# SEO Statistics 2026: Click-Through Rates, Zero-Click, Technical and Local SEO

Updated 2026-10-27. Checked by StatisticsGlobal editorial team. Advanced Web Ranking, HTTP Archive, SparkToro, Seer Interactive, Pew Research Center, Ahrefs and BrightLocal data, 7 sources.
Canonical: https://statisticsglobal.org/seo-statistics/

The first organic result on Google had an average click-through rate of 20.02% on US desktop searches in July 2026, according to Advanced Web Ranking. That fell to 9.69% when an AI Overview appeared. Most searches now end without any click. SparkToro found 68.01% of US Google searches were zero-click from January to April 2026. On the technical side, the basics are near universal. HTTP Archive found title tags on 98.62% of desktop pages in 2025, but only half of pages used structured data.

## Key statistics

- The first organic result on Google had an average click-through rate of 20.02% on US desktop searches in July 2026, according to Advanced Web Ranking.
- 68.01% of US Google searches ended without a click from January to April 2026, according to SparkToro.
- The average click-through rate of the first organic result on Google fell 25.4% in the US in the 12 months to July 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Advanced Web Ranking data.
- 50% of desktop and mobile pages used structured data in 2025, according to HTTP Archive.
- 45% of US consumers used ChatGPT or other generative AI tools for local business recommendations in 2026, up from 6% in 2025, according to BrightLocal.

## Google organic click-through rate by position

Advanced Web Ranking (AWR) tracks more than 1.75 million US Google results pages a month. Click-through rate (CTR) is clicks divided by impressions at each organic position.

The top result still takes the biggest share by far. In July 2026 it earned twice the CTR of the second result on US desktop, and five times the third. Below position 3, no result averaged more than 2%.

The long view is more surprising. AWR's annual averages show position 1 lost only 12% of its CTR between 2015 and 2025. Position 2 lost almost 40%. Being first has always mattered, and it matters more now.

The last year was rough for everyone. Position 1 averaged 20.9% in the 12 months to July 2026, against 28.0% the year before. AWR says desktop, where Google pushes AI hardest, took most of the hit. Brand searches held up best, at 27.3% for position 1. Industry matters too. A top result in arts and entertainment drew 31.24%, while law and government drew 12.2%. For CTR in paid search, social and email, see our [click-through rate benchmarks](https://statisticsglobal.org/click-through-rate-benchmarks/).

- The first organic result on Google had an average click-through rate of 20.02% on US desktop searches in July 2026, according to Advanced Web Ranking. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- The second organic result on Google had an average click-through rate of 10.36% on US desktop searches in July 2026, according to Advanced Web Ranking. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- The third organic result on Google had an average click-through rate of 3.89% on US desktop searches in July 2026, according to Advanced Web Ranking. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- The first organic result on Google earned 1.93 times the click-through rate of the second result on US desktop in July 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Advanced Web Ranking data. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- The first organic result on Google averaged a 20.9% click-through rate in the US in the 12 months to July 2026, down from 28.0% a year earlier, according to Advanced Web Ranking. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- The average click-through rate of the first organic result on Google fell 25.4% in the US in the 12 months to July 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Advanced Web Ranking data. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- The first organic result on Google averaged a 25.77% click-through rate in the US in 2025, according to Advanced Web Ranking. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- The first organic result's average click-through rate on Google fell 7.2% in the US in 2025 compared with 2024, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Advanced Web Ranking data. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- The first organic result's average click-through rate on Google fell 12.0% in the US between 2015 and 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Advanced Web Ranking data. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- The second organic result's average click-through rate on Google fell 39.6% in the US between 2015 and 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Advanced Web Ranking data. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- Branded searches had a 27.3% click-through rate at position 1 on Google in the US in July 2026, against 19.4% for unbranded searches, according to Advanced Web Ranking. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- Arts and entertainment searches had the highest position 1 click-through rate on Google in the US in July 2026, at 31.24%, according to Advanced Web Ranking. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- Position 1 click-through rates on Google varied 2.56 times between the highest and lowest major industries in the US in July 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Advanced Web Ranking data. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr

Table: Average organic CTR by Google position, US desktop, July 2026, all results pages vs pages with an AI Overview

| Position | All results pages | With an AI Overview |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20.02% | 9.69% |
| 2 | 10.36% | 3.69% |
| 3 | 3.89% | 1.7% |
| 4 | 1.71% | 1.27% |
| 5 | 1.08% | 1.02% |
| 6 | 0.73% | 0.55% |
| 7 | 0.46% | 0.35% |
| 8 | 0.47% | 0.34% |
| 9 | 0.54% | 0.47% |
| 10 | 0.58% | 0.43% |

Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR Study, July 2026 snapshot.

