Source: Search Engine Journal
Google has altered how search real estate works—position one now sits halfway down the page after AI overviews, ads, and other content modules, making traditional rankings a poor proxy for actual visibility and traffic. Brands now face a choice: compete for Google's AI-generated summary slots (where they get attributed but lose click-through) or accept that organic CTR from a "#1 ranking" has collapsed, pushing them toward paid search, direct traffic strategies, or vertical platforms where discovery works differently. The economics of SEO are shifting: ranking alone no longer drives traffic. Brands must either control the narrative in Google's machine-generated answer or watch the search engine cannibalize their traffic itself.