What does that look like in your own numbers?
The typical pattern is steady positions and falling clicks. Impressions may even rise. You didn’t drop. Something appeared above you.
The way to confirm it’s to split your own searches into those that now carry an AI answer and those that don’t, and compare click-through between the two groups. The gap is the click cost of the AI answer, measured on your site rather than borrowed from a study.
Is every search affected?
No. Many searches carry no AI answer at all, and for those the old rules still apply. Knowing which of your searches fall into which group tells you where ranking work still pays directly and where the answer itself is the prize.
What else can make traffic fall while rankings hold?
A few things. Individual pages can decay slowly while the averages hide it. Demand can be seasonal. And, less often talked about, the automated traffic that was never human in the first place can change. Each needs a different response, so work out which one it’s before acting.