‘German online stores less visible on Google’

The organic visibility of large online stores in Germany is under pressure. Last June, on average, they were 16.7 percent less visible in Google’s unpaid search results than in the same month last year.

This is according to a joint study by Sistrix, a provider of online visibility software, and digital marketing agency Leap. They examined the organic visibility of almost 2,500 large online stores in Germany. Together, these account for 90 percent of the country’s online market, according to the researchers.

‘Organic channel is collapsing’

“For the first time, the organic channel is collapsing”, the researchers say about the 16.7 percent decline in visibility. The researchers link this to the rise of AI-generated results within Google. The share of analysed search terms that trigger an AI Overview has more than tripled in a year, from 4.3 to 14.2 percent.

AI Overviews appear more than three times as often

There is a significant difference between informational searches and searches with direct purchase intent. For the former, an AI Overview appears in 69.7 percent of cases, compared with just 0.2 percent for the latter. Generative AI is therefore taking over part of the search, comparison and discovery process in particular. Those who do not appear during these stages are generally also absent from the final purchase decision process.

Citability

Being citable by AI is therefore becoming increasingly important for online stores. According to Sistrix and Leap, this is strongly linked to traditional Google visibility: the 20 percent most visible online stores account for around 72 percent of all AI citations.

Strong organic rankings increase AI visibility

Their message is that a strong organic position in Google remains essential, but online stores should also structure their informational content in such a way that AI systems can cite it as a useful and reliable source.

Less organic traffic

Meanwhile, the share of organic traffic in total website traffic has fallen from 42.5 percent last year to 33.3 percent this year. “This means that the most profitable channel is losing ground”, according to Sistrix and Leap. The companies estimate that organically generated revenue among Germany’s major players has fallen by 7.5 billion euros to around 28 billion euros.

German online retailers less satisfied

The satisfaction of German online retailers is declining across the board, as other research showed earlier this summer. This is partly due to bureaucratic requirements and customer service obligations, but also to intensified competition.