Click-through Rate Benchmarks 2026: Search Ads, Facebook, Email and Organic CTR
The average click-through rate for search ads was 6.64% across industries in 2026, according to LocaliQ. Facebook traffic ads averaged 1.93% and lead ads 2.70%. The average email click rate was 2.09% in MailerLite data for the year to November 2025. So a good CTR depends on the channel. A search ad above about 7%, a Facebook traffic ad above 2% or an email above 2% beats these averages. Organic clicks are falling where Google shows an AI Overview. Seer Interactive found organic CTR was 38% lower on those queries in February 2026.
Key statistics
- The average click-through rate for search ads was 6.64% across industries in 2026, according to LocaliQ.
- Facebook traffic campaigns had an average click-through rate of 1.93% across industries in 2026, according to LocaliQ.
- The average email click rate was 2.09% across 3.6 million campaigns from December 2024 to November 2025, according to MailerLite.
- Search ads drew 3.4 times the click-through rate of Facebook traffic ads in 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from LocaliQ data.
- US Google users were 47% less likely to click a traditional result when an AI summary appeared in March 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Pew Research Center data.
Average click-through rate by channel
Click-through rate (CTR) is clicks divided by impressions. Each channel counts an impression differently: an ad shown on a results page, an ad shown in a feed, or an email delivered. So compare CTRs within a channel, not across channels.
Search ads get the most clicks per view. LocaliQ puts the 2026 average at 6.64%, which is 3.4 times the 1.93% for Facebook traffic ads. That gap is expected. A search ad answers a query the user just typed. A feed ad interrupts someone who was doing something else.
Email sits close to social on paper, at 2.09% in MailerLite's data. But email click rate is clicks divided by emails delivered, to people who chose to subscribe. Mailchimp's older figure, 2.62% for 2023, is higher. The two use different customer bases and years, so neither is the single right number.
Organic search is lower still on a per-impression basis. Seer Interactive measured 3.82% organic CTR on queries without an AI Overview in February 2026, averaged over every position its clients held. Paid CTR on the same query set was 21.85%, because Seer keeps only queries with both paid and organic data, so every query in its set had an ad. For how the engines themselves split traffic, see our search engine market share page.
Sources: LocaliQ (2026), Seer Interactive (February 2026), Mailchimp (2023), MailerLite (December 2024 to November 2025).
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The average click-through rate for search ads was 6.64% across industries in 2026, according to LocaliQ.
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Facebook traffic campaigns had an average click-through rate of 1.93% across industries in 2026, according to LocaliQ.
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Facebook lead campaigns had an average click-through rate of 2.70% across industries in 2026, according to LocaliQ.
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The average email click rate was 2.09% across 3.6 million campaigns from December 2024 to November 2025, according to MailerLite.
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Search ads drew 3.4 times the click-through rate of Facebook traffic ads in 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from LocaliQ data.
How we calculated it: Search ads average CTR 6.64% / Facebook traffic campaigns average CTR 1.93% = 3.44, rounded to 3.4 (LocaliQ search and Facebook benchmark reports, 2026). Different ad formats and campaign goals.
| Channel | Average CTR | Period | Source | What counts as an impression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search ads (Google and Microsoft) | 6.64% | 2026 | LocaliQ | Ad shown on a results page |
| Facebook ads, traffic objective | 1.93% | 2026 | LocaliQ | Ad shown in a feed |
| Facebook ads, lead objective | 2.70% | 2026 | LocaliQ | Ad shown in a feed |
| Email click rate | 2.09% | Dec 2024 to Nov 2025 | MailerLite | Email delivered |
| Email click rate | 2.62% | 2023 | Mailchimp | Email delivered |
| Google organic, no AI Overview | 3.82% | Feb 2026 | Seer Interactive | Result shown (Search Console) |
| Google organic, AI Overview shown | 2.36% | Feb 2026 | Seer Interactive | Result shown (Search Console) |
Google Ads CTR by industry
LocaliQ and WordStream publish search ad benchmarks from thousands of their customers' Google Ads and Microsoft Ads campaigns. The 2026 edition covers 23 industry categories.