## Zero-click search and AI Overview statistics

A zero-click search ends without the searcher clicking any result. AI Overviews answer more queries on the results page, so fewer searches lead to a website.

Two thirds of US Google searches now end without a click. SparkToro measured 68.01% in early 2026, up from 60.45% in 2024. The two figures come from different clickstream panels, so treat the 7.56-point rise as a direction, not a precise change.

AI Overviews explain much of the shift. AWR found them on 43% of US desktop results pages in July 2026. On those pages, 74.3% ended without an organic click. That compares with 53.6% on pages without one. AI Mode is not the cause yet. It took only 0.34% of searches in SparkToro's panel.

Which queries are exposed depends on how they are phrased. Seer found AI Overviews on 36% of informational queries but only 5% of transactional ones. Comparison and question searches were the most exposed. Pew saw the same pattern in 2025, with longer searches far more likely to get an AI summary. More on clicks and AI in our [Google search statistics](https://statisticsglobal.org/google-search-statistics/).

- 68.01% of US Google searches ended without a click from January to April 2026, according to SparkToro. Source: SparkToro, In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click (8 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://sparktoro.com/blog/in-2026-less-than-one-third-of-google-searches-still-send-a-click/
- 60.45% of US Google searches ended without a click in 2024, according to SparkToro. Source: SparkToro, In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click (8 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://sparktoro.com/blog/in-2026-less-than-one-third-of-google-searches-still-send-a-click/
- The share of US Google searches that ended without a click rose 7.56 percentage points between 2024 and early 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from SparkToro data. Source: SparkToro, In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click (8 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://sparktoro.com/blog/in-2026-less-than-one-third-of-google-searches-still-send-a-click/
- 0.34% of US Google searches went on to AI Mode from January to April 2026, according to SparkToro. Source: SparkToro, In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click (8 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://sparktoro.com/blog/in-2026-less-than-one-third-of-google-searches-still-send-a-click/
- AI Overviews appeared on 43% of sampled US desktop Google results pages in July 2026, according to Advanced Web Ranking. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- The first organic result on Google had a 9.69% click-through rate on US desktop results pages that showed an AI Overview in July 2026, according to Advanced Web Ranking. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- An AI Overview cut the first organic result's click-through rate by 10.33 percentage points on US desktop Google searches in July 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Advanced Web Ranking data. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- 74.3% of US desktop Google results pages with an AI Overview ended without an organic click in July 2026, against 53.6% without one, according to Advanced Web Ranking. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- The zero-click rate on US desktop Google results pages was 20.7 percentage points higher when an AI Overview appeared in July 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Advanced Web Ranking data. Source: Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews (14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
- Informational searches showed a Google AI Overview 36% of the time in early 2026, against 8% for commercial and 5% for transactional searches, according to Seer Interactive. Source: Seer Interactive, AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update (24 April 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://seerinteractive.com/insights/aio-impact-on-google-ctr-2026-update
- Comparison searches triggered a Google AI Overview 95.4% of the time among tracked informational queries in early 2026, according to Seer Interactive. Source: Seer Interactive, AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update (24 April 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://seerinteractive.com/insights/aio-impact-on-google-ctr-2026-update
- Question-format searches triggered a Google AI Overview 85.9% of the time among tracked informational queries in early 2026, according to Seer Interactive. Source: Seer Interactive, AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update (24 April 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://seerinteractive.com/insights/aio-impact-on-google-ctr-2026-update
- Informational searches containing "near me" showed a Google AI Overview 76.9% of the time in early 2026, according to Seer Interactive. Source: Seer Interactive, AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update (24 April 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://seerinteractive.com/insights/aio-impact-on-google-ctr-2026-update
- 53% of Google searches with 10 words or more produced an AI summary in March 2025, against 8% of one- or two-word searches, according to Pew Research Center. Source: Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results (22 July 2025, accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/
- 60% of Google searches that began with a question word produced an AI summary in March 2025, according to Pew Research Center. Source: Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results (22 July 2025, accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/

Table: How often Google showed an AI Overview, by query type, Seer Interactive client data to February 2026

| Query type | Share showing an AI Overview |
|---|---|
| Comparison (informational) | 95.4% |
| Question format (informational) | 85.9% |
| Contains "near me" (informational) | 76.9% |
| All informational | 36% |
| Single-word (informational) | 27.3% |
| Commercial | 8% |
| Transactional | 5% |

Source: Seer Interactive, AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update. 53 client brands. Comparison rate based on 280 queries.

