AI Overviews vs Organic Traffic: Who’s Really Getting Hurt?

In this episode of SEO On-Air, host Koa Kauwe sits down with Andy Hendricks (Go Grey Matter), Ben Kalkman (Rocket Media), and Cori Shirk (Seer Interactive) to discuss who is genuinely losing organic traffic and who is fine.

The panel explores an answer that splits sharply by vertical. Andy reports B2B manufacturing taking the hardest hit, where AI builds a shortlist before anyone books a demo and queries they rank top five for now return almost no clicks. Ben counters from home services, where homeowners still search for AC repair near me and the shift only shows up on high ticket research. Cori adds the part causing the panic, which is that traffic can fall without fewer people searching, and there is no clean way to trace the new paths.

They also discuss why first party data is the real blind spot, when a search result becomes the decision rather than a list of options, why hiding your pricing now costs you the recommendation, where LLMs actually pull authority from, why links changed jobs rather than stopped mattering, what agencies are hiring for now, and why sales enablement matters more as fewer opportunities come through.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

– Which industries AI Overviews have actually hurt

– Why ranking top five can still mean almost no clicks

– Why declining traffic does not mean declining searches

– How AI builds a shortlist before a demo is ever booked

– Why home services sees lower volume but higher value

– Why hiding your pricing costs you the recommendation

– Where LLMs actually pull authority from

– Why links changed jobs rather than stopped mattering

– What agencies hire for now instead of technical skills

– Why sales enablement matters more as opportunities shrink

Whether you’re an agency owner, B2B marketer, local business owner, or reporting on organic performance, this episode provides actionable insights into diagnosing whether your vertical is affected, building the signals AI checks, and making fewer opportunities convert better.

Because the traffic you lost won’t always mean fewer people looking for you.

Sometimes it means the decision was made before they ever reached your site.

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 Introduction to SEO On-Air & Meet the Guests

03:13 Why This Era Feels Like the Early Days of SEO

05:29 Why First Party Data Is the Real Blind Spot

06:44 When the Search Result Becomes the Decision

08:33 Why AI Overviews Are Eating Top of Funnel Traffic

09:12 Traffic Is Down But Searches Are Not

11:59 Why B2B Manufacturing Is Losing the Shortlist

13:12 Why Home Services Sees Lower Volume But Higher Value

18:23 Why Hiding Your Pricing Costs You the Recommendation

24:39 Where LLMs Actually Get Authority From

33:21 What Agencies Are Hiring For Now