Arts and entertainment leads by a wide margin at 12.75%. Finance and insurance (9.83%) and travel (9.32%) follow. The lowest is automotive repair, service and parts at 5.56%, with dentists (5.66%) and health and fitness (5.81%) close behind. The best industry gets 2.3 times the CTR of the worst.
The headline 6.64% sits below the typical industry. The median of the 23 industry averages is 6.75%, and their simple mean is 7.32%. Twelve of 23 industries beat the headline figure. LocaliQ does not say how it weights industries in the overall average. If it is pooled across all campaigns, large industries with lower CTRs would pull it down.
So "what is a good CTR for Google Ads" has two answers. Above 6.64% beats LocaliQ's overall average. But a travel advertiser at 7% is below its own industry's 9.32%. Compare against your industry row first. The same report puts the average cost per click at $5.42 and the average conversion rate at 8.18%.
Source: LocaliQ and WordStream, Search Advertising Benchmarks 2026.
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The average click-through rate for search ads was 6.64% across industries in 2026, according to LocaliQ.
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Arts and entertainment search ads had the highest average click-through rate, 12.75%, of 23 industries in 2026, according to LocaliQ.
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Automotive repair, service and parts search ads had the lowest average click-through rate, 5.56%, of 23 industries in 2026, according to LocaliQ.
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Finance and insurance search ads had an average click-through rate of 9.83% in 2026, according to LocaliQ.
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The best industry for search ad click-through rate drew 2.3 times the rate of the worst in 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from LocaliQ data.
How we calculated it: Arts and entertainment 12.75% / automotive repair, service and parts 5.56% = 2.29, rounded to 2.3 (LocaliQ Search Advertising Benchmarks 2026, 23 industries).
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The median search ad click-through rate across 23 industries was 6.75% in 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from LocaliQ data.
How we calculated it: Median of the 23 industry average CTRs in LocaliQ Search Advertising Benchmarks 2026 (12th of 23 sorted values, beauty and personal care). The simple mean of the 23 is 7.32%. LocaliQ gives 6.64% as the all-industry average and does not say how it weights industries.
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The average cost per click for search ads was $5.42 across industries in 2026, according to LocaliQ.
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The average conversion rate for Google Ads was 8.18% across industries in 2026, according to LocaliQ.
| Industry | Average CTR |
|---|---|
| Arts and entertainment | 12.75% |
| Finance and insurance | 9.83% |
| Travel | 9.32% |
| Sports and recreation | 8.75% |
| Automotive, for sale | 8.28% |
| Shopping, collectibles and gifts | 8.28% |
| Real estate | 7.61% |
| Education and instruction | 7.56% |
| Animals and pets | 7.49% |
| Personal services | 7.16% |
| Restaurants and food | 6.83% |
| Beauty and personal care | 6.75% |
| Apparel, fashion and jewellery | 6.64% |
| Physicians and surgeons | 6.61% |
| Furniture | 6.57% |
| Industrial and commercial | 6.57% |
| Home and home improvement | 6.47% |
| Business services | 6.10% |
| Career and employment | 5.88% |
| Attorneys and legal services | 5.87% |
| Health and fitness | 5.81% |
| Dentists and dental services | 5.66% |
| Automotive repair, service and parts | 5.56% |
| All industries (LocaliQ headline) | 6.64% |
Facebook ads CTR benchmarks
LocaliQ reports Facebook benchmarks separately for two campaign goals. Traffic campaigns aim for clicks to a website. Lead campaigns aim for form fills, often inside Facebook.
Facebook CTRs rose in the 2026 edition. Traffic campaigns went from 1.71% to 1.93%, up 12.9%. Lead campaigns went from 2.59% to 2.70%, up 4.2%. Clicks also got cheaper. Traffic CPC fell from $0.70 to $0.60, and lead CPC fell 6.25% to $1.80.
Industry spreads are narrower than in search. For traffic campaigns, the 22 listed industries run from 1.46% (finance and insurance) to 2.73% (beauty and personal care). Finance is a top performer in search but the bottom one on Facebook. That fits intent. People search for loans and insurance when they need them, and rarely click them in a feed.
Lead campaigns vary more, from 1.35% for beauty to 4.18% for physicians and surgeons. LocaliQ lists only 14 industries for leads, so the gaps are harder to read. A good Facebook CTR is above about 2% for traffic ads, but beauty and restaurant advertisers should aim higher.
