Pew Study: Google AI Summaries Linked to Nearly Half the Click-Through Rate
A Pew Research Center study of 900 U.S. adults found that Google searches displaying AI-generated summaries resulted in users clicking traditional result links only 8% of the time, compared to 15% when no summary was present. The analysis covered 68,879 Google searches conducted in March 2025 using real-world browsing data from KnowledgePanel Digital. Users were also more likely to end their browsing session after viewing a search page with an AI summary, at 26% versus 16% without one. About 58% of participants encountered at least one AI summary during the month, with the typical summary running around 67 words. The findings suggest that for publishers and businesses relying on search referrals, ranking in results may no longer reliably translate into site visits when the search page itself resolves the query.
This is an AI-generated summary. ShortSingh links to the original source for the complete article.
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