In a nutshell:
- Google’s AI overviews have caused a massive drop in traffic in Germany—by 2026, many information searches will end without a single click on the source page.
- For B2B websites, this means: either become visible in the AI response or lose traffic.
- We’ll show you how to set up your content with GEO optimization.
What the latest SISTRIX study means for small and medium-sized businesses, why SEO isn’t dead yet, and how we handle it at Waterproof Web Wizard.
What’s it all about?
Google is changing the way search results are displayed. Since May 2025, Google has also been showing so-called AI Overviews in Germany: these are AI-generated summaries that appear directly on the search results page.
Simply put: You type a question into Google. In the past, you got a list of links. Today, in many cases, Google displays an answer directly that was compiled by artificial intelligence. The answer appears at the very top, even before the regular search results.
The problem: If the answer is already on the Google page, fewer people click on your website. Fewer clicks mean fewer visitors. Fewer visitors mean fewer inquiries.
In February 2026, the SEO analytics company SISTRIX analyzed over 100 million search terms in Germany and documented the effects in concrete figures for the first time.
The figures at a glance
SISTRIX is a German analytics company based in Bonn and is one of the best-known SEO tools in the German-speaking world. Johannes Beus founded the company in 2002. The SISTRIX Visibility Index has been an industry standard for 18 years. In short: When SISTRIX publishes figures, they carry weight.
Here are the key findings from the February 2026 analysis:
- 20 percent of all search queries in Germany already show an AI response.
- The click-through rate for the number one position has dropped from 27 percent to 11 percent. That represents a loss of nearly 60 percent of the clicks that previously went to the top result.
- 265 million organic clicks are lost in Germany every month due to these AI answers.
- The average click loss is 6.6 percent. At first glance, this sounds manageable, but it masks massive differences across industries.
These results align with international studies that measure click losses of between 30 and 60 percent for information-related search queries in top rankings.
Who is affected and who isn’t?
The click loss is not distributed evenly. Some industries are barely affected. Others lose a quarter of their Google traffic.
| Industry | Click Loss |
|---|---|
| Family & Baby | Up to 24% |
| Health | Up to 30% (specialized portals) |
| Home & Garden | More than 20% |
| News & Media | Approx. 7.4% |
| Shopping / E-commerce | Less than 3% |
| Recipes | Approx. 1% |
The pattern is clear: those who answer questions lose the most. Health portals, parenting guides, DIY sites. Google now answers these exact questions itself.
Those who sell products or offer services have been significantly less affected so far. The reason: When it comes to purchase intent, Google rarely displays AI-generated answers because the search intent (i.e., what the user really wants) is an action, not information.
Wikipedia is the biggest loser in absolute terms: 31.6 million lost clicks per month in Germany alone. The biggest percentage losers are specialized health portals, with over 30 percent click loss.
What does this mean for small and medium-sized businesses?
If you run a website for your business, the question arises: Does this even affect us?
The short answer: It depends on what’s on your website and what you want people to find you for.
If your website mainly features informational content (guides, explanations, FAQ pages), then yes. Google summarizes this content and displays it directly in the search results. Users get their answer without clicking on your page.
If your website focuses on products, services, or local offerings, then you’re currently hardly affected. Google rarely displays AI answers for search queries with a clear intent to purchase.
But that doesn’t mean you can sit back and relax. The trend is gaining momentum. A year ago, the share of AI answers in Germany was still at 17 percent. Now it’s 20 percent. The trend is clear.
For SMEs, this means:
- Check which of your pages provide informational content. These are the pages most affected.
- Strengthen your product and service pages. Users continue to click here because they want to buy something or make an inquiry.
- Invest in content that Google can’t simply summarize. Your own testimonials, case studies, and concrete figures from your industry.
Google isn’t alone: Why AI chatbots are exacerbating the same problem
The problem isn’t limited to Google. A recent analysis by SEO expert Lily Ray shows: Those who lose visibility in standard Google search almost always lose it in AI systems like ChatGPT and Google Gemini as well.
The figures from her study of 11 websites between January and February 2026:
- ChatGPT: an average of 27.8 percent fewer citations
- Google AI Mode: an average of 23.8 percent fewer citations
- Perplexity: only 2.9 percent fewer. The exception.
The reason: ChatGPT and Google’s own AI products apparently rely heavily on Google’s search index. If you slip down in the rankings there, you also disappear from the AI chatbots’ responses. According to current findings, Perplexity uses its own index and is therefore less affected.
For you as a website operator, this means: Good SEO work now pays off twice. You’re not only securing your ranking on Google, but also ensuring that AI systems cite your site as a source.
What Google also penalizes: quantity over quality
In parallel with the AI Overviews, Google penalized certain SEO tactics in January 2026. According to a SISTRIX analysis, pages with self-promotional list articles (the classic “Top 10 XY” posts that serve only to boost their own visibility) lost up to 49 percent of their visibility.
