Do AI-generated Results Affect Website Traffic?
If you’re in any way involved in content writing or website management, you would have had to be living under a rock to miss the AI boom of the last year.
During this first half of the decade, we’ve seen generative AI (GenAI) rise from a relatively unknown term, to a tool that people are using almost every day.
The power of GenAI to generate and provide quick content is well-known. But, so are its drawbacks.
At TDMP, we are content specialists, helping businesses across the country to maximise their website traffic by getting to the very top of search engine results.
In this article, we’ve delved deeper into the recent changes with search engines – following the mass introduction of AI content at the top of search results – and how this shift has impacted organic traffic across the web.
The Introduction of AI in Search Results
It was back in May 2024 that Google first launched its AI Overviews.
These are the AI-created content excerpts, which now sit at the very top of search engine results. To create these, Google’s AI summarises answers to the user’s search, by feeding off all the leading web content that exists on the topic.
This has significantly changed the way that many users interact with search engines. As a result, organic traffic rates – for websites across the world – have incurred a dramatic change.
Website Traffic Trends & Changes
At TDMP we have clients across various sectors, and we are seeing similar results across the board when it comes to organic traffic and AI. Since the introduction and implementation of AI in the search results of sites like Google, and with more people using services like ChatGPT and Copilot, we have seen a marked decrease in organic traffic.
For instance, a recent report by The Wall Street Journal found that organic CTR has dropped by around 30‑35% in pages that feature an AI overview in their search engine results.
After all, for many users, their searches are now being answered without requiring them to click onto a website link.
How is this Affecting Users & Businesses?
Over the years, TDMP have built up many blogs and resources for clients, with articles, guides and news posts related to the industry, and specific questions and common searches.
It appears that the biggest discrepancy with the decrease in organic traffic is traffic to blog posts – specifically posts that answer questions or individual topics. We have seen some blog posts go from getting thousands of views, to only a few hundred in a few months.
Our SEO team has double checked the optimisation, and nothing appears to be astray. Search Console is still reporting high impressions and clicks for previously well-performing blog posts, but they just don’t get the traffic anymore.
AI results on Google show quick answers, and if your website or blog post has that answer, Google will use the data to show in the results – meaning you don’t have to visit the website anymore.
What’s Next on the Horizon?
We still don’t know how much traffic has been lost to AI results, and we don’t have any data on when your website has been used in an AI result. As a result, we’re hoping that Google will soon update its Search Console, to add a new ‘appearance’ filter for AI results.
What’s more, it’s important to note that it’s not all doom and gloom for businesses.
Firstly, while this shift is a positive for the user’s overall experience, the downside is that AI is not always accurate. At times, it will show incorrect data, or data that is not even connected to their search query. As a result, there is still a need and a demand for organic content.
For instance, our SEO team have identified blog posts that are still performing well, or are even performing better since Google’s updates.
Those are blog posts that cover specialist topics, and provide in-depth advice and support – not just to answer specific questions, but to cover the broader topic in thorough detail.
For example, take a fault code guide we have written for Alpha Power Cleaners – [https://www.alphapowercleaners.co.uk/karcher-b-260-ri-floor-scrubber-dryer-fault-error-codes-guide/].
We know what the most common fault codes are. But, instead of writing a blog post about the ‘top 5 fault codes’, our guide includes all fault codes for the machine.
As this is information that is buried deep in the user manual, this blog post gets lots of traffic, and can account for over 30% of traffic to the site every month.
Key takeaways:
- Ensure your website and brand have a strong authority on key topics
- Create content that goes into depth and shares expert insights
- Make your website a trusted source of information for customers
- Revise your digital strategy with a focus on SEO-friendly and AI-optimised content
By working with a specialist agency like TDMP, we can help you to evolve your content, and use the AI shift to give you an invaluable competitive advantage.
To find out more about our services, get in touch with the team today.