Source: LocaliQ and WordStream, Facebook Advertising Benchmarks for 2026.
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Facebook traffic campaigns had an average click-through rate of 1.93% across industries in 2026, according to LocaliQ.
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Facebook lead campaigns had an average click-through rate of 2.70% across industries in 2026, according to LocaliQ.
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Facebook traffic campaign click-through rate rose 12.9% year on year to 1.93% in 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from LocaliQ data.
How we calculated it: (1.93% - 1.71% last year) / 1.71% = +12.9%, or +0.22 percentage points (LocaliQ Facebook Advertising Benchmarks for 2026).
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Facebook lead campaign click-through rate rose 4.2% year on year to 2.70% in 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from LocaliQ data.
How we calculated it: (2.70% - 2.59% last year) / 2.59% = +4.2%, or +0.11 percentage points (LocaliQ Facebook Advertising Benchmarks for 2026).
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Facebook traffic campaigns had an average cost per click of $0.60 in 2026, down from $0.70 a year earlier, according to LocaliQ.
| Industry | Traffic campaigns | Lead campaigns |
|---|---|---|
| Arts and entertainment | 2.71% | 3.34% |
| Automotive, for sale | 1.47% | 2.29% |
| Beauty and personal care | 2.73% | 1.35% |
| Dentists and dental services | 1.55% | 1.62% |
| Education and instruction | 1.50% | 1.74% |
| Furniture | 1.90% | 3.78% |
| Health and fitness | 1.86% | 3.09% |
| Home and home improvement | 1.76% | 2.14% |
| Industrial and commercial | 2.06% | 2.57% |
| Personal services | 1.93% | 2.24% |
| Physicians and surgeons | 1.90% | 4.18% |
| Real estate | 2.37% | 4.17% |
| Sports and recreation | 1.77% | 3.16% |
| Restaurants and food | 2.68% | Not listed |
| Travel | 2.28% | Not listed |
| Finance and insurance | 1.46% | Not listed |
| All industries | 1.93% | 2.70% |
Email click rate by industry
Email click rate is clicks as a share of emails sent. Click-to-open rate divides clicks by opens instead. Opens are harder to measure than clicks, so click rate is the safer benchmark.
MailerLite's data covers 3.6 million campaigns from December 2024 to November 2025. The average click rate was 2.09%, up 4.5% from 2% in 2024. Click-to-open rate was 6.81%. In other words, about 1 in 15 people who opened an email clicked something.
Business-to-business and niche senders get the most clicks. Legal leads at 4.9%, then manufacturing (4.22%) and media (4.1%). Senders with frequent promotional mail get the fewest. E-commerce is at 1.07%, restaurants 1.06% and beauty 0.95%. Politics is the lowest category at 0.83%.
Mailchimp's average of 2.62% is higher, but its data stops in December 2023 and it counts only campaigns sent to at least 1,000 subscribers. Region matters too. Australian senders on MailerLite drew 2.82%, 2.3 times the 1.23% in Asia. For another channel measured by response rather than clicks, see our direct mail marketing statistics.
Source: MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026.
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The average email click rate was 2.09% across 3.6 million campaigns from December 2024 to November 2025, according to MailerLite.
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The median email click-to-open rate was 6.81% from December 2024 to November 2025, according to MailerLite.
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The average email click rate rose 4.5% year on year to 2.09% in the year to November 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from MailerLite data.
How we calculated it: (2.09% - 2% in 2024) / 2% = +4.5%, or +0.09 percentage points (MailerLite email benchmarks, December 2024 to November 2025 vs 2024).
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Legal emails had a 4.9% click rate, the highest of 46 industry categories, from December 2024 to November 2025, according to MailerLite.
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E-commerce emails had a click rate of 1.07% from December 2024 to November 2025, according to MailerLite.
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Australian emails drew 2.3 times the click rate of emails in Asia in the year to November 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from MailerLite data.
How we calculated it: Australia click rate 2.82% / Asia click rate 1.23% = 2.29, rounded to 2.3 (MailerLite, December 2024 to November 2025).
