Google AI Overviews now appear on roughly 78% of commercial UK search queries in July 2026, and they are absorbing clicks that used to reach page one. Average click-through rate at position 2 has fallen from about 15% in 2022 to 3.7% when an AI Overview sits above the result, per Pew Research Centre analysis. For UK businesses, that means the same organic rank now delivers a fraction of the traffic it used to.
This is the second post in our four-week AI Search 2026 series. Below is what the pattern actually looks like in UK Google Search Console, which query types are hit hardest, and 5 things UK SMEs can do about it that actually work.
Key takeaways
- Google AI Overviews show on about 78% of commercial UK queries in 2026 and drop position 2 CTR from 15% to 3.7% when they appear.
- Informational queries lose up to 70% of clicks. Local commercial queries lose 20-40%. Branded and transactional queries barely change.
- The tell-tale Google Search Console pattern is impressions up, clicks flat or down, and average position unchanged. It is not a reporting bug.
- The 5 things that work in 2026: optimise for citation not click, add FAQPage schema, restructure content into extractable Q and A blocks, deepen your Google Business Profile, refresh top posts quarterly.
- Stopping SEO because “AI is killing the click” is the single most expensive mistake we see UK SMEs make in 2026. The traffic that remains is more commercial and higher-intent, not less valuable.
What Google AI Overviews are actually doing to UK click-through rates
Google launched AI Overviews to UK searchers in mid-2024, and coverage has expanded steadily. By July 2026 SISTRIX and Advanced Web Ranking both report AI Overview presence on around 78% of commercial UK queries and around 65% of informational queries. When an AI Overview sits at the top of the page, users get their answer without scrolling. That is by design, and it is why UK businesses are seeing organic traffic fall on queries where their ranking has not actually changed.
Pew Research Centre’s 2025 study on AI Overviews found that position 2 organic click-through rate collapsed from an average of about 15% to 3.7% when an AI Overview is present. Position 1 held up better, dropping from around 27% to 15%, but the tail (positions 4 to 10) essentially disappeared as a click source on AI Overview queries.
Which UK query types are hit hardest, and which are safe
Not every query is affected equally. The matrix below shows what we see across 46 UK client accounts in mid-2026, broken down by query type. It is the single most useful lens for deciding where to defend and where to invest.
| Query type | AI Overview frequency | CTR impact | What to do about it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Informational (what is X) | Near-universal | Heavy, up to 70% CTR loss at position 2 | Optimise for citation not click |
| Commercial research (best X for Y) | Majority of results | Meaningful, 40-60% CTR loss | Structure for named citation |
| Local commercial (SEO agency Bristol) | Frequent, softened by Local Pack | Moderate, 20-40% CTR loss | Focus on Google Business Profile |
| Branded (BrisTechTonic) | Rare | Minimal, under 10% CTR loss | No change needed |
| Transactional (book a call) | Rare | Minimal | No change needed |
What this means for your content mix
The takeaway from the matrix is that informational content is no longer worth writing purely for traffic. It is worth writing to be cited. Meanwhile, transactional and branded queries are almost untouched by AI Overviews, so effort on service pages, landing pages and Google Business Profile still pays back in classic clicks.
What the pattern looks like in Google Search Console
Nearly every UK client GSC account we audit in 2026 shows the same 3-line pattern. If your account looks like this, AI Overviews are the cause:
- Impressions up 20-40% year on year. Google is showing your pages in more AI Overview source lists, which counts as an impression even when the click never happens.
- Clicks flat or down 10-25%. Users are getting their answer inside the AI Overview and never scrolling.
- Average position unchanged or slightly up. You are ranking the same or better. The lost clicks are not a ranking problem, they are a click-through problem.
In GSC, filter to informational query patterns (“what is”, “how do”, “why does”) and check the last 90 days versus the previous 90 days. If impressions climbed and clicks did not follow, you have direct evidence of the AI Overview effect on your own domain.
The 5 things UK SMEs can do about it in 2026
These 5 tactics are working right now across our UK client base. None is a quick fix. All of them compound over 3 to 6 months.