## Organic traffic statistics

Ahrefs studied about 14 billion pages in its index to see how many get any search traffic. Its traffic figures are estimates from its keyword database.

Most pages never get a visit from Google. Ahrefs found 96.55% of pages in its index got no Google traffic, and only 1.51% got more than ten visits a month.

Links still separate winners from the rest. About 20 million pages in the index had no referring domains. Only 2,997 of them got more than 1,000 search visits a month.

This study is from 2023, before AI Overviews spread, and organic CTR has fallen since. Ahrefs says its sample leans towards higher-quality pages, but its keyword database also misses some long-tail searches. The two biases pull in opposite directions.

- 96.55% of pages in the Ahrefs index got no traffic from Google in 2023, according to Ahrefs. Source: Ahrefs, 96.55% of Content Gets No Traffic From Google (1 December 2023, accessed 27 October 2026) https://ahrefs.com/blog/search-traffic-study/
- 1.94% of pages in the Ahrefs index got between one and ten Google visits a month in 2023, according to Ahrefs. Source: Ahrefs, 96.55% of Content Gets No Traffic From Google (1 December 2023, accessed 27 October 2026) https://ahrefs.com/blog/search-traffic-study/
- 1.51% of pages in the Ahrefs index got more than ten Google visits a month in 2023, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Ahrefs data. Source: Ahrefs, 96.55% of Content Gets No Traffic From Google (1 December 2023, accessed 27 October 2026) https://ahrefs.com/blog/search-traffic-study/
- Only 2,997 of about 20 million pages with no referring domains got more than 1,000 search visits a month in 2023, according to Ahrefs. Source: Ahrefs, 96.55% of Content Gets No Traffic From Google (1 December 2023, accessed 27 October 2026) https://ahrefs.com/blog/search-traffic-study/

Table: Share of pages in the Ahrefs index by estimated monthly Google traffic, 2023

| Monthly Google visits | Share of pages |
|---|---|
| 0 | 96.55% |
| 1 to 10 | 1.94% |
| More than 10 | 1.51% |

Source: Ahrefs, 96.55% of Content Gets No Traffic From Google (December 2023). "More than 10" calculated by StatisticsGlobal.

## Technical SEO statistics

HTTP Archive's Web Almanac crawls over 16 million websites each year. Its 2025 SEO chapter uses the July 2025 crawl.

The technical basics are close to done. HTTPS reached 91.7% of desktop pages in 2025 and the viewport tag 95.2% of mobile pages. HTTPS growth has slowed because there is little room left.

The faster moves were in markup. Canonical tags rose to 68% of desktop pages and hreflang roughly doubled to about one page in five. Structured data reached half of all pages, mostly as JSON-LD.

AI crawlers are now a robots.txt topic. GPTBot appeared in 4.5% of desktop robots.txt files and ClaudeBot in 3.6%, both well up on 2024. The proposed llms.txt file was on about 2% of sites, and most of those came from SEO plugins. HTTP Archive notes Google says it does not use llms.txt. For how many sites run WordPress and its SEO plugins, see our [WordPress statistics](https://statisticsglobal.org/wordpress-statistics/).

- 91.7% of desktop pages and 91.5% of mobile pages used HTTPS in 2025, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- 8.3% of desktop pages still did not use HTTPS in 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from HTTP Archive data. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- 85% of requests for robots.txt files returned a valid 200 status code in 2025, up from 84% in 2024, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- 13% of requests for robots.txt files returned a 404 error in 2025, down from 14% in 2024, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- 68% of desktop pages and 67% of mobile pages had a canonical tag in 2025, up from 65% in 2024, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- 50% of desktop and mobile pages used structured data in 2025, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- 43% of desktop and mobile home pages used JSON-LD structured data in 2025, up from 41% of desktop home pages in 2024, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- 20.3% of desktop pages and 19.7% of mobile pages had hreflang markup in 2025, about double the 2024 rate, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- 95.2% of mobile pages and 93.1% of desktop pages used the viewport meta tag in 2025, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- 2.13% of desktop sites and 2.10% of mobile sites had a valid llms.txt file in 2025, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- GPTBot was named in 4.5% of desktop robots.txt files in 2025, up from 2.9% in 2024, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- The share of desktop robots.txt files naming ClaudeBot rose 89% in 2025 compared with 2024, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from HTTP Archive data. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo

