The rise of Google’s AI-powered features, particularly its AI Overviews and interactive chatbot AI Mode, is dramatically reducing online traffic for publishers, according to a recent analysis. As more users receive direct answers from AI tools displayed atop search results, news sites are experiencing a critical drop in readers who traditionally clicked on provided links.
Google’s AI Overviews were introduced last year as brief summaries within search results. Their popularity grew quickly, covering areas such as health advice, travel information, and product reviews. The more recent addition, AI Mode—Google’s conversational chatbot designed as a competitor to ChatGPT—promises an even tougher environment for publishers. Responses from this new tool offer fewer external links, further compounding the decline of referral traffic to external websites.
A notable example of the impact involves The New York Times, whose organic search referrals dropped significantly. Data from Similarweb highlighted that in April 2025, search-engine referrals accounted for just 36.5% of the Times’ desktop and mobile traffic, a steep drop from 44% recorded three years earlier.
Google has publicly maintained a more positive stance. At its recent developer conference, the technology giant claimed AI Overviews were, in fact, driving higher overall search engagement, even as publishers felt their own traffic dropping sharply.
Recognizing the urgency of the situation, publications like The Atlantic and The Washington Post are calling for the industry to rapidly adjust their business models. Many are already securing agreements to license content to AI developers. The New York Times recently finalized such a licensing arrangement with Amazon to train the company’s AI systems using its editorial content. Other publishers, including The Atlantic, have partnered directly with firms like OpenAI, while Perplexity, another emerging AI provider, has floated revenue-sharing proposals with news platforms whose content appears in its chatbot answers.
As AI continues to reshape how users consume information, the future of journalism increasingly depends on developing new models that coexist alongside these powerful, traffic-diverting technologies.
