Search Console Data Shows Click Declines at French Sites, Which Gabe Links to AI Overviews
TLDR
An analysis of Search Console data from French sites links AI Overviews to sharp daily click drops, though two of five sites examined held steady.
Optimixed Overview
Optimixed's original report on this story.
Gabe's analysis of Search Console data found one French site's daily clicks fell from 750 to 400, while a second site dropped from about 80 to 25 a day. Two of the five sites shown held steady, and the analysis asks whether Search Console data alone can prove AI Overviews caused the declines, as first reported by PPC Land.
How we got here: earlier coverage
On August 18, an SE Ranking analysis of 100,000 French searches found AI Overviews appearing on over half of queries. Le Monde then reported on September 10 that it had not seen an audience decline since the feature rolled out in France. Later, on September 16, Ahrefs found that the most-exposed of 963 tracked domains lost 23.1% of click-through rate within nine days. Now, an analysis of Search Console data from French sites links AI Overviews to sharp daily click drops, though two of five sites examined held steady.
Summary of earlier coverage
- Nov 9Search Console Data Shows Many French Sites Losing Clicks After AI Overviews Launch
Google Search Console data shows clicks and click-through rate dropping sharply for many French sites after Google launched AI Overviews and AI Mode in France on July 22, 2026, while some sites were largely unaffected.
- Nov 9One Site Estimates Google's AI Features Drove 21% of Its Clicks
A site that opted out of Google's AI features estimated that AI Overviews and AI Mode accounted for about 21% of its clicks, with a possible lift on regular listings.
- Sep 16Ahrefs finds AI Overviews reduced click-through rates by 23.1% in France
Ahrefs tracked 963 domains after AI Overviews rolled out in France and found the most-exposed sites lost 23.1% of click-through rate within nine days.
- Aug 18AI Overviews Already Appearing on More Than Half of French Searches, SE Ranking Data Shows
SE Ranking's analysis of 100,000 French searches shows AI Overviews appearing on over half of queries, with YouTube and Facebook among the top cited sources.