March 5, 2026
AI in search has been a hot topic for a while now. It’s no secret that AI Overviews have significantly reduced click through rates, and despite claims that click quality has improved thanks to AI features, there is still a substantial amount of concern over AI’s impact on search performance.
One area in particular that has marketers apprehensive is the impact AI will have on paid search. As AI Overviews appear at the very top of the search results, paid ads sit lower in the SERPs when an AI Overview is present. This reduction in visibility not only reduces traffic and clicks, but also causes CPC (cost-per-click) to rise, as advertisers are forced to pay more to stay visible.
Now that AI Overviews have solidified themselves as a permanent part of search, new research from Adthena has revealed more about their influence on both visibility and revenue in the paid advertising space.
So, let's take a look at their findings and what it means for your strategy going forward.
Adthena tracked AI Overview impact across six industries. Their research showed that the impact on CPC and CTR (cost per click and click through rate, respectively) varies pretty significantly depending on industry, device, query type, and content intent.
First off, here’s how AI Overviews appeared in content themes across each sector:
Overall, AI Overviews are slightly more prevalent in the financial services, healthcare, and telecom sectors than they are in technology, automative, and retail. And they are more likely to show for FAQ and news related queries.
As AI Overviews push paid ads lower down the page and reduce visibility, clicks are affected. This is particularly evident in the telecom and technology sectors, which consistently had lower CTRs when an AI Overview was present.
Financial and retail sectors were slightly more resilient, with much less influence on CTR in these sectors.
That being said, there are some cases where reduced clicks can be beneficial. For example, an AI-generated summary may satisfy a user with low-intent, saving you some ad spend.
Especially in the tech industry, CPC for queries with an AI Overview present has markedly increased. Advertisers are bidding more aggressively to maintain visibility, which creates a domino effect whereby businesses must keep spending more to compete, which continuously drives the price up.
Some sectors have been affected more than others. Technology saw a clear increase in CPC whereas automotive and retail industries haven't seen such a dramatic spike.
Financial services have only experienced a slight increase, but as CPC is already high in this sector, even a small increment can come with a hefty price tag.
Mid-funnel queries are where AI Overviews appear the most. But these are the queries advertisers typically rely on for conversions.
Retailers, for instance, regularly rely on comparison-style queries. But when AI Overviews show here instead and summarise a question, a user then has no reason to click on an ad. Google is putting AI Overviews right where advertisers typically capture demand.
Sectors with lots of comparison and research queries (technology and telecom in particular) experience more disruption as AI summaries can replace clicks here.
On the flip side, retail, financial, and automotive have experienced much less disruption, as users are still clicking ads to compare prices, visit brands, and check official resources.
For financial and healthcare sectors in particular, this isn’t that surprising. People are still wary of the information provided by AI summaries and are more likely to cross-reference what’s presented to them. So, even when an AI Overview appears, people are still prioritising ads/organic results.
AI Overviews appear much more frequently on desktop than they do on mobile devices. However, when AI Overviews do appear on desktop, ads may still be visible below the summary, whereas on mobile, the smaller screen means ads aren’t visible at all. So, although AI Overviews are less present on mobile, when they are, it can have a bigger impact.
A zero-click search is exactly what it sounds like. A user will get an answer to their question without having to click on any of the results on the page - zero clicks.
This isn't new though. Featured snippets have led to zero-click searches for years. However, as AI summaries are more in-depth and answer more questions more often, the likelihood of a zero-click search is beginning to increase.
This study found that AI Overviews rarely appear for troubleshooting queries. This does present a valuable opportunity for advertisers, as it remains a relatively AI-free space. For those looking to reclaim some of their ad performance, this may be an avenue worth looking into.
AI Overviews are reducing traffic and click through rates, causing ad prices to soar in many industries. To stay ahead, you need to find out where AI Overviews are appearing and adjust your bidding strategy and targeting accordingly. This research does offer some excellent insight, but you should be conducting your own research too, using tools such as Semrush and Ahrefs. The more data you have, the less guesswork you'll have to do.
If you need expert help adjusting your paid advertising strategy, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today.
