Ranking #1 but getting less traffic than before — AI Overviews are changing everything

Something weird is happening in 2026. you rank position 1. you check GSC. impressions are up. but clicks are down. traffic dropped even though rankings improved.

AI Overviews are answering the question before anyone clicks. google is basically becoming the destination instead of the road.

what I am seeing work right now:

target keywords where AI Overview does not show up. mostly transactional and local intent keywords still send clicks. informational keywords are getting eaten alive.

anyone else seeing this across their client sites? curious if casino and grey niche keywords are affected the same way or if google avoids AI Overviews for sensitive niches.

informational keywords are the worst affected and honestly probably not worth chasing anymore for traffic dependent sites.

iata said:

informational keywords are the worst affected and honestly probably not worth chasing anymore for traffic dependent sites.

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Agree 100%. informational is basically google's content now. but here is what i am testing, even if informational keywords don't send clicks anymore, they still build topical authority. so i am not dropping them completely. i use them to strengthen the site structure and push the transactional pages harder. the transactional keywords still send real clicks. AI Overviews barely touch "buy", "hire", "best price" type intent. that is where the traffic actually lives now.

google is separating visibility from clicks, you can rank but if the serp answers intent, traffic drops. The play now is targeting queries where users must click, like tools, comparisons, money, intent and much more..., which is why grey niches still hold better.

Interesting point about casino and grey niches. My guess is Google is more cautious with AI Overviews in sensitive categories, but I be curious to see actual data on that.

Yeah same here, informational traffic is getting hit the most, but transactionall and local intent keywords are still holding up pretty well.

Informational content isn't dead, but I think its role is changing, as instead of being a traffic source, it's becoming a trust and authority layer that helps your money pages rank. That's how I'm treating it on my own sites now.

Captain Noodle said:

Interesting point about casino and grey niches. My guess is Google is more cautious with AI Overviews in sensitive categories, but I be curious to see actual data on that.

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Good question and from what i am seeing across casino client sites
yes google is definitely more cautious with AI Overviews in grey niches. gambling, adult, pharma keywords rarely trigger AI Overviews compared to regular informational queries. which actually makes casino SEO slightly more protected from this specific problem. clicks are still flowing on casino keywords where google won't risk showing an AI answer.
@mangoodi said perfectly, grey niches still hold better precisely because google won't touch that content with AI.

gsc looking weird lately. pages move up, traffic moves down. that's usually ai overview eating the answer layer. informational content got squeezed hardest. local, comparison, pricing and buyer intent terms still bring visitors. clicks are becoming more valuable than rankings now.