Where Shopify SEO Should Go Now That AI Overviews Cut Clicks
Ahrefs analyzed 300,000 keywords and found that when a Google AI Overview appears, the top-ranking page gets about a third fewer clicks. For Shopify stores, the hit lands mostly on informational content, which changes where SEO time is best spent.
Published Apr 23, 2025. Author: Ecomm Guys. 4 min read.
Key Points
- Ahrefs found a 34.5% lower average click-through rate for the top-ranking page when an AI Overview appears.
- The study compared 150,000 keywords with AI Overviews and 150,000 informational keywords without them.
- 99.2% of keywords that trigger AI Overviews were informational in intent.
- Product and collection pages, structured data, and brand demand now carry more weight than thin blog posts.
What Ahrefs Found
Ahrefs published the study on April 17. It took 300,000 keywords from its database: 150,000 that showed an AI Overview in March 2025 and 150,000 informational keywords that did not. Using aggregated Google Search Console data, it compared the average desktop click-through rate for the top-ranking page in March 2024, before AI Overviews rolled out in the US, with March 2025.
For keywords without an AI Overview, the top result's click-through rate fell from 0.056 to 0.031. For keywords with one, it fell from 0.073 to 0.026. After adjusting for the general decline, Ahrefs estimates that the presence of an AI Overview reduces clicks to the top result by about 34.5%.
Ahrefs found that 99.2% of keywords that trigger AI Overviews are informational, meaning the searcher wants an answer rather than a product. Questions such as how to clean a leather bag or what size snowboard to buy are exactly where Google now writes a summary at the top of the page.
Many Shopify stores have blogs built on those kinds of queries. If that content mostly restates general advice, an AI Overview can answer the question before anyone clicks. Ahrefs also points out that Search Console doesn't separate AI Overview clicks and impressions from other results, so the drop can be hard to see directly.
Where Shopify SEO Effort Should Go
The study doesn't mean SEO has stopped working. It means the value has shifted toward pages that meet buying intent and toward signals that set your store apart.
- On collection pages, write useful intro copy, use clear headings, and make filters crawlable where it makes sense. These pages match searches like 'women's waterproof hiking boots'.
- Unique descriptions, real specifications, sizing help, and reviews on product pages give Google and shoppers something a summary can't replace.
- For structured data, make sure product, price, availability, and review markup is valid and matches what's on the page.
- Brand demand matters because people who search your brand name skip the AI Overview problem. Email, social, retail partners, and PR all feed it.
- Fewer, better articles: keep blog posts that show first-hand expertise, original photos, or data. Merge or retire thin posts.
Measuring the Change on Your Store
In Search Console, compare clicks and impressions for your informational blog pages over the last year. If impressions held steady but clicks fell, AI Overviews may be part of the reason. Compare that with your collection and product pages. If those are stable or growing, that's where to invest next.
Look at conversions as well as clicks. A blog post that lost half its clicks but never drove sales may not matter much. A buying guide that fed customers into a collection page is worth protecting, either by making it more useful or by linking it more clearly to the products it covers.
What Ahrefs Expects Next
Ahrefs notes that some websites have reported click drops of 20% to 40% since AI Overviews rolled out. It also notes that AI Overviews work a lot like featured snippets, answering the query on the results page. Its view is that, if AI Overviews stay in their current form, click-through rates are more likely to fall further than to recover as the novelty wears off. That's one study's reading, but it's a reasonable basis for planning: assume informational traffic will be harder to earn, and build the store so it doesn't depend on it.
Sort Your Top Pages
List your top 20 organic landing pages and sort them into informational and commercial. Check the informational ones in Google to see whether an AI Overview appears. Then move some of your content budget toward collection copy, product page detail, and structured data. Keep only the articles that add something a summary cannot.
If you'd like an SEO review focused on the pages that drive sales, book a call with our team.
Sources
- AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5% Ahrefs, April 2025