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A practice’s website is often no longer the first impression because many people now read a summary of the practice before they ever click. AI Overviews, AI Mode, and chat tools answer questions directly on the results page or in the chat window, so the first description a person sees may be one the practice did not write.
How often do people click through when an AI summary appears?
People click through to websites much less often when an AI summary appears. Pew Research Center analyzed the browsing records of 900 U.S. adults during March 2025 and found that users who saw a Google AI summary clicked a traditional search result in 8 percent of visits, compared with 15 percent of visits when no summary appeared. Clicks on links inside the summary itself happened in just 1 percent of visits.
Pew researchers Athena Chapekis and Anna Lieb summarized the finding directly: “Google users who encounter an AI summary are less likely to click on links to other websites than users who do not see one.” Pew also found that users ended their browsing session on 26 percent of pages with an AI summary, compared with 16 percent of pages with only traditional results. For many searches, the summary is the whole visit.
Where does the summary come from if the person never visits the website?
The summary comes from the same published information the website is part of, combined with other sources. Google’s documentation on AI features and your website says AI Overviews and AI Mode may run a “query fan-out,” issuing multiple related searches across subtopics and data sources to build a response. That can include a practice’s own pages, its Google Business Profile, directory listings, reviews, and articles that mention it.
A practice’s website still matters a great deal, because it is one of the most important sources the tools read. The difference is that a person may meet the website’s content secondhand, condensed into a few sentences and mixed with what other sources say. If the website leaves out services, hours, insurance details, or the questions people commonly ask, the summary has less accurate material to work with.
What does this change for the people contacting a practice?
It means some people reach out with a recommendation but very little context. They may know a practice was suggested for their need without having read about its approach, its clinicians, or what a first appointment involves. Beacon Media + Marketing has observed this pattern on its own sales calls, where prospects who found the agency through AI tools asked about services its website already described in detail. Beacon explores that experience in Your Next Client Asked AI Before They Called You.
For a practice, the practical result is more first-contact questions that the website already answers. Front desk and intake staff may need to cover basics that a website visitor would have read first. Treating those questions as expected, and answering them warmly and completely, helps the first conversation do the work the website once did.
What does this article not cover?
This article does not suggest that websites are obsolete or that a practice should invest less in its own site. A clear, accurate website remains one of the main sources AI tools draw from, and it is still where many people go to confirm details before booking.
The Pew data describes Google search behavior among U.S. adults in March 2025. It is not specific to mental health, and it does not measure how people search for a therapist or treatment program. Search features and user behavior also change quickly, so these figures are a snapshot. This article explains how AI summaries affect what people see first. It does not cover website design, clinical content, or how to evaluate a provider, and it does not replace consultation with a licensed professional.
Frequently asked questions
Does a practice still need a website if people read AI summaries instead?
A practice still needs a website. AI tools build their summaries from published information, and the practice’s own site is one of the most direct and controllable sources they read. A website is also where many people go to verify details such as location, services, and insurance before they call or fill out a form.
Should a practice block AI tools from reading its website?
Blocking AI tools can remove a practice from their answers. OpenAI’s crawler documentation says sites that opt out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers. Any decision to restrict crawlers should weigh privacy or content concerns against the loss of visibility, and it should be made with the person who manages the website.
Is this shift specific to mental and behavioral health?
The shift is not specific to mental and behavioral health. Pew’s research covers Google searches in general. It affects any business people look up online, including local services. Practices are affected because many people search for care close to home, and those searches increasingly return an AI summary before a list of websites.