Exclusive new research has revealed the dramatic impact Google’s AI-written summaries have had on search visibility for publishers.
An investigation by Press Gazette found that AI-written summaries were returned for nearly a quarter of news-related search queries in the US by mid-May, pushing organic links to publishers’ articles far down the page.
Research suggests that if this drop in search prominence equates to an equivalent drop in search rankings, it would have a “devastating” impact on the click-throughs of publishers for these key search terms.
Google insists that links included in AI reports generate more clicks, but has declined to share any data on this. Research published today suggests that in many cases AI Reviews contain no links at all (see examples below).
[Read more: Google and publishers: An unpredictable animal that could eat you at any time]
Google AI Insights move publishers from the top search result to a scrollable full page
Press Gazette and a consortium of leading publishers commissioned SEO agency Authoritas to analyze the impact of AI insights, formerly called Search Generative Experience (SGE), on their search visibility. This was a joint investigation with the Ricky Sutton Future Media newsletter.
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The survey was conducted using search queries in the United States in mid-May, when Google was widely deploying AI insights in the country. Since then, Google has scaled back its AI deployment due to widespread concerns about the accuracy of results.
However, the research provides insight into the potential impact of AI insights if Google expands them again.
The research looked at the top 3,300 search terms for leading publications and found that AI-written abstracts were offered as the top result almost a quarter of the time (23.7%).
From “Britney Spears” to “travel updates” to “breaking news,” the research looked at the search terms that publishers say drive the most traffic on Google.
In some cases, Google’s AI reports appeared automatically, and in others, a snippet of the report appeared and readers were prompted to expand on it.
In cases where Google offered an AI-written answer, the number one search result – which would previously have typically been held by the publisher – shrank by an average of 980 pixels, or one page scroll.
In terms of prominence, the AI report pushed the first search result down to roughly the equivalent of fifth place or lower in the organic search results.
The big unknown is whether a publisher will receive a click if an AI report links to it. Google declined to release data on this, and AI reports are constantly evolving, so Press Gazette is reluctant to make specific predictions about likely traffic drops. However, according to some research, Google’s top organic result typically attracts about 40% of clicks, with click-throughs dropping to about 5% at the fifth position in search results.
So, if the result were replaced with an overview for all readers, the publisher who currently ranks first on Google for a particular article could see an 85% drop in clicks on that article. This will be especially annoying for publishers because the AI-written review is based on a summary of their journalism (see examples below).
David Buttle has previously written for Press Gazette about why AI reports seem to be an exercise in receiving little-value publisher content.
Google searches account for about a third of traffic to most news sites. The widespread adoption of AI reporting could have a dramatic impact on publishers’ overall traffic (and therefore ad revenue).
The chart below shows the average number of pixels that search results for various search terms related to news that link to external pages have dropped in AI reports compared to traditional organic results.
The research found wide variation in the proportion of search results that returned AI summaries. About 55% of health-related searches returned an AI summary, compared to 9% for movies/TV shows.
The survey found that Google was returning AI-generated summaries even for very recent searches, effectively establishing itself as a publisher in its own right.
This screenshot from earlier in the year reveals that a search for “top stories” returned a Google summary, not links to the stories themselves. In the Insights AI version, the actual publisher story links are moved to the “bottom” (or middle) of the page, a position where they’re less likely to drive click-throughs.
Google has even deployed AI insights to summarize editorial reports on contentious and legally sensitive stories, such as the issues surrounding former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards.
A search for “list of BBC presenters” returns Press Gazette as the fifth result on Google in the UK. When this search term was used on Google in the US during our study, the query returned a result dominated by an AI summary that is almost entirely inaccurate.
The results of the AI review included: George Alagiah (died), Huw Edwards (then suspended), Dermot Murnaghan (not a BBC news presenter since 2007) and Nick Clarke and Sir David Frost (both deceased).
Accurate and up-to-date news articles are now far lower in the results (requiring two or three scrolls from the reader).
