The implementation of tools such as AI Overviews and AI Mode in Google’s search engine—two chatbots that answer users’ search queries—is transforming searches into AI-generated responses, drastically reducing clicks to news websites. The decline in organic traffic is forcing media outlets to rethink their sustainability models in an environment increasingly dominated by technology platforms.

Google’s deployment of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) tools, such as AI Overviews—which summarizes search results at the top of the page for users who have enabled this option in Search Labs—and AI Mode—which interacts with users in a conversational format and is currently available only in the United States and in English—is bringing about a profound change in how information is accessed on the internet. This new paradigm—based on automatic responses generated by AI systems, without the need to click on links—is still in an experimental phase but is already causing a sharp drop in traffic to news sites, further deepening the sustainability crisis facing digital media.

Media outlets such as HuffPost and The Washington Post in the United States have lost more than 50% of their organic search traffic over the past three years, according to data from consultancy firm Similarweb. In the case of Business Insider, traffic fell by 55% between April 2022 and April 2025. This situation forced the outlet to lay off 21% of its staff. In the words of its CEO, Barbara Peng, the cuts were necessary to “weather an extreme traffic decline beyond our control.”

The rollout of these AI tools responds, among other factors, to competition with platforms such as ChatGPT. Specifically, AI Overviews provides information summaries at the top of search results pages, while AI Mode interacts with users conversationally, drastically reducing the number of links displayed. Google describes AI Mode as follows: “AI Mode is Google’s most powerful AI-powered search experience. You can ask anything and get an AI-powered response.” “Google is ceasing to be a search engine and becoming an answer engine,” said Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

For digital media, this transformation represents a structural threat. For more than a decade, traffic derived from organic Google searches was one of the main drivers of visibility and monetization. Today, outlets such as The New York Times have seen the share of their traffic coming from Google fall from 44% to 36.5% in just three years. Even in the case of The Wall Street Journal, which increased its overall visit volume, the relative weight of organic traffic also declined, from 29% to 24%.

In response, several media organizations are adjusting their strategies. The Atlantic has decided to strengthen its direct relationship with audiences through a revamped app, increased print editions of its magazine, and in-person events. The New York Times, Politico, Business Insider, and The Wall Street Journal are also investing in subscription models, conferences, and proprietary digital products to mitigate the loss of referral traffic.

At the same time, this shift in search logic is occurring amid growing pressure around copyright. The language models that power chatbots have been trained on data scraped from the web, including journalistic content. Some media companies, such as The New York Times, have initiated legal action against companies like OpenAI and Microsoft for the unauthorized use of their content. Others, such as News Corp—the parent company of The Wall Street Journal—have opted for content licensing agreements with OpenAI, while two of its subsidiaries have filed lawsuits against Perplexity.

Google, for its part, claims it remains committed to directing traffic to websites and argues that users who click through after viewing an AI-generated summary spend more time on those pages. The company also states that these features are not applied to searches related to breaking news. However, they are used for older content, how-to guides, health, lifestyle, travel, reviews, and other genres that make up a significant portion of digital journalism.

Nevertheless, these new functionalities have generated concern among some users, as generative AI does not always distinguish between a reliable source and a stray comment buried in a Reddit thread. Critics warn that although AI Overviews and AI Mode include links to sources, by providing the answer users are seeking upfront, why would anyone bother clicking?

Some even believe the future could be a “machine web,” where websites are created for AI systems to read rather than people, and where consuming chatbot-generated summaries becomes the primary way of accessing information.

Although a handful of media outlets have managed to maintain or even increase their traffic through audience loyalty strategies, the overall trend points to a troubling scenario: fewer clicks, lower visibility, and greater dependence on decisions made by large technology platforms, without transparent criteria. This new phase of AI use in Google’s search engines further deepens the challenges to the sustainability of media organizations and of news journalism itself.

Source: Observacom
Author: Carolina Martínez Elebi