France Experiences Significant Click-Through Rate Decline Following AI Overview Rollout

On July 22, 2026, France became the latest major search market to implement Google’s AI Overviews. This launch provided a unique opportunity to observe the direct impact of this new feature on search result engagement, as it was introduced with a specific date, allowing for a clear before-and-after analysis. Researchers tracked 963 domains in Google Search Console for 28 days prior to the launch and nine days afterward. The findings, meticulously analyzed by data scientist Xibeijia Guan, indicate that AI Overviews are already significantly affecting click-through rates (CTR) in France.

The study reveals that domains with high exposure to AI Overviews experienced a substantial decrease in their CTR, losing over a fifth of their clicks within the nine-day post-launch period. In contrast, domains with minimal exposure saw little to no change, strongly suggesting that the observed decline is directly attributable to AI Overviews rather than a general algorithm update or seasonal fluctuations.

Key Findings and Impact on Click-Through Rates

Across the analyzed domains, the overall click-through rate saw a 3.4% decrease in the nine days following the AI Overview rollout. However, the impact was far more pronounced for highly exposed domains, which experienced a 23.1% drop in CTR—six times the general market decline. This trend is not isolated to a few sites; a staggering 82.2% of highly exposed domains reported a loss in CTR, indicating that avoiding negative consequences from AI Overviews has become the exception rather than the rule.

The relationship between AI Overview exposure and CTR loss appears linear. For every additional point of AI Overview exposure, domains are estimated to lose approximately one point of click-through rate. This suggests that if 15% of a domain’s queries trigger an AI Overview, a corresponding 15% loss in CTR can be anticipated. This metric provides a actionable way for website owners to estimate their potential risk by assessing their exposure rate through tools like Ahrefs’ Site Explorer. It is important to note that this is a risk factor, not a definitive prediction, as other factors can influence performance.

Impressions Increase, Clicks Decline: The "Great Decoupling" Continues

A significant observation is that rankings themselves did not substantially decline following the AI Overview implementation. Pages continued to appear in search results with similar or even increased frequency (impressions). However, the critical issue is that these increased impressions are not translating into clicks. This phenomenon mirrors the pattern observed in a global study conducted in late 2025 and aligns with the concept of "the great decoupling," where AI Overviews do not necessarily remove content from search results but rather make it redundant within them. In an extreme case within the French panel, one domain experienced a 183% increase in impressions alongside a 1.9% decrease in clicks, effectively reducing its CTR by more than three times.

Market-Wide Impact and Distribution of Losses

While the 23.1% CTR drop represents the experience of highly exposed sites, the median decrease across the entire panel was 5.7%, with a 8.8% drop in clicks. However, this seemingly moderate median masks a more severe distribution of losses. Nearly half of the websites in the study lost more than 10% of their daily clicks, and one in twenty experienced a 50% reduction in clicks within just nine days.

The exposure to AI Overviews is projected to continue rising. Currently, the median AI Overview rate among studied domains stands at 5.4%, with 29% already exceeding 10%. This upward trend has been consistent across all markets since 2024. Notably, French domains (.fr) in the panel experienced a median click loss of 12.3%, which is higher than the 8.8% loss for the panel as a whole, indicating that French websites are more vulnerable than international competitors operating in the same market.

Health Sector Faces the Most Significant Impact

The health sector has emerged as the most severely affected vertical. It exhibits the highest AI Overview rate at 22.2% and has consequently seen a 20.4% decline in click-through rate. This vulnerability is attributed to the nature of health-related queries, which are often informational, possess concise answers, and do not typically lead to immediate transactions. These characteristics make them ideal for absorption by AI Overviews, where the answer is contained within the overview, satisfying the user’s immediate need without requiring a click-through.

Ultimately, the intent behind a query appears to be a more significant determinant of fate than the industry vertical. Queries that can be answered with a single paragraph are at high risk of being lost to AI Overviews. Conversely, queries requiring tools, account access, price comparisons, purchases, or human opinions tend to fare better. Website owners are advised to analyze their keywords through this lens of user intent before focusing solely on their industry.

Projected Worsening Impact

The current observed CTR declines are likely to escalate. Global research tracking the impact of AI Overviews on position 1 CTR shows a trend of increasing severity over time. In spring 2025, the decline was 34.5%, rising to 58% by the end of that year. This suggests that the impact does not diminish but rather intensifies as AI Overviews become more prevalent and users adapt to receiving information directly from search results. There is no indication that France will deviate from this trajectory, and further analysis over a longer period is planned to track this evolution.

Methodology

The reported 23.1% median CTR figure represents the raw observed change for highly exposed groups. When accounting for a slight 2.3% CTR increase in the control group over the same period, the adjusted CTR loss for highly exposed sites due to AI Overviews is estimated at 24.8%.

Conclusion

Two weeks after the introduction of AI Overviews in France, highly exposed websites experienced a significant reduction in their click-through rates, while those with minimal exposure remained largely unaffected. The data reveals a clear, linear relationship: for every percentage point of AI Overview exposure, a corresponding percentage point of CTR is lost.

Three key takeaways emerge from this analysis:

1. Measurable Risk: The risk posed by AI Overviews is quantifiable. Tools like the SERP features filter in Site Explorer can provide website owners with their exposure rate to AI Overviews, enabling proactive assessment before significant damage occurs.
2. Focus on Click-Through Rate: Impressions have not declined; instead, it is the click-through rate that has suffered. Efforts to measure performance should prioritize CTR over impression volume.
3. Consistent Global Trend: The observed magnitude of these declines aligns with measurements from other regions and studies, indicating a consistent trend across markets. Reports from Seer Interactive, Kevin Indig, and Authoritas suggest similar or even greater CTR declines, reinforcing the notion that AI Overviews are contributing to a "zero-click" search environment, a trend France has now joined.