Table: Adoption of technical SEO features, share of desktop pages or files, 2024 vs 2025

| Feature | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| HTTPS | about 89% | 91.7% |
| robots.txt returns 200 | 84% | 85% |
| Canonical tag | 65% | 68% |
| Structured data (any) | 48% of home pages | 50% |
| JSON-LD (home pages) | 41% | 43% |
| hreflang (raw HTML) | about 9 to 10% | 20.3% |
| GPTBot named in robots.txt | 2.9% | 4.5% |
| ClaudeBot named in robots.txt | 1.9% | 3.6% |

Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025 SEO chapter. 2024 values as reported in the 2025 chapter.

## On-page SEO statistics

These are the page elements search engines read first. All figures are shares of pages in HTTP Archive's July 2025 crawl.

Almost every page has a title tag. Meta descriptions are a different story. They were on 71% of pages in 2022, fell, then recovered a little to 67.7% of desktop pages in 2025. That leaves about a third of pages with none.

Headings are common but not universal. Around 70% of pages had an H1, and slightly more had an H2. HTTP Archive notes some designs skip the H1 on purpose.

Image alt text is improving slowly. The median mobile page described 60% of its images in 2025, up from 58%. Video is still rare, on about 6% of pages.

- 98.62% of desktop pages and 98.54% of mobile pages had a title tag in 2025, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- 67.7% of desktop pages and 67.2% of mobile pages had a meta description in 2025, down from 71% of pages in 2022, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- 32.3% of desktop pages had no meta description in 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from HTTP Archive data. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- 71% of desktop pages and 70% of mobile pages had an H1 heading in 2025, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- The median mobile page gave alt attributes to 60% of its images in 2025, up from 58% in 2024, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
- 6.40% of desktop pages and 5.68% of mobile pages included a video element in 2025, according to HTTP Archive. Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter (15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo

Table: Share of pages with selected on-page SEO elements, desktop vs mobile, 2025

| Element | Desktop | Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Title tag | 98.62% | 98.54% |
| Meta description | 67.7% | 67.2% |
| H1 heading | 71% | 70% |
| H2 heading | 72% | 71% |
| Meta robots tag | 47.0% | 47.9% |
| Video element | 6.40% | 5.68% |

Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025 SEO chapter.

## Local SEO statistics

BrightLocal surveys about 1,000 US consumers each year on how they find and judge local businesses. BrightLocal sells local SEO software.

Reviews are still central to local search. 97% of US consumers read them, and 54% went on to visit a business's website after reading good ones.

Google is still the top review source, but its lead is shrinking. Its use fell from 83% to 71% in a year. Generative AI rose from 6% to 45% and Apple Maps almost doubled.

Consumers are also pickier. 31% now want 4.5 stars or more, up from 17%. Nearly three in four only care about reviews from the last three months. For more on AI in local search, see our [AI marketing statistics](https://statisticsglobal.org/ai-marketing-statistics/).

- 97% of US consumers read online reviews for local businesses in 2026, according to BrightLocal. Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (11 February 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
- 71% of US consumers used Google to read business reviews in 2026, down from 83% in 2025, according to BrightLocal. Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (11 February 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
- Google's use as a review source among US consumers fell 12 percentage points in 2026 compared with 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from BrightLocal data. Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (11 February 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
- 45% of US consumers used ChatGPT or other generative AI tools for local business recommendations in 2026, up from 6% in 2025, according to BrightLocal. Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (11 February 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
- 27% of US consumers used Apple Maps for business reviews in 2026, up from 14% in 2025, according to BrightLocal. Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (11 February 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
- 47% of US consumers would not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews in 2026, according to BrightLocal. Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (11 February 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
- 74% of US consumers only cared about reviews written in the last three months in 2026, according to BrightLocal. Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (11 February 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
- 31% of US consumers would only use a business with 4.5 stars or more in 2026, up from 17% in 2025, according to BrightLocal. Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (11 February 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
- The share of US consumers who demand a 4.5-star rating or higher rose 14 percentage points in 2026 compared with 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from BrightLocal data. Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (11 February 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
- 54% of US consumers visited a business's website after reading positive reviews in 2026, up from 32% in 2019, according to BrightLocal. Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (11 February 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
- 89% of US consumers expected business owners to respond to reviews in 2026, according to BrightLocal. Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (11 February 2026, accessed 27 October 2026) https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/

