AI Overviews often explain part of a click decline while calls stay steady, but that pattern does not prove the cause for your site. Research from Pew Research Center found fewer clicks when AI summaries appeared. A caller can also tap your Google Business Profile call button without visiting your site. Before changing pages or cutting SEO work, check the searches behind the decline and the inquiries reaching your staff.
Fewer clicks can coexist with steady calls
This is a common pattern, not a diagnosis. AI summaries may answer a question before someone visits a website. Meanwhile, a person who has already chosen your practice may go straight to the phone button on your profile. That is a plausible explanation for the gap, not proof that every lost click was harmless.
Start with the definitions. Search Console counts clicks from Google Search results to your site. Business Profile reports call button clicks separately from website clicks. A profile call tap does not count as a site click in Search Console. Neither measure tells you, by itself, how many new patients booked.
If actual inquiries are holding steady, investigate before making broad cuts. If calls are steady but new patient inquiries are falling, the total call count is not enough reassurance.
What the research actually shows
Pew Research Center studied browsing data from 900 US adults in March 2025, covering 68,879 Google searches. Users clicked a traditional result in 8% of visits with an AI summary, versus 15% without one. They clicked a link inside the summary in 1% of visits. These are observed browsing patterns, not a forecast for your practice.
In that study, 18% of searches produced an AI summary. The share was 8% for searches with one or two words, compared with 53% for searches with 10 or more words. It was 60% for searches starting with who, what, when or why. Pew's findings support looking closely at question searches when clicks fall.
Ahrefs, which sells SEO software, compared desktop Google Search Console data for 300,000 keywords from December 2023 and December 2025. An AI Overview correlated with a 58% lower average click-through rate for the top-ranking page against a modeled baseline without an AI Overview. Its updated study covered informational keywords and desktop searches only. The result is a correlation, not proof of causation or a measured loss for local practices.
In its earlier study, Ahrefs reported that 99.2% of keywords triggering AI Overviews were informational in intent. Treat that as a finding from that study, not a permanent rule about every search.
Why calls might hold steady
The explanation here is reasoning from the sources. A person asking a general treatment question and a person searching for your practice by name may want different things. The former may want an answer. The latter may already want to call. Check whether your own search and inquiry records support that distinction.
Short local searches such as “dentist near me” are worth reviewing apart from longer questions. Pew found AI summaries in 8% of one or two word searches. That phrase is longer than the group measured, so the figure does not establish its odds of showing a summary. Pew's search-length findings suggest a reason to compare short searches with long questions, not a percentage to assign to local searches.
A profile call tap need not involve a website visit. Google Business Profile performance covers Search and Maps, with call taps and website clicks counted separately. This helps explain how calls could hold while site clicks fall. Remember that a tap is not evidence of an answered call or a new patient.
Check your own numbers in order
Use the same date ranges across your reports. Keep a note of what each measure counts so a change in labels does not get mistaken for a change in business.
- Compare periods in Search Console. Open the Performance report and use the Web search type. Google includes AI Overviews and AI Mode traffic there. The total alone does not show that AI summaries caused a decline.
- Review question queries. Filter for terms such as who, what and how. Inspect the pages receiving those searches. Then review searches for your practice name and services separately. Ask where the lost clicks are concentrated.
- Compare impressions with clicks. Look at the same queries and pages across the selected periods. If appearances hold while clicks fall, record that pattern. Do not turn it into an AI explanation without more evidence.
- Open Business Profile performance. Compare calls and website clicks for those dates. Google defines the Calls metric as call button clicks, so label it that way in your report.
- Check actual inquiries. Review call tracking if you have it, or ask callers how they found you. Compare those answers with forms and bookings. Keep uncertain sources marked as unknown.
- Count leads per month. Separate new inquiries from existing patient calls. Check which inquiries relate to services you provide. Use that record to decide whether fewer clicks are becoming a business problem.
For a broader reporting review, use the guide to checking whether your SEO is working.
Make the next visit easier to act on
Put the direct answer near the start of a question page. Then explain the details a prospective patient needs before contacting you. Keep each page tied to a clear question or service. Treat this as an editing choice for readers, not a promise of an AI citation.
Check your address, phone number and other Business Profile details. Google's AI features guidance includes keeping Business Profile information current. Compare the profile with what your website says, and correct any mismatch.
Test the path from a service page to a call, contact form or booking. Read the page on a phone. Make sure the next action is easy to find and works. Ask staff which questions callers still need answered, then use those questions to guide useful edits.
Google says clicks from results pages with AI Overviews are higher quality, meaning people spend more time on the site. That is Google's own claim. Check your actual inquiries before treating it as evidence that your remaining visits are more valuable.
Do not cut pages or buy a shortcut
Do not delete useful question pages just because their clicks dropped. First inspect the queries involved and what the page helps a prospective patient understand. Revise an unclear answer or an awkward contact step based on what you find.
Do not pay for AI text files to get into Google's AI features. Google says no special markup or AI text files are needed. Ask a provider to explain the specific problem a proposed change would solve before paying for it.
Do not apply a study's average click loss to your own lead count. Also avoid treating steady phone activity as proof that everything is fine. Check new inquiries, their sources and the services people ask about before changing the budget.
How WTM handles it
WTM quotes SEO work per project and works on sites built by other companies. The written guarantee concerns new patients or leads from the website. A lead is a contact form, phone call or booking that comes from the site.
For SEO, WTM offers a full refund if the work brings no new patients or leads within 180 days of the first SEO changes going live. Read the written guarantee for the full wording. It does not promise rankings or AI recommendations. A click decline alone is not the test, and a Business Profile call tap alone does not establish a lead from the website.
Questions about clicks, calls and AI Overviews
Do Google AI Overviews reduce clicks to my website?
They can, but research does not establish the effect on your site. Pew found traditional result clicks in 8% of visits with an AI summary, versus 15% without one, in browsing data from 900 US adults in March 2025.
Why are my clicks down but calls the same?
Question searches may lose clicks while people who already want to contact you keep calling. Business Profile call taps can happen without a website visit, so compare those taps with actual inquiries before settling on an explanation.
Does Search Console count clicks from AI Overviews?
Yes. Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode are included in Search Console's Performance report under the Web search type.
Where do I see calls from Google?
Open your Google Business Profile performance report. Its Calls metric counts clicks on the call button across Search and Maps, not confirmed conversations or new patients.
Should I worry if impressions rise while clicks fall?
Investigate which queries and pages changed, then compare actual new inquiries for the same dates. The pattern alone does not prove that AI Overviews caused the decline or that your business is losing leads.
Do I need an AI text file to get clicks back?
No such file is required for Google's AI features. Google says no special AI text files or markup are needed; review your pages and inquiry paths before paying for a proposed fix.