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

On July 22, 2026, France became the latest major search market to implement Google’s AI Overviews feature. Unlike previous rollouts where the impact was gradual and difficult to isolate, France’s distinct launch date allowed for a clear before-and-after analysis. A study tracking 963 domains in Google Search Console over 28 days prior to and nine days after the AI Overviews launch revealed a substantial decrease in click-through rates (CTR) for French websites.

Data scientist Xibeijia Guan analyzed the performance of French sites, concluding that Google’s AI Overviews are already significantly impacting organic search traffic. Domains most exposed to AI Overviews experienced a more than one-fifth drop in their click-through rates within the initial nine-day period. In contrast, domains with minimal exposure to AI Overviews saw negligible changes, strongly suggesting that the observed decline is directly attributable to the AI Overviews feature rather than a general algorithm update or seasonal fluctuations.

The study found that across all domains analyzed, the average click-through rate fell by 3.4% in the nine days following the AI Overviews launch. However, for domains with high exposure to AI Overviews, the CTR plummeted by a staggering 23.1%, which is six times the overall average. This impact was widespread, with 82.2% of highly exposed domains reporting a loss in CTR, indicating that avoiding the negative effects of AI Overviews has become the exception rather than the norm for heavily impacted sites.

The research established a clear correlation between the exposure rate to AI Overviews and the loss in click-through rates. For the 963 domains studied, a slope of -0.9 was calculated when comparing the change in CTR against each domain’s AI Overview rate. This suggests that for every one percent increase in queries triggering an AI Overview, websites can expect to lose approximately one percent of their click-through rate. This provides a practical, albeit crude, method for estimating potential traffic loss. By identifying their website’s exposure rate through tools like Ahrefs’ Site Explorer, website owners can gauge the potential magnitude of their CTR decline.

It is important to note that this calculated slope is an indicator of risk rather than a definitive prediction. Some heavily exposed sites may continue to perform well, while others with low exposure might face declines due to unrelated factors. The AI Overview rate is presented as a risk factor, and further analysis over a longer period will be necessary to fully assess the long-term performance of these sites.

A key observation from the data is the decoupling of impressions and clicks. While pages continued to appear in search results with similar or even increased frequency (impressions), the number of clicks they received significantly decreased. This pattern mirrors findings from previous global studies on AI Overviews and the broader trend of "the great decoupling," where AI Overviews do not necessarily remove content from search engine results pages (SERPs) but rather render it redundant within them. In the most extreme case observed in the French study, one domain saw an 183% increase in impressions but a 1.9% decrease in clicks, effectively dividing its CTR by more than three.

Across the entire French market panel, the median CTR decline was 5.7%, with a corresponding 8.8% drop in clicks. However, this median figure masks a more severe distribution of impact. Nearly half of the websites analyzed experienced a loss of over 10% in their daily clicks, and one in twenty lost as much as 50% within the nine-day observation window. The exposure to AI Overviews is projected to continue increasing, with the median AI Overview rate among the studied domains currently at 5.4% and 29% already exceeding 10%. This upward trend has been consistent across all markets since 2024. Notably, French domains (.fr) within the panel experienced a median click loss of 12.3%, indicating they are more vulnerable than international competitors operating in the same market.

The health sector emerged as the most significantly affected vertical. Health-related queries typically demand short, informational answers that are readily absorbed by AI Overviews. This sector exhibited the highest AI Overview rate at 22.2%, and consequently, its click-through rate fell by 20.4%. The analysis suggests that the intent behind a query is a more critical determinant of its vulnerability than the industry itself. Queries that can be answered with a brief paragraph are most susceptible to being absorbed by AI Overviews, whereas queries requiring tools, account logins, pricing information, purchase decisions, or nuanced human opinions tend to fare better.

The impact of AI Overviews is anticipated to worsen over time. Global research has shown that the decline in CTR for position one rankings, which was 34.5% in the spring of 2025, escalated to 58% by the end of 2025. This trend indicates that the effect of AI Overviews intensifies rather than diminishes, as they are triggered on an increasing number of queries and users become accustomed to obtaining information directly from the AI summary, bypassing traditional links. There is no indication that France will deviate from this trajectory, and further analysis is planned to monitor the long-term evolution of this impact.

The methodology for the study involved tracking 963 domains in Google Search Console. The reported 23.1% median CTR figure for highly exposed sites represents the raw observed change. A control group of less exposed sites experienced a 2.3% increase in CTR during the same period. When accounting for this baseline lift, the true estimated impact of AI Overviews on highly exposed sites is a decline of 24.8%.

In conclusion, the initial findings from France underscore the significant and measurable impact of AI Overviews on organic search traffic. Within two weeks of implementation, highly exposed sites lost approximately one-fifth of their click-through rates, with a linear relationship observed between exposure levels and CTR decline. Website owners are urged to utilize tools like Site Explorer’s SERP features filter to quantify their exposure risk before substantial damage occurs. The focus should shift from impressions to click-through rate as the primary metric for assessing performance. The observed magnitude of these declines aligns with findings from other studies, indicating a global trend towards "zero-click" searches, a movement to which France has now significantly contributed.