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The average email click rate was 2.62% across all Mailchimp users in 2023, according to Mailchimp.
| Industry | Click rate |
|---|---|
| Legal | 4.9% |
| Manufacturing | 4.22% |
| Media | 4.1% |
| Construction | 3.53% |
| Hobbies | 3.3% |
| Government | 3.05% |
| Non-profit | 2.9% |
| Business and finance | 2.37% |
| Medical, dental and healthcare | 2.25% |
| Real estate | 1.72% |
| Health and fitness | 1.45% |
| Marketing and advertising | 1.3% |
| Retail | 1.27% |
| Software and web app | 1.15% |
| E-commerce | 1.07% |
| Restaurants and cafes | 1.06% |
| Beauty and personal care | 0.95% |
| Politics | 0.83% |
| All campaigns | 2.09% |
Organic CTR by Google position and the effect of AI Overviews
Google does not publish CTR by position. The best public evidence comes from studies of pooled Search Console data and from Pew Research Center's tracking of real browsing. All three studies below find fewer clicks when Google shows an AI summary.
Pew tracked 900 US adults in March 2025. When a Google page showed an AI summary, they clicked a normal result in 8% of visits. Without one, they clicked in 15%. That is 47% fewer clicks. They clicked a link inside the summary in only 1% of visits, and ended their session more often, 26% against 16%. Long and question-style searches were the most likely to get a summary.
Ahrefs measured the top result on 150,000 keywords with an AI Overview. Its CTR fell to 1.6% in December 2025. Ahrefs estimates that is 58% below what it would have been without the Overview. The loss shrinks lower down the page, to 19.4% at position 10. Clicks are falling even without AI Overviews. Position one CTR on informational keywords without one fell 48.7% in two years.
Seer Interactive's client data agrees on the direction but not the size. Organic CTR on queries with an AI Overview was 2.36% in February 2026, 38% below queries without one, and down 33.7% on a year earlier. Paid ads lose too, by 26%. Brands cited inside the Overview did better. On informational queries in 2025 they got 2.07%, against 0.94% for brands not cited, though one large account drags the second figure down. For where people are asking AI tools instead, see our AI chatbot market share page.
Source: Ahrefs, Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58% (February 2026). 300,000 keywords, desktop, December 2023 vs December 2025.
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US Google users clicked a traditional search result in 8% of visits to pages with an AI summary in March 2025, according to Pew Research Center.
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US Google users clicked a traditional search result in 15% of visits to pages without an AI summary in March 2025, according to Pew Research Center.
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US Google users were 47% less likely to click a traditional result when an AI summary appeared in March 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Pew Research Center data.
How we calculated it: (15% click rate without AI summary - 8% with) / 15% = 46.7%, rounded to 47% (Pew Research Center, 68,879 searches, March 2025).
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US Google users clicked a link inside an AI summary in 1% of visits to pages with one in March 2025, according to Pew Research Center.
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US users ended their browsing session on 26% of Google pages with an AI summary, against 16% without, in March 2025, according to Pew Research Center.
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The top-ranking page had a 1.6% average click-through rate on keywords with an AI Overview in December 2025, according to Ahrefs.
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AI Overviews were linked to a 58% lower click-through rate for the top-ranking page in December 2025, according to Ahrefs.
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AI Overviews were linked to a 19.4% lower click-through rate for position 10 in December 2025, according to Ahrefs.
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Position one click-through rate fell 48.7% on informational keywords without an AI Overview from December 2023 to December 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Ahrefs data.
How we calculated it: (0.039 in December 2025 - 0.076 in December 2023) / 0.076 = -48.7% (Ahrefs, 150,000 informational keywords without an AI Overview, desktop).
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Organic click-through rate was 2.36% on queries with an AI Overview in February 2026, against 3.82% without, according to Seer Interactive.
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Organic click-through rate was 38% lower on queries with an AI Overview in February 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Seer Interactive data.
How we calculated it: 1 - (2.36% organic CTR with AI Overview / 3.82% without) = 38.2%, rounded to 38% (Seer Interactive, February 2026).
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Organic click-through rate on queries with an AI Overview fell 33.7% from February 2025 to February 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Seer Interactive data.
How we calculated it: (2.36% in February 2026 - 3.56% in February 2025) / 3.56% = -33.7%. Same query set, organic, AIO shown (Seer Interactive Table 1).
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Paid search click-through rate was 16.21% on queries with an AI Overview in February 2026, against 21.85% without, according to Seer Interactive.
