Local Memo: What the Google, AI, and Facebook Search & Social Shake-Up Mean for You

Google’s AI Overviews Are Cutting Into Organic Clicks

The News Recent studies highlighted by Search Engine Land indicate Google’s AI Overviews are drastically reducing click-through rates (CTR) for traditional organic search results, especially on informational, unbranded queries. Research from Ahrefs and Amsive paints a clear picture:

• Ahrefs recorded a 34.5% decrease in CTR for top organic results.
• Amsive found an average CTR drop of 15.49%, worsening to 37.04% when featured snippets were also shown.
• Unbranded keywords faced a nearly 20% decline, while lower-ranking results dropped by about 27%.

What This Means Despite Google’s assurances that AI Overviews help users find more relevant information, publishers and SEO professionals face a clear challenge: organic visibility and traffic are shrinking. Marketers must adapt strategies to maintain visibility in increasingly competitive search environments.

Google’s SERP Features Are Changing User Traffic Patterns

The News A 13-month study comparing user interactions on Google versus ChatGPT, reported by Search Engine Journal, reveals significant differences in traffic flow. Google users now engage in about 10 interactions per visit before leaving, driven by Google’s growing number of in-platform features. Although Google still directs substantial traffic externally (175.5 million visits in March 2025), ChatGPT is twice as efficient at sending users directly to external websites.

Google’s expanded search result features—snippets, images, and panels—are intentionally designed to answer queries without clicks, retaining users longer on Google’s own platform.

What This Means SEO marketers must now optimize for in-platform visibility within Google’s enriched search results, while also exploring alternate traffic streams such as ChatGPT, which are proving more effective at channeling users directly to external sites.

Facebook Cracks Down on Spam, Prioritizing Authentic Creators

The News Facebook is intensifying efforts to reduce spam and elevate genuine creators. Meta is targeting accounts that manipulate engagement through misleading captions, excessive hashtags, and repetitive content. Such posts will have significantly reduced reach, appearing only to direct followers and losing monetization opportunities.

In 2024 alone, Meta removed over 100 million fake Pages and 23 million impersonator profiles. Further initiatives include stricter penalties on spam networks and enhanced comment moderation features.

Facebook continues to empower creators by improving Rights Manager tools, helping protect original content, and updating Moderation Assist to automatically hide suspicious comments.

What This Means Facebook users can expect clearer feeds dominated by authentic and relevant content rather than spam. Creators should benefit from increased protection and visibility, creating an improved experience overall. This change underscores Facebook’s commitment to supporting authentic voices and communities.