Google looks different from two years ago. A blue box with an AI-generated summary now appears at the top of search results more often than not. Google calls these AI Overviews. By March 2026, they were present on 48% of all searches, up from 34.5% in December 2025. For business owners in Belgium who depend on organic search traffic, this is a development worth understanding.
What are Google AI Overviews?
When you search for something on Google, the system sometimes generates an automatic summary at the top of the page. That summary pulls answers from multiple websites and presents the result directly in Google, without requiring a click.
The consequence: many searchers read the answer and close the browser. They visit no website at all. Researchers call these zero-click searches.
How many fewer clicks does that mean?
The numbers are specific. When an AI Overview appears, an average of only 8% of searchers click through to an organic result. Without an AI Overview, that figure is 15%. A drop of nearly half, caused by a single element on the page.
A large-scale analysis of 2.43 billion searches found a 61% CTR decline on queries where AI Overviews were present. For informational searches, such as how-to articles, explainer pages, and blog posts, organic traffic fell by 30 to 40% in some sectors.
For SMEs that spent years building website content as an information channel for potential clients, this is a shift with direct consequences.
Which searches are most affected?
Not every search is equally vulnerable. AI Overviews appear most often on informational queries: "how does X work", "what is the difference between A and B", "tips for Y". These are precisely the queries where SME blogs and knowledge articles traditionally performed well.
Local and commercial searches are less affected for now. Queries like "web agency Ghent" or "accountant Aalst" still return traditional results with maps and listings. Businesses with strong local SEO notice less disruption at this stage.
What still works?
There is a side to AI Overviews that gets little attention. Websites cited by Google as a source within an AI Overview see their organic click traffic rise by 35%. Paid traffic for the same cited brands rises by 91%.
That gap is significant. The websites Google trusts as reliable sources gain visibility. The rest lose it.
What makes a website a trusted source in Google's eyes? Content that fully answers a specific question. Pages with clear structure, credible information, and recognisable expertise on the topic covered. In technical terms, this is referred to as E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
What does this mean for your website?
Three concrete actions you can take as an SME right now:
- Focus on specific questions: write content that fully answers a concrete question from your client, not a general introduction to your industry
- Strengthen local visibility: an up-to-date Google Business Profile, consistent NAP data, and local reviews protect your visibility in local searches
- Invest in technical quality: a fast, mobile-friendly website with structured data gives Google more signals to trust your content
The role of your website is shifting. Less passive information channel, more active persuasion tool for visitors who already know something about you. That requires a different approach to content and structure.
At BOUT LAST WEEK, we help SMEs in Ghent and the surrounding area align their websites with the new reality of Google search. Get in touch if you want to know where your site stands today.