New research from the Pew Research Center, as reported by Ars Technica, reveals that Google's AI Overviews are significantly impacting website traffic. According to the study, when AI-generated summaries appear at the top of Google search results, users are almost half as likely to click through to other websites—dropping from a 15% to an 8% click rate.

Even more striking, just 1% of users click on the sources cited within the AI Overviews, with Wikipedia, YouTube, and Reddit being the most frequently referenced. The study found that about 1 in 5 Google searches now display these AI Overviews, especially for longer, question-based queries.

Despite Google's claims that AI features drive engagement and new opportunities for websites, the data suggests users are more likely to end their search after reading an AI-generated summary—potentially leaving them with incomplete or even incorrect information, as generative AI is known to occasionally produce errors.

My experience mirrors this trend

I use Dia, a browser with an LLM model at my disposal, and I love it. I don't use Google much anymore. With information synthesized directly, I rarely visit websites either. The convenience of getting immediate, contextualized answers without navigating through multiple sites has fundamentally changed how I consume information.

This behavioral shift raises fascinating questions about the future of the web. Are we witnessing the emergence of the "dead internet theory" in practice? When AI systems can synthesize and present information without requiring users to visit original sources, what happens to the web's fundamental click-through economy?