The affected pages shared common characteristics:
- AI-generated text without editorial review
- Artificial updates, i.e., changing the date while the content remains the same
- Misuse of technical markup such as Schema Markup
- Mass-produced content with no real added value
This aligns with what we see in practice: Those who prioritize quantity over substance will run into problems sooner or later. Google is getting better and better at detecting thin content.
A Word on “Generative Engine Optimization”
Anyone active in the SEO scene is seeing it everywhere right now: SEO is dead. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the future. Everything must now be rebuilt for AI search engines.
We see it differently—and I’m not alone in this.
First, regarding the term itself: GEO is not currently a clearly defined field. In the industry, GEO, AEO, and GSO are used as different acronyms for the same trend—without a consistent taxonomy or a uniform definition. Agencies that change their name overnight from “SEO” to “GEO” without changing their actual delivery are simply rebranding. It’s not a new craft.
What’s the substance behind it? In our assessment—which aligns with what we’re observing in international expert discussions—GEO largely overlaps with solid SEO: technical foundation, structured content, entity building, authority signals. GEO adds an AI-specific layer on top of that. New acronym, same groundwork.
Based on our practical experience, this overlap is between 70 and 80 percent. Anyone who has clean page structures, uses clear headings, builds their content logically, links internally in a meaningful way, and covers their topics in depth is already doing the right thing. This applies to AI systems as well.
Specifically, there are two additional points:
- Monitoring: You should monitor whether and where your site is cited in AI responses.
- Structured data: Schema markup and clear content authority are gaining importance.
These are additions, not a completely new playing field.
Anyone who claims that everything is going to change and that you have to throw your entire SEO setup out the window is peddling fear. We consciously distance ourselves from that. Good SEO has always been sustainable. AI search doesn’t change that.
Why search volume alone is no longer enough
Until now, the logic behind keyword analysis was simple: a search term with high search volume is a good search term. That’s no longer enough.
Johannes Beus sums it up in his analysis: A search term with 50,000 monthly searches, for which Google displays an AI answer in 80 percent of cases, brings fewer real visitors to your site than a search term with 20,000 searches without an AI answer.
In practice, this means that when selecting keywords, you must now check whether AI overviews are displayed for a search term. SEO tools like SISTRIX already show this. Those who ignore this are making decisions based on incomplete data.
What you can do right now
Don’t panic, don’t rush into anything. But don’t just sit back and wait either. Here are the key adjustments:
| Area | What you can do specifically |
|---|---|
| Evaluate keywords | Don’t just select based on search volume. Check if Google displays an AI answer for the search term. If so: prioritize other keywords. |
| Deepen your content | Google now answers simple questions on its own. Your content needs depth, personal experience, and real-world relevance. |
| Build topic clusters | Link related content together. This helps Google recognize your expertise in a specific field. |
| Keep the technical aspects clean | Load time, page structure, and mobile display remain the foundation. Nothing changes there. |
| Track AI visibility | Monitor not only rankings, but also whether your site is cited as a source in AI answers. |
| Strengthen transactional pages | Product pages, service pages, and offer pages have hardly been affected so far. There is potential here. |
How we handle this at Waterproof Web Wizard
For us, such analyses aren’t a reason to jump to conclusions, but rather part of our normal work. We regularly scour the market for current data and studies to further develop our strategy on a solid foundation.
We never make snap decisions. We observe new developments, implement them first in our own projects, and analyze the results. Only when we see what actually works and what is just short-term hype do we apply it to our work with our clients.
The SISTRIX study confirms what we have long observed in practice:
- Informational content without depth loses visibility
- Technical fundamentals remain the foundation, with or without AI
- Those who focus on quality and substance benefit in the long term
- Monitoring must be supplemented with AI visibility
For our clients, the fundamental approach remains unchanged: We work in a data-driven, transparent manner without making unrealistic promises. The tools continue to evolve. Our approach remains the same.
Conclusion
In Germany, Google displays an AI answer in one out of every five searches. That amounts to 265 million clicks per month. Those who publish informational content are already feeling the impact. Those offering products or services are currently less affected.
SEO isn’t dead. But simply chasing search volume and top rankings isn’t enough anymore. What matters: solid technical execution, in-depth content, genuine expertise in your field, and monitoring that also covers AI visibility.
No hocus-pocus. No shortcuts. Craftsmanship.
Want to know how much your website is affected? We’ll check it for you. Data-driven and without empty promises. Request an initial consultation.
Sources
- SISTRIX: AI Overviews in Germany: How Much Click-Through Rates Are Really Dropping (February 2026) sistrix.de
- Lily Ray: Are Citations in AI Search Affected by Google Organic Visibility Changes? (February 17, 2026) lilyraynyc.substack.com