13 Apr
Have you been feeling like your organic traffic is down?
Well, the good (and bad) news is that you’re not just imagining it.
You, like hundreds of other businesses, are likely losing traffic to AI.
But why is that happening? And what can you do?
Let’s talk about it.
Why am I losing traffic because of AI search?
Traffic loss from AI search isn’t uncommon anymore. But why does it happen?
Realistically, AI engines encourage clickless behavior. People can search for information and get all the answers they need right in the engine, without having to click to find more.
Think about it like this: Let’s say you’re just searching a simple question like “What are some good substitutes for eggs in a recipe?” Previously, if there wasn’t a featured snippet, you’d have to click on a result and scroll through the page to find information.
Now, an AI engine can generate a list of egg substitutes within seconds and tell you exactly how to ratio the substitution (and when it’s best to use each substitution).
Google AI Overview answering a query about egg substitutions
So, like with many other queries, people get the answer they need right away and don’t need to explore a page for additional information. That results in less clicks, and furthermore, less traffic.
This is why you’re losing traffic to AI. AI is sythesizing and summing up information to make it easy for people to get the answers they need without having to explore further. It’s absorbing clicks and leading to more zero-click queries.
Does your website appear in AI Overviews
Check your website’s performance in AI Overviews and organic search results.
Why did SEO traffic flatten even though rankings improved?
You may be thinking “Well, my rankings for keywords actually improved, but I’m not seeing better traffic — why is that?”
The short explanation is that even if your rankings improve, AI Overviews being present in search results is going to influence traffic numbers. Google may be recognizing that your pages are more relevant than competitors’ and ranking them higher as a result, but because AI Overviews still play a prominent role, traffic is affected by them.
What do I do if I’m losing traffic to AI?
If you’re like other businesses and losing traffic to AI, like AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Claude, here’s what you can do:
Build up your bottom of the funnel content
BOFU content tends to see less AI Overviews, which means it generates more clicks and traffic. This is likely where a lot of your clicks and traffic are coming from. So, it’s important that you build up these pages and optimize them often to maintain rankings and traffic.
Here are some BOFU types of content you can create:
- Case studies
- Product demos
- Product or service pages
- Comparison pages
- Testimonial pages
- Pricing pages
These are the types of things people often consult when they’re close to conversion, so having these built up on your website (when appropriate) can help you maintain traffic for these queries that aren’t seeing AI Overviews yet.
Start optimizing for AI search
This is a classic case of, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” AI search isn’t going away anytime soon, which means you need to embrace it if you want to continue driving leads for your business.
So, what does that look like?
- Building up brand recognition and visibility across platforms
- Increasing E-E-A-T signals to build brand trust
- Creating answer-first content that LLMs want to pull (and cite) in responses
Optimizing for AI search now won’t help you recover the traffic you’ve lost (traffic recovery is a thing of the past), but it will help you build brand recognition that leads to increased leads and revenue.
Diversify your marketing strategy
If you’re just relying on SEO to carry you through, you’re likely starting to panic if you’re experiencing traffic loss from AI search. One of the best defenses you can implement is diversifying your strategy.
Marketing strategy diversification is always good because the performance of strategies ebbs and flows. You may have a killer month with your paid search ads, and then next month you only get a few leads. Having a diverse strategy enables you to continue driving growth, even when certain strategies fall a little short at times.
Consider supporting your organic search strategy with strategies like:
- AI SEO
- Social media marketing
- Paid search advertising
- Content marketing
- Social media advertising
- Email marketing
Create things AI can’t replicate
If you’re losing traffic to AI, consider creating things that AI can’t replicate.
AI can summarize information and share it with people, but it can’t generate things like tools, calculators, templates, or interactive content that people seek out. Make your content more desirable and “clickable” by integrating things AI can’t offer to people.
These aspects can help you earn back some clicks and traffic when people seek out these specific things.
FAQs on losing traffic to AI
Have additional questions? We have answers!
Can I recover traffic lost to AI?
No. The unfortunate reality is that, as long as AI Overviews are present and operate the way they do, it’s not going to be possible to recover traffic lost to AI. Traffic numbers will never be where they once were because less people will click and visit pages with AI Overviews being so prominent.
But, that doesn’t mean there are less leads out there — they’re just going through the customer journey differently (which you need to adjust for).
What types of content are impacted most by AI?
The content that sees the most traffic loss from AI is:
- Definition-based content (“What is X?”)
- How-to content
- Listicles
Most TOFU content will see an AI Overview summary at the top, resulting in less traffic and clicks.
Does SEO still matter if AI is answering searches?
Yes.
There’s still value in ranking organically. It’s still important to be a top ranking page in search, especially with bottom of the funnel queries.
And on top of that, a lot of the best practices of SEO are what get you cited in LLMs and AI search responses. Practices like creating high-value content, topical authority, and expertise factor into your ability to get into AI Overviews.
The question isn’t whether SEO matters — it’s whether your SEO strategy is built for the modern-day search experience.
Build a strategy that adapts for the modern search landscape
If you’re losing traffic to AI, you’re not alone — a lot of businesses are feeling the effects of AI search becoming prominent. It doesn’t mean it’s time to throw in the towel on your search strategy — it’s time to adapt.
With an AI SEO strategy, you’re better equipped to help your business attract leads and drive revenue in an AI search world.
Not sure where to start? Connect with our team to see how our< AI search services can help you excel in the next era of search.
