If you’ve noticed a drop in your website traffic from Google recently, you’re certainly not the only one. I’ve had several clients asking me about this lately, particularly after opening their analytics and seeing that their organic traffic is noticeably lower than it was a few months ago.
The first reaction is usually, “Has my SEO stopped working?”
Not necessarily.
There is a fairly big change happening in Google Search, and it is changing the way people find information, interact with search results and decide whether they actually need to click through to a website. Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode are becoming a much bigger part of the search experience, and that can have an impact on website clicks even when your actual Google rankings haven’t changed dramatically.
So before you panic and assume your website has fallen off the face of Google, it’s worth understanding what is actually happening.
What are Google AI Overviews?
If you’ve searched Google recently, you may have already seen an AI Overview without really thinking about it.
Instead of simply showing you a list of websites, Google can now provide an AI-generated answer at the top of the search results. The answer is created using information from multiple sources and can include links to websites that Google considers relevant to the question.
Google also has AI Mode, which takes this further by allowing people to have a more conversational search experience. Instead of typing one question, clicking a result and then searching again, someone can ask follow-up questions and continue exploring a topic within Google.
For the person doing the searching, this can be incredibly convenient.
For website owners, however, there is an obvious question: if Google answers the question before someone visits my website, are they still going to click?
Sometimes, no.
And that’s where the effect on website traffic comes in.
Your Google ranking might be fine, but your clicks can still drop
This is probably the most important distinction to understand if you’re looking at your SEO data and wondering what has gone wrong.
A drop in website clicks does not automatically mean you’ve dropped in Google’s rankings.
Let’s say your website has been ranking number one for a particular search for the past year. Previously, someone searched for that phrase, saw your website at the top of the results and clicked through.
Now Google may display an AI Overview above the traditional search results. If the searcher reads the AI-generated answer and gets everything they need, they may simply leave Google without clicking any of the websites underneath it.
Your website could still be sitting in position number one.
You just didn’t get the visitor.
This is why I think it’s important to look at Google Search Console as well as your website analytics when you’re trying to work out what has happened to your SEO traffic. Search Console can show you whether people are still seeing your website in search, how many people are clicking, which searches are bringing them there and whether your average position has actually changed.
Those numbers tell a much more useful story than simply looking at the number of organic visitors in Google Analytics and deciding that your SEO has suddenly gone backwards.
Why would Google do this?
From Google’s point of view, the goal is to give people the most useful answer as quickly as possible.
That’s not particularly new. Google has been doing this for years with things such as featured snippets, knowledge panels, local results and other features that try to answer questions directly within the search results.
AI Overviews are essentially another step in that direction.
The difference is that Google can now generate a much more detailed response to a complicated question instead of simply pulling out a sentence or two from one website.
This is particularly noticeable for informational searches.
If someone searches “how long does a divorce take in Australia”, they may be happy to read a general explanation from Google.
If they search “family lawyer Sydney”, however, they’re much more likely to be looking for an actual business. They may want to compare firms, look at reviews, find out where they’re located, understand their services and eventually make contact.
Those two searches may both be counted as Google searches, but they represent very different intentions.
And I think that distinction is going to become increasingly important for businesses.
Does this mean SEO is dead?
No.
I know that sounds like the part where I’m supposed to dramatically announce that “SEO IS DEAD!” before revealing that I’ve invented a revolutionary new service to save your website.
I’m not going to do that.
SEO is changing, but the basic idea hasn’t disappeared. People are still using Google to find businesses, products, services and information, and Google still needs websites to provide much of that information.
What is changing is the journey between the search and the website.
There may be fewer clicks for some types of searches because Google can provide more information directly on the results page. At the same time, the people who do click through to your website may be further along in their decision-making process.
That’s actually an important opportunity.
If someone has already searched Google, read an AI Overview, looked at several sources and then clicked through to your website, there’s a reasonable chance they’re looking for something more than a quick answer.
They’re looking for the business behind the information.
Your website needs to give people a reason to click
This is where I think businesses can make some really sensible changes without getting caught up in all the AI SEO hype.
If your website simply repeats the same generic information that appears on hundreds of other websites, Google can potentially summarise that information without giving someone much reason to visit you.
Your experience is much harder to replace.
Think about the questions your customers ask you all the time. Think about the things you have learned through years of doing your job. Think about the mistakes you see people making, the situations you regularly deal with and the advice you give that isn’t necessarily written down anywhere else.
That’s the sort of information worth putting on your website.
A landscaper could explain why certain plants struggle in Sydney gardens. A family lawyer could explain some of the common mistakes people make when separating. A cleaner could explain why a particular cleaning method isn’t as effective as TikTok makes it look. A web designer could explain why a WordPress website can suddenly stop sending contact form emails after a plugin update.
