Google users clicked a link inside an AI summary on just 1% of visits; 18% of searches showed one (Pew, March 2025 data)
Verified Confidence: high
Primary source found; it says the same thing, the scope matches, and it is reasonably current.
- Commonly cited as
- "Almost nobody clicks the links in AI Overviews"
- True origin
- Pew Research Center — Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results (July 22, 2025)
- Type
- Reference fact: A frequently needed number or rule taken directly from a primary source (e.g. Pew, Census, IAB/PwC, FTC), with its as-of date.
- Year
- 2025
- Data as of
- Browsing data from March 2025; published July 22, 2025
- Last checked
- What the source says
Google users who encountered an AI summary also rarely clicked on a link in the summary itself. This occurred in just 1% of all visits to pages with such a summary. ... Some 18% of all the Google searches in our study generated an AI summary as part of the search results.
- Method & sample
- Analysis of the web browsing data of 900 U.S. adults in KnowledgePanel Digital, who agreed to install an app that tracks their browsing, during March 2025.
- Drift between quote and source
- Scope: one month of U.S. desktop and mobile browsing, before AI Mode launched widely
- Interest
- n/a (nonpartisan research center funded mainly by The Pew Charitable Trusts).
Safe rephrasing
Pew's analysis of March 2025 browsing data found 18% of Google searches showed an AI summary, and users clicked a link inside the summary on only 1% of those visits.
Sources we opened
Machine-readable: /api/claims/pew-ai-summary-links-clicked-1-percent.json · Last checked 2026-10-16