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Paid search click-through rate was 26% lower on queries with an AI Overview in February 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Seer Interactive data.
How we calculated it: 1 - (16.21% paid CTR with AI Overview / 21.85% without) = 25.8%, rounded to 26% (Seer Interactive, February 2026).
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Informational queries had a 2.07% organic click-through rate when the brand was cited in an AI Overview in 2025, against 0.94% when not cited, according to Seer Interactive.
| Month | Organic, no AI Overview | Organic, AI Overview shown | Paid, no AI Overview | Paid, AI Overview shown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2025 | 3.15% | 3.56% | 23.23% | 13.34% |
| May 2025 | 3.03% | 2.35% | 18.67% | 13.63% |
| Aug 2025 | 2.70% | 1.77% | 19.04% | 14.98% |
| Nov 2025 | 2.45% | 1.33% | 18.60% | 15.32% |
| Feb 2026 | 3.82% | 2.36% | 21.85% | 16.21% |
How these sources measure click-through rate
Every benchmark here comes from one company's customers or one panel. None is a census. Keep each source's scope in mind before you compare.
LocaliQ and WordStream pool their own clients' campaigns. They do not state the date range, the number of campaigns or how the overall average is weighted. The search figures mix Google Ads and Microsoft Ads. The Facebook report lists 22 industries for traffic and 14 for leads, although it says it covers 20.
MailerLite counts 3.6 million campaigns from 181,000 accounts and says it reports medians, but calls the click rate an average. Mailchimp counts campaigns to 1,000 or more subscribers with tracking on, and its data has not been updated since December 2023.
Ahrefs and Seer both divide Search Console clicks by impressions. Ahrefs uses desktop only and compares December 2023 with December 2025. Its no-Overview figure is a forecast, not a measurement. Seer labels each query by its latest SERP snapshot, so a query may be marked as having an AI Overview in months when it did not. Pew uses real browsing by 900 US adults over one month. Advanced Web Ranking also publishes a CTR curve by position, but its values sit in an interactive chart and are not in the page text, so we do not use them.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good click-through rate?
It depends on the channel. In 2026 the average was 6.64% for search ads and 1.93% for Facebook traffic ads, according to LocaliQ. The average email click rate was 2.09% in MailerLite data for the year to November 2025. Beating your own industry's average is a better test than beating the overall figure.
What is the average CTR for Google Ads by industry?
LocaliQ's 2026 search benchmarks range from 12.75% for arts and entertainment to 5.56% for automotive repair, service and parts. Finance and insurance averaged 9.83% and travel 9.32%.
Is Facebook ad CTR going up or down?
Up. LocaliQ's 2026 benchmarks put traffic campaign CTR at 1.93%, up from 1.71% the year before, and lead campaign CTR at 2.70%, up from 2.59%.
Do AI Overviews reduce click-through rates?
Yes, in every study we checked. Pew Research Center found US users clicked a result in 8% of visits with an AI summary and 15% without, in March 2025. Ahrefs linked AI Overviews to a 58% lower CTR for the top result in December 2025.
What is the average email click rate?
2.09% across 3.6 million campaigns from December 2024 to November 2025, according to MailerLite. Mailchimp reported 2.62% for 2023. Legal senders get the most clicks and e-commerce senders some of the fewest.
Why is search ad CTR higher than social ad CTR?
Search ads appear when someone has just typed a query, so intent is high. Social ads appear in a feed people scroll for other reasons. In LocaliQ's 2026 data, search ads drew 3.4 times the CTR of Facebook traffic ads.
Sources
- LocaliQ (WordStream), Search Advertising Benchmarks 2026, last updated 1 June 2026, accessed 25 October 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- LocaliQ (WordStream), Facebook Advertising Benchmarks for 2026, last updated 23 September 2026, accessed 25 October 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026, 3 December 2025, accessed 25 October 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results, 22 July 2025, accessed 25 October 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- Mailchimp (Intuit), Email Marketing Benchmarks and Statistics by Industry, data last updated December 2023, accessed 25 October 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- Ahrefs, Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58%, 4 February 2026, accessed 25 October 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- Seer Interactive, AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update, 24 April 2026, accessed 25 October 2026. Link · Saved data copy
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