That kind of content demonstrates actual experience.
It gives people a reason to trust you.
And it gives them a reason to visit your website rather than simply accepting Google’s summary.
Google’s own guidance around AI search continues to emphasise useful, original content that genuinely helps people. There isn’t a secret AI SEO button you can press to guarantee your website appears in an AI Overview. The fundamentals are still about creating content that is useful, trustworthy and relevant to the person searching.
This doesn’t mean you need to write more blog posts
In fact, I would be careful about falling into that trap.
When something changes in SEO, there is always a new wave of advice telling businesses they need to publish more content. Suddenly you’re supposed to be writing three blog posts a week, creating FAQs for every possible question and producing endless articles because apparently Google is sitting there with a stopwatch waiting for your next post.
You don’t need to do that.
A genuinely useful article that answers a question your customers actually have is much more valuable than five generic posts written purely because you’ve been told that you need “fresh content”.
Look at the questions you’re already answering in emails, phone calls and consultations. Those are often your best content ideas.
If customers regularly ask you how much something costs, what the process involves, how long something takes or what they should do before they get started, there is probably a useful page or article hiding in that question.
And when you write it, don’t just answer the question and send them on their way.
Give them some context. Explain what they need to consider. Share your experience. Tell them what tends to go wrong. Explain what happens next and make it easy for them to contact you if they need help.
That’s how you turn a piece of SEO content into something that can actually help your business.
Don’t forget the boring SEO stuff
While everyone is talking about AI, there is still a lot of value in getting the basics right.
Your website still needs clear page titles and headings. Your important services need to be explained properly. Your pages should link logically to other relevant pages on your website. Your images should be appropriately labelled and your website needs to be technically sound and easy for Google to crawl.
If you’re using WordPress and Rank Math, you can also use Schema markup to help search engines understand what your content represents. Depending on the page, that might include things such as Local Business, Service or Article Schema.
Schema isn’t a magic ticket into Google’s AI Overviews, and I wouldn’t start adding every possible type of Schema just because Rank Math gives you a green light.
The important thing is that your structured data accurately describes the content that is actually on the page.
This is one of those areas where the sensible SEO approach still wins. Don’t optimise things simply because a plugin tells you to. Optimise them because they make your website easier for search engines and, more importantly, your visitors to understand.
What should you do if your Google traffic has dropped?
Before changing anything, have a look at the data.
Google Search Console is the first place I’d go. Compare your recent performance with an earlier period and look at your clicks, impressions and average position.
If your impressions have stayed relatively steady but your clicks have fallen, that’s an interesting clue. It may mean people are still seeing your website in Google but something about the search results is changing the likelihood that they’ll click.
If your impressions and average position have both dropped, that’s a different situation and may indicate a genuine ranking change.
I’d also look at which pages have been affected.
If your blog posts have lost traffic but your main service pages are holding steady, that’s very different from your most important service pages suddenly losing their visibility.
And then there is the really important question: what are those visitors actually doing once they arrive?
A website receiving 1,000 visitors and generating five enquiries isn’t necessarily performing better than a website receiving 600 visitors and generating twelve enquiries.
Traffic is useful information, but it isn’t the whole goal.
For most small businesses, the more important numbers are enquiries, phone calls, bookings, quote requests, purchases and other actions that actually contribute to the business.
Google Search is changing, but your website still matters
I think this is the part businesses need to keep in mind.
Yes, Google AI Search is changing the traditional search experience. Yes, AI Overviews can reduce clicks for some searches. Yes, it’s entirely possible that a website can maintain a decent Google ranking while receiving less traffic than it did previously. But that doesn’t mean you need to throw your SEO strategy in the bin. It means you need to think a little more carefully about what your website is offering.
If your content is genuinely useful, demonstrates your experience, answers real questions and gives people information they can’t get from a generic AI-generated summary, you’re giving people a reason to visit.
And if you’re a local business, your website can do something an AI answer can’t really do in the same way. It can introduce people to your business. They can see your work, learn about your services, read your reviews, understand your process, get a feel for who you are and decide whether you’re someone they want to contact.
That’s a pretty important job for a website.
So if you’ve noticed a drop in your Google traffic recently, don’t immediately assume your SEO has failed. Have a look at what has actually changed.
Your rankings may have dropped. Your clicks may have dropped while your rankings stayed relatively stable. Google may be answering some of the searches that previously sent visitors your way. Or there may be something completely unrelated going on.
The numbers will usually give you some clues.
Google Search is changing, and I don’t think we’re going back to the old ten-blue-links version of search. But I also don’t think small businesses need to panic. The goal was never really to get as many random people as possible onto your website.
The goal is to be found by the right people, give them useful information when they arrive and make it easy for them to take the next step. That part hasn’t changed.