When Google Eats Your Clicks: How Recipe Blogs Can Fight Back
“Users can get recipes summarized right in the AI Overviews section, providing less of an incentive for that user to click through to the website to get that recipe,” said Marc McCollum, Chief Growth Officer at Raptive.
That quote lands like a hammer. Because right now, it’s not hypothetical: for some recipe creators, the SEO ground is starting to shake.
What’s Really Happening with AI-Search Disruption
In 2024, Google rolled out AI Overviews, or generative summaries that attempt to answer a user’s query directly in the SERP (search engine results page). Since then, publishers, especially those whose content is procedural (like recipes), have reported steep click declines.
Fewer clicks from Google are a direct result of AI Overviews and AI Mode, which Google said will become more prominent in the future of Search.
Some publishers report click-through rates declining by as much as 89% for certain queries when AI Overviews are triggered.
Others estimate a baseline traffic drop of 25% or more just from AI Overviews alone.
Google offers little transparency on how many impressions or clicks the AI Overviews generate.
As a result, many publishers are rethinking the old “SEO-first” playbook. The new mantra? Diversify, own your audience, and make each touchpoint stronger.
3 Moves Recipe Creators Can Make Right Now
1. Convert Instagram Engagement Into Traffic You Own
Instagram is more than just a platform to discover your recipe content, it’s your most direct path to owned traffic. Creators like But First, We Brunch report seeing 5–10x increases in website clicks after using Grocers List “comment for recipe” automations.
Using a recipe automation tool, like Grocers List, you can ask followers to comment a keyword (“TACO,” “SALMON,” “SOUP”) or reply to a Story (“RECIPE,” “LINK”) to trigger an automated DM that delivers your recipe, along with options to save it to email or shop the ingredients.
Instead of sending people away from Instagram with link stickers, bring the click experience inside your DMs. When you add Shop the Recipe™ or Amazon deep links inside that same message, you turn a casual follower into a site visit, subscriber, and affiliate sale, all in one flow!
Why this works:
Instagram rewards posts and stories that generate replies with higher reach.
DMs have up to 4x the CTR of link stickers.
Each reply and comment doubles as a touchpoint for list growth.
Treat your DM automations as conversion funnels, not one-off responses.
2. Turn Every Recipe Into a Seamless Shopping Experience
The top recipe creators today now integrate shopping and recipe discovery in the same moment, using carousel DMs, deep links, and save-to-email flows that feel native to how people actually browse recipes today.
Creators using Grocers List’s Amazon App Links earn up to 5x more affiliate revenue because they eliminate friction from the purchase flow. Every link opens directly into a follower’s logged-in Amazon or Instacart app instead of a browser prompt, meaning fewer drop-offs and more completed orders.
But where this really scales is inside the DMs. Instead of sending a single recipe link, you can create swipeable, carousel-style DMs that include multiple clickable cards, each one linking to a recipe, product, or affiliate partner. It’s the same experience followers already love on Instagram carousels, but now it lives inside a direct message.
To set this up tactically:
Use Shop the Recipe™ to auto-generate ingredient lists from your recipe URLs.
Add deep affiliate links to your DMs and Save to Email templates so followers can revisit or purchase later.
Create themed carousel DMs — “5 Cozy Fall Dinners,” “Weekend Breakfasts,” or “My Pantry Staples” — to increase clicks and affiliate sales per session.
Track click-throughs per post or DM in Grocers List analytics to identify which content converts best.
When your followers can add ingredients to their cart with one tap, you’re no longer forcing them to leave Instagram to shop.
3. Grow an Email List That Shields You From Algorithm Changes
Search volatility and social reach will keep shifting, but your owned audience remains stable. Each DM interaction and email opt-in is a safeguard against disappearing traffic.
Setting up Save to Email allows every follower who receives a recipe link to opt to have it sent to their inbox. Each “save” grows your list automatically, with zero extra clicks or forms.
Did you know: @pinchofyum drove 10x email list growth from using Grocers List Save to Email workflow?
Then, segment that list by diet, cuisine, or interest, such as “Vegan Weeknight Dinners,” “Fall Baking,” “High-Protein Breakfasts.” Personalized content can lift email CTR by more than 25%, according to HubSpot’s 2025 benchmark data.
Finally, connect the loop:
Social DMs → email list
Email list → website
Website → affiliate conversion
When you stop treating these as separate systems and start viewing them as one funnel, you’ll extract more value from every visitor you already have.
Doing the Most With the Traffic You Have
Recipe creators don’t need to outrun AI search, they just need to out-convert it.
If you can turn your comments, stories, and recipe saves into email subscribers and affiliate sales, you’ll grow faster than you ever did with SEO alone.
That’s exactly what Grocers List was built for, helping food creators capture every interaction, automate conversions inside DMs, and turn engagement into traffic they actually own.
The future of food publishing isn’t about chasing algorithms, it’s about engineering traffic you can keep!
