Fixing AI Overviews (Formerly SGE) Impact on Your Clicks
Search Generative Experience, or SGE, was Google's 2023 experiment with AI answers at the top of search results. It became AI Overviews, which now appear above the organic listings for many queries, including in the UK. When an overview answers the question, fewer people scroll down and click, even if your page kept its ranking.
This guide shows how to confirm that AI Overviews rather than a ranking loss explain a fall in clicks, which of your queries are exposed, how to become one of the linked sources and where to focus so search still sends you useful visitors.
From SGE to AI Overviews
Google introduced SGE in 2023 as an opt-in experiment in Search Labs. It generated a summary answer above the normal results, with links to pages it drew on. In 2024 Google launched the feature to everyone under the name AI Overviews and extended it to more countries, including the UK. Google has since added AI Mode, a separate conversational search experience that people choose to open.
Three details matter when you are diagnosing lost traffic:
- Overviews are not shown for every query. Google decides query by query. Informational questions are the most likely to trigger one; navigational searches for a brand, and many searches with local or shopping intent, often show other features instead.
- The sources are ordinary indexed pages. Google has said there is no special markup or optimisation needed to appear; a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown with a snippet. The same fundamentals that make a page rank make it usable as a source.
- Clicks from overviews are counted in Search Console. Google has said that traffic from AI features is included in the Performance report under the Web search type. There is no separate filter for it, which is why the diagnosis below relies on patterns rather than a single report.
The pattern that points to AI Overviews
A ranking loss and an AI Overview effect produce different shapes in Search Console. Put the date range before and after the change side by side and look at these four numbers for each query:
| Metric | Ranking loss | AI Overview effect | Falling demand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average position | Falls | Holds roughly steady | Holds |
| Impressions | Fall | Hold or rise | Fall |
| Clicks | Fall | Fall | Fall in line with impressions |
| Click-through rate | Falls with position | Falls at the same position | Roughly unchanged |
The signature of an overview effect is a lower click-through rate at an unchanged position, concentrated in question-style queries. Treat it as a strong hint, not proof: other features, such as a new video carousel, People also ask box or shopping unit, can have the same effect. Always check the live results for a sample of queries.
Impressions can also rise, because a page cited inside an overview may record an impression for that query when the overview loads, even if the searcher never scrolls to your organic listing.
The fix, step by step
Step 1
Separate click loss from ranking loss
Open the Algorithm Impact monitor to see whether your positions actually moved around the time clicks fell, and whether a core update or technical fault lines up better. Then compare two equal periods in Search Console at query level. Queries where position held but click-through rate dropped belong in this guide; queries where position fell need a ranking fix first, so move those to the core update or helpful content guides.
Step 2
Find the queries that now show an overview
Export the affected queries to a spreadsheet and check a sample of the highest-value ones in a private browser window, signed out, with the location set to the UK. Note whether an AI Overview appears, whether your page is linked in it, which other sites are linked and what else sits above your listing. Repeat a few days later, because overviews do not appear consistently for the same query.
Step 3
Sort affected queries by what the searcher needs
Label each query by intent. Quick facts, definitions and simple how-many questions are often fully answered in the overview, and clicks there may not return. Comparisons, local needs, purchases, tools, detailed procedures and anything needing trust or personal judgement still send visits. Move your effort towards the second group, and for the first group aim to be the cited source rather than chasing the old click.
Step 4
Make your answers easy to cite accurately
Put a direct, correct answer in the first lines under a heading that matches the question,
then give the reasoning and detail below it. Keep facts in plain HTML text rather than images or scripts,
state units, dates and conditions clearly, and name the author and sources. Check the page is indexed
and not blocked by nosnippet. Clear, checkable statements are easier for any system to quote
correctly.
Step 5
Build pages an overview cannot replace
Add what a summary cannot deliver: calculators, configurators, downloadable templates, original photos, measured test results, local availability, prices and booking. Turn thin question pages into complete resources that someone would want to open after reading a two-line answer. Link from those pages to the service or product that the question usually leads to, so the visitors who do click have a clear next step.
Step 6
Decide on snippet controls deliberately
Google
applies its existing snippet controls to AI features. nosnippet, max-snippet
and the data-nosnippet attribute limit what can be shown, but they also limit your normal
search snippet and can reduce clicks. Blocking Google-Extended in robots.txt does not
remove you from AI Overviews. Use these controls only for specific content you do not want quoted, such
as paid material, and test them on a few pages first.
Step 7
Measure against the right baseline
Track clicks and click-through rate per query group rather than site totals, and compare them with the same season last year where you can. Watch leads, sales and enquiries from organic search alongside clicks, because visitors who click past an overview are often further along in their decision. Recheck the live results each month, since the queries that trigger overviews and the sources they link keep changing.
