SEO expert exposes Google search ranking volatility, why AI Overviews hurt clicks

If you’ve noticed your website’s ranking and clickthrough rates have been a bit all over the place, you’re not alone, and it has to do with Google search ranking volatility and AI overviews, as observed by a search engine optimization (SEO) expert.

Indeed, as SEO expert and journalist Barry Schwartz noted, there was quite a lot of Google search ranking volatility in a short period of time, on April 22 and April 25, something that almost always happens weekly, according to his post on Search Engine Roundtable published on April 27.

Rising search ranking volatility

As he pointed out, before this one, there was the April 22 and 23 incident, and on April 16 before that, and also seven days before, although there have been no other official Google search updates so far to cause this except the core one in mid-March 2025.

Meanwhile, Glenn Gabe, the SEO consultant at G-Squared Interactive, noticed a similar pattern, although the volatility in the case of his company’s client was to their benefit, as they witnessed a “ton of volatility on 4/21 and have surged across many queries – including taking the #1 spot for their most important query.”

AI Overviews hurt CTRs?

At the same time, website administrators have complained of lower-than-usual clickthrough rates (CTRs), and Schwartz has shared a disturbing idea that AI Overviews might have something to do with it, as increasingly more studies are finding that the feature is substantially decreasing clicks to traditional organic listings, particularly for non-branded, informational queries.

Indeed, the new report by Ahrefs has demonstrated a 34.5% lower average CTR for the top-ranking page compared to similar informational keywords without an AI Overview. Meanwhile, Amsive data has indicated a 15.49% average CTR decline when AI Overviews are on the page, whereas Similarweb has discovered 20% fewer clicks on search results with the feature.

According to Ahrefs, it seems that the problem stems from the AI Overviews functioning similarly to Featured Snippets by trying to resolve the searcher’s query directly in the SERP, which makes the user less likely to click on the search results, and the study’s authors expect the CTRs to drop even more.

Earlier in March, content creators started a petition to stop Google from forcing AI Overviews in search results, as well as seeking to make the use of this feature optional due to incorrect results and because it has made it increasingly difficult for businesses to obtain and retain organic traffic.