AI Overviews Now Hit 48% of Google Queries — and Last-Click Is Blind to It

Almost half of all Google Search queries — 48%, up from 15% a year earlier — now surface an AI overview, according to Similarweb data cited in a new analysis of performance marketing from affiliate network Hello Partner. That single shift is quietly breaking the economics of last-click attribution (crediting the final touchpoint before purchase) and pushing brands to rebuild their creator and affiliate programs as one connected engine.

The piece anchors its argument in a stark brand-health number: a Havas report from this summer found 84% of brands suffer from consumer indifference. Heavy conversion spend can't fix that, the analysis argues, because expecting a shopper to jump from indifference straight to a last-click purchase mismatches how people actually buy — especially now that a TikTok review, a Google AI overview and an LLM recommendation can all sit between discovery and checkout.

What does this change for performance marketers?

The core claim is that traditional affiliate marketing and creator marketing aren't competitors but complementary. Affiliate converts existing intent into revenue with high ROAS and proven ROI. Creators build the desire, trust and brand equity upstream that makes conversion possible at all. The biggest misconception, the author writes, is treating them as rivals.

The proposed playbook has five operational pillars:

• Hybrid commercial model. Most brands pay creators either a flat fee or pure commission — and that's where they get it wrong, the analysis says. A guaranteed base plus performance bonus signals "We value your time, your expertise, your production quality" while adding "If this campaign performs, we win together."
• Demand generation. A three-step funnel — attract, affinity, attachment — moves indifferent audiences toward loyalty and repeat purchase.
• Paid media and UGC amplification. Securing usage rights or full buyouts lets brands scale proven creator assets, reduce reliance on unpredictable organic distribution, and cut studio production costs.
• Social-native performance. Younger audiences increasingly evaluate products inside social feeds rather than starting with search or email.
• Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). Brands must manage how they appear in AI-generated answers, because LLMs build recommendations from what others say, not from the brand's own content.

The numbers behind the shift

The GEO argument rests on two benchmarks beyond the Similarweb figure. Insider Intelligence reports that 92% of Gen Z rely on creators for purchase decisions, and Seer Interactive has documented a substantial drop in organic click-through rates when AI Overviews appear. The practical fix, per the analysis: seed structured brand narratives across creators, choose partners whose content AI engines will actually crawl and cite, then track which sources AI tools surface and how the brand gets described.

The closing point lands on measurement culture: last-click attribution still has a place, but a creator may introduce the brand and build trust days before an affiliate link records the sale. The affiliate converted the customer; the creator made the purchase possible. As AI-mediated discovery keeps compressing and rerouting journeys, expect more networks and brands to formally connect demand creation with conversion tracking rather than budgeting for them separately.