Email click rates influenced by artificial intelligence summaries, reveals research findings
In the digital age, email marketing remains a significant strategy for businesses to connect with their audience. However, a recent development in email platforms has raised concerns among marketers. According to Omeda's Email Engagement Report, which analysed 2.03 billion emails sent through its platform in Q2 2025, the introduction of AI-powered email summaries has led to increased email open rates but decreased click-through rates.
The report shows that unique open rates rose from 29.34% to 32.32% in Q2 2025. This increase is particularly notable after the rollout of AI summary features on platforms like Google’s Gemini and Yahoo Mail, which occurred in mid-2025. However, the click-through rates saw a decline. Total clicks dropped from 1.8% to 1.74%, and unique clicks decreased from 4.35% to 3.93%.
This trend mirrors observations made in web search, where AI-generated summaries have been found to reduce traffic to source pages. A study by Pew revealed that only 8% of visits with AI search summaries led to clicks, compared to 15% without such summaries. This suggests that users often trust AI summaries and consider them a final destination, reducing their engagement with the original content.
The implications for marketing are concerning. With users relying more on AI-generated previews, brands and marketers are advised to focus on content that AI summaries cannot easily replicate, such as deep, original, or highly engaging material. Maintaining a strong presence in owned channels like newsletters, which allow more direct user interaction, is also crucial.
It's important to note that if these tools are auto-opening messages to scan and summarise them, they could be inflating open rates. There is a concern that people who would have clicked but felt no need after reading the AI summaries could lead to further decreases in click rates.
Google rolled out Gemini summaries on Gmail in late May, and Omeda's report suggests that these summaries could be responsible for the decrease in click rates. Total open rates climbed to 45.61% in Q2 2025 (from 43% in Q1), indicating a significant increase in initial engagement. However, the decline in click-through rates suggests a reduction in deeper user interaction.
In light of these findings, businesses need to rethink their email content strategies to ensure they are creating content that encourages users to engage beyond the AI-generated previews.
The introduction of AI-powered email summaries in popular platforms like Google’s Gemini and Yahoo Mail has led to increased email open rates but decreased click-through rates, as shown by Omeda’s Email Engagement Report. This trend could present a challenge for marketers, as users might rely more on these summaries and engage less with original content, requiring brands to focus on content that cannot be easily summarized by AI, such as deep, original, or highly engaging material.
Since AI-generated summaries have been found to reduce traffic to source pages in web search, it's essential for businesses to maintain a strong presence in owned channels like newsletters, which foster direct user interaction, to counteract this trend.