- Optimise informational content for citation, not click. Answer the query in the first 40 to 60 words after the H2. Use exact query wording where it fits naturally. Add specific numbers, dates and named entities so the AI has extractable, verifiable facts.
- Add FAQPage schema everywhere it fits. Rank Math or Yoast emits it automatically when you structure blog posts with an H3 question followed by a P answer. Each Q and A pair becomes a separate citation candidate for Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity.
- Restructure long-form content into extractable blocks. Meltwater’s July 2026 research on 9 million AI citations found 100% of top-cited articles use lists, 92% have clear headings, and 54% of citations go to listicles or ranked comparisons. Long prose paragraphs are citation-dead.
- Deepen your Google Business Profile. Local commercial queries still show a Local Pack alongside AI Overviews, and the Local Pack survives the CTR collapse better than any other SERP feature. Weekly photos, weekly posts, review response within 48 hours, all 5 primary and 5 secondary categories filled in.
- Refresh top-performing posts quarterly. Meltwater’s data shows 48% of AI citations go to content under 3 months old. Refresh the top 20 posts in your GSC dashboard every quarter with new numbers, new named entities, and a bumped modified date so Article schema reflects the refresh.
A worked example: a Bristol B2B client, 8-week turnaround
A Bristol-based B2B SaaS client came to BrisTechTonic in March 2026 with the classic GSC pattern: impressions up 34% year on year, clicks down 18%, position steady at 2.3 average. Over 8 weeks we ran the 5-tactic playbook above on their top 12 informational posts. By week 12 their AI Overview citation frequency across a 30-question buyer test set had moved from 4 mentions to 11, GA4 sessions from perplexity.ai and claude.ai appeared for the first time (14 sessions in month 3), and total organic clicks recovered to 8% above the pre-slump baseline. Same site, same rankings, restructured content.
Two things NOT to do in response to the AI Overview shift
- Stopping SEO because “the clicks are gone”. Around 60% of organic traffic on transactional and branded queries is unchanged, and it converts at 5 to 10 times the rate of informational traffic. Stopping investment loses that too.
- Opting out of AI training. Blocking Google-Extended in robots.txt removes you from AI Overview citation as well as classic AI ranking. Lose-lose.
Where BrisTechTonic fits
BrisTechTonic runs SEO and AEO retainers for UK SMEs from Paintworks in Bristol, typically £500 to £3,000 per month. If your Google Search Console shows the impressions-up, clicks-down pattern, that is the exact problem we spend our days solving. Book a discovery call for a 30-minute conversation, or start with our AEO service page.
Frequently asked questions
Are AI Overviews showing on every Google search in the UK now?
No. As of July 2026, AI Overviews appear on around 78% of commercial queries and around 65% of informational queries, but they are rare on branded, transactional and highly local queries. Coverage varies by device (higher on mobile) and by vertical (higher in health, finance, and technology).
Should I block Google AI Overviews from using my content?
We recommend against it. Blocking Google-Extended in robots.txt removes you from AI Overview citation lists, but does not restore the lost clicks. It only means the AI Overview is generated without you, so you lose both the citation and the visibility. The better path is to structure content for citation and take the exposure without the click.
Do AI Overviews affect small local businesses?
Less than they affect informational content sites. Local commercial queries (“SEO agency Bristol”, “plumber near me”) typically still show a Local Pack of 3 businesses alongside the AI Overview, and Local Pack CTR has held up at around 30 to 40% depending on device. A well-optimised Google Business Profile matters more than ever in 2026.
What is a realistic CTR to expect at position 1 with an AI Overview above?
Around 12 to 18% on informational queries, down from 25 to 30% pre-AI. Position 2 falls to 3 to 5%, and positions 4 and below are effectively invisible on AI Overview queries. Branded and transactional queries are largely unaffected.
How quickly can restructuring content restore lost clicks?
The click-through recovery from restructuring is smaller than the citation lift. Realistically expect 5 to 15% CTR recovery on restructured informational posts within 8 to 12 weeks. The bigger win is AI citation frequency, which can double or triple in the same window.
