News Publishers Hit Hard by Google Search’s AI Overviews

Publishers report huge declines in traffic from Google Search since the company launched AI Overviews.

Chatbots are replacing Google searches, which is reducing traffic for news websites.

As a result, publisher traffic is dropping.

HuffPost’s search traffic fell by more than half in the past three years.

Business Insider’s organic search traffic dropped 55% from April 2022 to April 2025, and Pakistan’s top news channel GEO.TV experienced a similar decline, according to Similarweb.

Publishers are shifting focus to subscriptions, newsletters, and live events to reach readers.