A search for “missing submarine” revealed how an AI summary replaced an article written by a publisher as the top search result for information about a submarine that sank during the Titanic wreck investigation last year. The image on the right (below) shows what happens when the AI-written result is expanded.
Google AI Insights: What Does It All Mean for Publishers?
Authoritas CEO Laurence O’Toole led research on the impact of AI insights on Google search. He said: “With only 23.7% of keywords generating AI insights, this study signals a much lower penetration of generative AI into search results than we have seen in previous SGE research studies.
“For example, a similar Authoritas study of brand and product-related terms in March 2024 found 91.4% penetration, and an earlier study of popular e-commerce terms in January 2024 showed 86.8% SGE penetration.
“We believe this may be a timing issue as the data was collected over several days, the week beginning May 13, 2024. This coincides with Google’s announcement that the 14th May.”
Authorities found that Google’s AI reports are currently returning about 10% of keywords, up from 4% a few weeks ago, when AI reports were widely criticized for returning inaccurate and sometimes dangerous results.
O’Toole said: “It’s clear from SGE’s large number of private and public studies that Google has the ability to provide an AI response to 100% of queries if it chooses to; at this point he decided not to.
“Google will always shy away from using a large language model to generate responses to certain sensitive topics, but the integration of generative AI into all commercial niches is inevitable.
“Google states that it will not disaggregate data on impressions and clicks on AI Insight links in Google Search Console, so it will be very difficult to assess in the short term whether Google’s claims that these AI Insights will generate more website clicks than traditional web results .
“This study shows that when AI insights are displayed on a search engine results page, the top organic ranking slips on the page by about one page shift. Our previous CTR studies give us a clue as to how devastating a significant drop in rankings can be.” for the web.”
What does Google have to say?
Responding to widespread concerns about Google’s inaccurate AI reports, Google’s blog post said: “People are using AI reports as a starting point to visit web content, and we’re seeing higher quality clicks to websites – people are more likely to stay on that page. , because we’ve done a better job for them of finding the right information and useful websites.
“We see that links included in AI reports get more clicks than if the page for that query was displayed as a traditional web listing. As we expand this experience, we will continue to focus on sending valuable traffic to publishers and authors.”
In the UK, a subset of UK Google users currently see AI insights by default for certain queries. No full rollout date has been announced.
Publishers are concerned about implementing AI reports
Press Gazette shared our research with leading UK publishers’ trade bodies the News Media Association (representing national and regional newspaper publishers) and the PPA (representing the magazine and specialist publishing industry).
NMA chief executive Owen Meredith said: “Google’s mission is to ‘organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible’ by sending visitors to websites. Introducing GAI into AI search and reports that directly synthesize and present information to the user risks discouraging users from clicking on the original links, and in turn threatens the business model of those who invest in journalism and quality news and information. All of this is seemingly without consultation, transparency, permission or reward for the original curators and rights holders of this information.
“This potentially dangerous move ultimately threatens the diversity and quality of news and information available online. In that case, we all lose.”
PPA CEO Sajeeda Merali said: “As the voice of the publishing industry, PPA is committed to promoting fair practices that ensure the value of our members’ original content is recognized and protected. We urge Google to work with publishers to develop solutions that support quality journalism and maintain the integrity of the publishing ecosystem.
“It is also in the best interests of consumers that the information they seek always surfaces from a trusted source. The implementation of the Digital Markets Act will be a priority for the next government and we look forward to seeing it implemented.” .”
Methodology
Six publishers shared approximately 500 of their top traffic-generating search keywords to help Authoritas understand the impact of AI insights on traffic. They were: Press Gazette, Reach, DMG Media, Hearst, Future and Australian media and marketing publisher Mi3.
Authoritas used its SGE Rank Tracker to generate thousands of searches using the keywords entered. It then recorded instances where AI-generated results were triggered.
By email pged@pressgazette.co.uk point out errors, provide story tips, or submit a letter for publication on our “Letters Page” blog.