Table: Sources US consumers used for local business reviews or recommendations, 2025 vs 2026

| Source | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Google | 83% | 71% |
| ChatGPT or other generative AI | 6% | 45% |
| Apple Maps | 14% | 27% |
| Local news sites | 48% | 29% |

Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 and 2025.

## How these SEO statistics are measured

The sources on this page measure different things in different ways. Compare them with care.

Advanced Web Ranking reports CTR by position from more than 1.75 million tracked US results pages a month. Its free tool describes the data as anonymised Google Search Console data, and its study page describes click and impression estimates. Figures are impression-weighted, so popular queries count more. AWR sells rank-tracking software.

SparkToro's zero-click figures come from Similarweb's US clickstream panel for January to April 2026. The 2024 figure came from Datos, a different panel. The 2026 data excludes the Google app. Pew Research Center tracked the browsing of 900 US adults in March 2025.

Seer Interactive's data covers 53 of its own client brands. AI Overview status comes from the latest results-page snapshot and is applied to the whole period, which may not match what searchers saw in earlier months. Some query groups are small. The comparison rate rests on 280 queries.

HTTP Archive is a lab crawl of over 16 million sites from the Chrome UX Report, testing a home page and one inner page per site. It shows how pages are built, not how they rank. Ahrefs' traffic figures are modelled from its keyword database, and its 2023 study is the latest edition. BrightLocal's survey has 1,002 US adults but does not publish fieldwork dates or question wording.


## Frequently asked questions

### What percentage of clicks does the first Google result get?

The first organic result had an average click-through rate of 20.02% on US desktop searches in July 2026, according to Advanced Web Ranking. The second result got 10.36% and the third 3.89%. When an AI Overview appeared, the top result got 9.69%.

### How many Google searches end without a click in 2026?

68.01% of US Google searches ended without a click from January to April 2026, according to SparkToro. On US desktop results pages with an AI Overview, 74.3% ended without an organic click in July 2026, against 53.6% without one, according to Advanced Web Ranking.

### How has organic CTR changed compared with last year?

The first organic result averaged a 20.9% CTR in the US in the 12 months to July 2026, down from 28.0% a year earlier, according to Advanced Web Ranking. That is a 25.4% fall by our calculation.

### Why are organic clicks falling?

Google answers more queries on the results page. AI Overviews appeared on 43% of US desktop results pages in July 2026, and they halved the top result's CTR. Local packs and other features also take clicks. Seer Interactive found AI Overviews on 36% of informational queries but only 5% of transactional ones.

### How many websites use structured data?

50% of desktop and mobile pages used structured data in 2025, according to HTTP Archive. JSON-LD was on 43% of home pages. Title tags were on 98.62% of desktop pages and meta descriptions on 67.7%.

### How important are reviews for local SEO in 2026?

97% of US consumers read online reviews for local businesses in 2026, according to BrightLocal. 47% would not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews. Google was used by 71% to read reviews, down from 83% in 2025, while 45% used generative AI for local recommendations.

## Sources

1. Advanced Web Ranking, Google Organic CTR by Position: 2026 Study + AI Overviews, 14 September 2026 (July 2026 snapshot), accessed 27 October 2026. https://www.advancedwebranking.com/seo/organic-ctr
2. SparkToro, In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click, 8 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026. https://sparktoro.com/blog/in-2026-less-than-one-third-of-google-searches-still-send-a-click/
3. HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter, 15 January 2026, updated 9 June 2026, accessed 27 October 2026. https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/seo
4. BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, 11 February 2026, accessed 27 October 2026. https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
5. Seer Interactive, AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update, 24 April 2026, accessed 27 October 2026. https://seerinteractive.com/insights/aio-impact-on-google-ctr-2026-update
6. Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results, 22 July 2025, accessed 27 October 2026. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/
7. Ahrefs, 96.55% of Content Gets No Traffic From Google, 1 December 2023, accessed 27 October 2026. https://ahrefs.com/blog/search-traffic-study/