What the research says
Pew: people click far less when Google shows an AI summary
By BrandBoost Digital · October 2026
In July 2025 the Pew Research Center published a study of how US adults used Google in March 2025, based on browsing data from 900 people. When a visit included an AI summary, users clicked a traditional search result in 8% of visits. When there was no AI summary, they clicked in 15% of visits.
Links inside the AI summary itself were clicked in 1% of visits, and 26% of visits to pages with a summary ended the browsing session, compared with 16% for pages without one.
This is one study of US users at one point in time, and it describes behaviour on Google, not on every assistant. Treat it as a direction, not a law.
Why a business owner should care
Fewer clicks means fewer chances for a customer to land on your website and read your pricing page. The summary or the assistant answers first. The businesses that get named are the ones whose details are easy to find, consistent and clearly stated.
A practical checklist
- Can a stranger find your price range, service area and hours in under a minute?
- Do your website, Google Business Profile and directory listings say the same thing?
- Do you answer the real questions customers ask, in plain language?
If the honest answer to any of these is no, that is the gap the AI Trust Pack is designed to close: one consistent, accurate profile everywhere AI systems look. Start with the free AI Trust Score to see where you stand. It helps; it does not promise placement.
AI Trust Pack
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We list your business on the places Google and AI assistants check, keep one consistent profile everywhere, publish answer-style content and send you a monthly AI visibility report. You approve everything first. Plans from $990/month.
Sources
Third-party figures belong to their publishers and are linked above. BrandBoost Digital is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. The AI Trust Pack helps AI systems find accurate information about your business; it does not guarantee any ranking or recommendation.