Your clicks are dying. Your impressions are fine. Welcome to Google’s AI era.

If you’ve opened your Google Search Console lately and noticed that impressions are steady or rising but clicks have taken a nosedive, you’re not alone.

This isn’t an anomaly. It’s not a technical issue. It’s what I (and others in the industry) are now calling the Great Decoupling, the moment impressions and clicks stopped following the same trendline.

And if you think this has nothing to do with Google’s rollout of AI Overviews and AI Mode, you’re kidding yourself.

What the data actually shows (and yes, this is real)

We’ve seen this play out across a handful of Searchbloom partner accounts spanning industries, verticals, and page types. The exact moment AI Overviews started rolling out in January 2025, clicks began to fall off a cliff while impressions stayed steady or climbed.

Clicks dip mid-January. Impressions? Not impacted. CTR drops hard despite ranking stability.

Another example from a completely different vertical. You’ll notice the red arrow marks the same inflection window.

Lower volume site, same trend. CTR drops from 1.2% to sub-0.7% range post-rollout.

This one shows even more aggressive impression growth while clicks go flat.

What the SEO community is saying

CTRs when AI Overviews show up on Google are at an all time low, both on Paid and Organic… When they don’t show up, we’re in good shape with those CTRs growing. https://x.com/wilreynolds/status/1886795604820386179

— Wil Reynolds (@wilreynolds) February 4, 2025

🧪 New user behavior study: We observed over 400 AI Overview interactions… Desktop CTR dropped by ~66%, mobile by ~50%. Google is answering the query before users scroll. https://x.com/AadityaPsp/status/1922533977962721735

— Aditya Pratap Singh (@AadityaPsp) May 26, 2025

📉 Ahrefs study of 300k queries: when AI Overviews show, average CTR for position #1 drops by 34.5%. This is a seismic shift in organic search. https://x.com/thinking_slow/status/1912838909303673067

— Ryan Law (@thinking_slow) April 2025

Ahrefs + Amsive data:
– Avg CTR drops ~15.5% w/ AIO
– Position #1 drops 34.5%
– AIO + Snippet = -37% CTR
But branded queries? Rarely hit by AIO, and when they are, CTR ↑ +18.7%.
Build brand. Build assets AIO can’t summarize. https://x.com/AndrewPawlakLP/status/1920073923133084119

— Andrew Pawlak (@AndrewPawlakLP) April 25, 2025

BrightEdge data: Search impressions up 49% since AIO rolled out. CTR down 30%. The top of the funnel might look bigger, but the bottom has collapsed into a pit. https://x.com/btabke/status/1923372107649417228

— Brett Tabke (@btabke) May 2025

Want to isolate AI Overview clicks in GSC? You actually can if your site has had a manual action. GSC tracking surfaces AIO as a separate referrer. Use it while it lasts. https://x.com/glenngabe/status/1884270379646026071

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) Jan 28, 2025

So what’s actually happening?

Google’s AI Overviews are engineered to reduce friction in the search experience. That means fewer clicks because users are satisfied before they ever hit your site.

Let’s be real: Google has used the open web to train its models. And now it’s returning less attribution to the very businesses that created the content powering those models.

This isn’t a one-off. This is the new normal.

It hits hardest on:

Non-branded queries (especially info-seeking)
Mid-funnel keywords
Ecommerce category pages
Affiliate/informational SERPs
Pages with target keywords that contain “Best”

It hits less on:

Branded queries
Hyper-specific intent
Unique product pages with proprietary data or value

What smart marketers are doing in response

If your entire SEO strategy is keyword-first, you’re going to bleed. Here’s what to do instead:

1. Own your brand footprint

Brand queries are holding strong and even growing. Why? People want you, not a summary of you. Invest in brand awareness and recall.

2. Stop chasing AI-parroted content

If your content can be regurgitated by AIO, it will be. Focus on:

First-party data
Original case studies
Tools, calculators, and interactive formats
Comparison content and user-generated reviews

3. Think in topics, not keywords

Topical authority across clusters gives you more SERP equity. Build connected content that reinforces your expertise.

4. Use your product pages as strategic content assets

Categories and PDPs shouldn’t just list specs. They should tell stories, answer objections, and show proof. Think Amazon-level detail with editorial polish.

5. Diversify your acquisition

You can’t trust Google to send you consistent traffic. Build owned channels:

Email
Community
YouTube
Podcast
Strategic partner traffic

6. Use Structured Data & Snippet Engineering

Still useful. Optimize for the snippet and the click.

Final thought: SEO is evolving. Don’t get left behind

This isn’t about fighting AI. It’s about being undeniably useful, uncopyable, and unforgettable in a world where machines summarize everything.

You need to stop measuring SEO in clicks and start measuring it in brand impact.

This is the Great Decoupling. Impressions are cheap now. Attention is earned.

Want help dissecting your GSC trends or rethinking your organic strategy?
Let’s hop on a discovery call to see if Searchbloom can help.