Organic CTR on Google queries with AI Overviews climbed from 1.3% in December 2025 to 2.4% in February 2026, breaking an 18-month decline that had alarmed the SEO industry.
Seer Interactive published updated tracking data showing AI Overview organic CTR nearly doubled from its December floor, with sites cited in AI Overviews seeing 35% more clicks than non-cited top-10 results.
The narrative that AI Overviews destroy all organic traffic is evolving. Being cited in the AI response now converts at 14.2% versus 2.8% for traditional organic, making citation the new ranking prize.
Australian businesses that abandoned SEO investment due to AI Overview fears may be leaving recoverable traffic on the table as click behaviour stabilises around a new pattern.
SEO managers, content strategists and any business that depends on organic search traffic for lead generation or ecommerce.
Businesses that cut SEO budgets during the CTR decline will now trail competitors who maintained investment and adapted their content for AI citation.
Audit your top 20 keywords for AI Overview presence and check whether your content is being cited.
Prioritise content formats that earn AI citations: direct answers, structured data, authoritative sourcing.
