
Use Search Console’s expanded generative AI performance reports to compare impressions and clicks on queries where AI Overviews appear versus where they don’t.
Related reading
- Search Console’s Generative AI Reports Go Global
- Local Knowledge Panels Are Becoming AI Overviews
- More AI Search coverage
Source: Search Engine Roundtable
