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 a Knowledge Catalog is designed to close: one verified source your business can point AI systems to. It helps; it does not promise placement.
Knowledge Catalog
Give AI assistants one verified source for your business
Services with pricing guides, areas, credentials and the questions customers really ask. Built from your answers, approved by you before anything is published. Foundation from $975, one time.
Sources
Third-party figures belong to their publishers and are linked above. BrandBoost Knowledge Catalog is an independent product, not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. A Knowledge Catalog helps AI systems understand your business; it does not guarantee a recommendation.