Digitad finds AI Overviews are concentrating Quebec SEO clicks in the top 3

By AI, Created 10:01 AM UTC, May 20, 2026, /AGP/ – A Digitad study of 10.4 million clicks across 419 Quebec SME websites found that organic traffic on Google is increasingly concentrated among the top three results after AI Overviews. Positions 4 to 10 lost about 70% of click share, signaling that page-one rankings outside the top three now deliver far less traffic value.

Why it matters: - Digitad’s findings suggest that page-one rankings in Quebec are no longer equal in business value. - Organic traffic is concentrating at the top of Google search results, making Top 3 visibility more important than simply landing on page one. - The shift matters for Quebec SMEs deciding where to invest SEO budgets, content efforts and keyword targets.

What happened: - Digitad released a proprietary study on the impact of AI Overviews on organic search visibility in Quebec. - The analysis covered 10.4 million clicks, 54 million impressions and 419 websites belonging to Quebec SMEs. - The report focused on organic page-one results, meaning positions 1 to 10, over 16 months from October 2024 to January 2026. - The study found that 89.2% of page-one organic clicks now go to the top three results. - The #1 result alone captures 63.6% of all page-one organic clicks. - Positions 4 to 10 account for 10.8% of clicks, down from pre-AI Overview benchmarks that typically ranged from 30% to 45%. - Position #7 has an average CTR of 2.6%.

The details: - Digitad said the study was designed to answer whether users still click organic results in a search environment shaped by AI-generated summaries, ads, local packs and other SERP features. - The analysis suggests organic clicks have not disappeared, but have concentrated. - The #1 position now captures almost six times more clicks than positions 4 to 10 combined. - Two out of every three users who click an organic result on page one choose the first link. - The Top 3 CTR stayed relatively stable during the study period, ranging from 26.77% to 33.51% by month. - Top 3 click share also stayed high, generally between 87% and 90%. - Position #1 CTR in Digitad’s Quebec dataset fell by 8% since AI Overviews arrived. - That decline is smaller than drops of up to 58% reported internationally by Ahrefs and Semrush. - Digitad’s findings also align with Search Engine Journal’s report that zero-click searches rise from 54% to 72% when an AI Overview appears. - The study says positions 4 to 10 lost around 70% of their click share. - Digitad analyzed Search Console data centralized in BRAIN, the agency’s internal data warehouse. - The study grouped the data by organic position and measured average CTR by position and click share captured by each position or position group. - The dataset included French and English websites. - The report does not isolate queries with AI Overviews from queries without AI Overviews because Google Search Console does not provide that distinction. - The study also does not segment branded and non-branded queries because that flag is not yet reliable enough in the data warehouse. - Digitad says the results reflect Quebec SME websites and should not be treated as a universal average across all markets, industries or website types.

Between the lines: - The study points to a practical shift in how SEO should be judged. - A move from position 12 to position 8 may still look positive in a ranking report, but the traffic upside may be limited. - Long-tail keywords may matter more because ranking first for multiple specific queries can outperform middling placement on a broad term. - Content that is clear, verifiable, expert and easy for both humans and AI systems to summarize may become more valuable. - Brand demand also appears more important, because direct brand searches reduce reliance on generic query competition.

What’s next: - Digitad says marketing teams should prioritize keywords where reaching the Top 3 is realistic. - The agency also recommends evaluating SEO progress based on traffic potential, not rankings alone. - Businesses are likely to keep adapting content structure and keyword strategy as AI Overviews continue to shape search behavior.

The bottom line: - In Quebec, being on page one is no longer enough if a site is not in the top three. The study suggests that SEO winners increasingly need Top 3 visibility, not just a first-page ranking.