AI Overviews now sit above the organic results on a growing share of commercial searches. BrightEdge found them on roughly 48% of tracked commercial queries in March 2026. For PPC practitioners, this means rethinking where and how paid ads appear, and what role they play in the customer journey.
The impact on organic click-through rates
The most significant change is the reduction in organic click-through rates for informational queries. When Google provides a direct AI-generated answer, users are less likely to click through to organic results. This shifts more acquisition pressure onto paid channels for brands that rely on search traffic.
New opportunities from AI search
Users who click through from AI-enhanced results tend to have higher intent. They've already received a general answer and are now looking for specific products, services, or providers. This means conversion rates on paid clicks from these searches can be significantly higher.
How we're adapting PPC strategies
At ClickedOn, we're adapting our PPC strategies in three key ways: investing more in high-intent, bottom-of-funnel keywords where paid ads capture users who've already been educated by AI; running Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns, which reach YouTube, Gmail and Discover as well as Search; and integrating PPC with GEO to ensure our clients' brands appear in both paid and AI-generated results.
The agencies that will win in this environment are those that understand both paid and AI-powered search, and can build strategies that work across both. That's exactly what we're building at ClickedOn. Talk to us about your paid search strategy.