Snippet controls and what they actually do
Several controls are often confused. This table shows what each one affects in Google Search as Google documents it.
| Control | Where it goes | Effect on AI Overviews | Side effects |
|---|---|---|---|
nosnippet | Robots meta tag or X-Robots-Tag header | Page content not used as a snippet or in AI features | No text snippet in normal results either |
max-snippet:[n] | Robots meta tag | Limits how much text can be shown | Shortens normal snippets too |
data-nosnippet | Attribute on a span, div or section | That part of the page is not shown in snippets | Only affects the marked part |
noindex | Robots meta tag or header | Page not shown at all | Page removed from search |
| Google-Extended | robots.txt user agent | None for Search features | Controls use in Gemini models and some other Google AI products |
<!-- Keep one section out of snippets and AI features -->
<div data-nosnippet>
<p>Member pricing: see your account for today's rates.</p>
</div>
<!-- Limit snippet length for the whole page -->
<meta name="robots" content="max-snippet:120">Queries worth defending and queries to let go
Not every lost click was a valuable one. Before rewriting pages, sort the affected queries into three groups:
- Answer-only queries. "How many ml in a pint", "what does VAT stand for". If the overview gives a complete answer, the click was never strongly connected to your business. Keep the page accurate so you are cited, then spend effort elsewhere.
- Research queries. "Best way to insulate a loft conversion", "combi or system boiler for a four-bed house". Overviews give a starting point, but people still want depth, examples and someone accountable for the advice. These are worth improving.
- Action queries. "Loft insulation installer near Derby", "buy 100mm insulation roll". These carry the most value and are less often answered by an overview alone. Make sure product, service and local pages are strong before anything else.
A fictional roofing firm, Crestline Roofing, might find that its guide to roof pitch terminology lost most of its clicks while its "flat roof replacement cost" page held up. The sensible response is to keep the glossary tidy and put new effort into cost guides, case studies and the quote form.
Beyond Google: AI assistants and brand searches
AI Overviews are one of several places where people now get answers without visiting a site. ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot all summarise the web in their own way, with their own crawlers and rules. The same habits help across them: clear answers, visible authorship, accurate facts and a site their crawlers can reach. The AEO Guide covers answer engines in more depth.
Watch brand searches too. If more people come to you by name after meeting you in an overview or an assistant answer, that growth will show as branded queries rather than as clicks on the original question.
1. Is SGE the same as AI Overviews?
Yes, in the sense that AI Overviews grew out of it. Search Generative Experience was Google's 2023 experiment with AI-generated answers, available through Search Labs. In 2024 Google launched the feature to the public as AI Overviews and extended it to more countries, including the UK. Advice written for SGE about being a linked source still broadly applies, but the name SGE is no longer used, and Google has since added the separate AI Mode experience as well.
2. Can I see AI Overview traffic in Search Console?
Only as part of the total. Google has said that clicks and impressions from AI features are included in the Performance report under the Web search type, but there is no filter that isolates them. The practical approach is to compare periods at query level and look for queries where position held but click-through rate fell, then check those queries in live results to see whether an overview now appears and whether your page is linked in it.
3. How do I get my page cited in an AI Overview?
Google says there is no special markup or optimisation required. The page must be indexed and eligible to show a snippet, and the usual quality signals apply. In practice it helps to answer the question directly near the top, keep key facts in plain text, be specific about numbers and conditions, and show who wrote the page and where facts come from. Being the clearest, most reliable page on a narrow question gives you the best chance of being linked.
4. Should I block Google from using my content in AI Overviews?
Think carefully first. The only controls that affect AI Overviews in Google Search are the snippet controls such as nosnippet, max-snippet and data-nosnippet, and they also shrink or remove your normal search snippet. That usually costs clicks rather than saving them. Blocking Google-Extended does not affect AI Overviews. Consider limited use of data-nosnippet for specific material you do not want quoted, such as subscriber content, rather than blocking whole pages.
5. Why did my impressions go up while clicks went down?
This is a common pattern on queries that now show an AI Overview. Your page can record an impression when it is linked inside an overview or appears lower on a longer results page, while fewer people scroll down and click because the overview has already answered them. Check click-through rate at a steady position. If it fell while position held, the change is in how results are displayed, and the fix is about query choice and page value, not rankings.
6. Are AI Overviews a Google update that I can recover from?
Not in the usual sense. A core update changes how pages are ranked; AI Overviews change what sits above the rankings. You cannot restore the old click-through rate on a query that is now fully answered at the top of the page. What you can do is be cited in the overview, move effort towards queries where people still need to click, and make sure visitors who do arrive find something the summary could not give them.
7. Do AI Overviews appear for local and shopping searches?
They can, but many local searches are dominated by the map pack and business profiles, and many product searches show shopping units and merchant listings. That is why service and product pages are often less affected than general information articles. Check your own important queries in a signed-out browser set to the UK, because the mix of features differs by query and changes over time. Keep your Business Profile and product data accurate for those features too.
The Algorithm Impact monitor lines up your daily ranking movements with tracked Google updates, helps separate update effects from technical faults, content decay and competitor gains, tracks your recovery and suggests actions suited to the type of update.
Open Algorithm Impact Fixes →