The Threat of Zero-Click Search: How Marketers Can Get Ahead of the Changing Internet
With the rise of AI search, content publishers are panicked by the dramatic drop in their website traffic. Consumers are turning to AI to ask questions, gather information, and search for recommendations. AI gives them a fully-formed answer, and more often than not, their search ends there. They don’t have to click on a website to learn more. We call it the Threat of Zero-Click Search.
Here’s what’s happening by the numbers:
ChatGPT is now the most downloaded app on iPhone
Search traffic dropped by 15% worldwide according to Similarweb
69% of news-related searches now result in zero clicks to site (this rate increased by 23% since Google launched AI overviews)
The Lack-of-Traffic Panic
Traffic used to mean revenue for content publishers and online advertisers. Now, publishers are fighting to make AI companies pay for their information — or, at the very least, properly attribute the information to writers and creators. But until they figure that out, the internet is in a state of flux. Will AI become the thing that kills internet traffic, or is this just the next evolution of online behavior?
Until a clear winner emerges, here are the top trends marketers need to be aware of when navigating the changing internet:
Sorry! Zero-click search is hurting some industries more than others.
The health industry seems to be taking the biggest hit from AI-driven search. According to The Economist, health sites have lost 31% of their traffic this year, followed by science and education sites (-10%), and reference sites like Wikipedia (-15%).
Takeaway: Brands hit hardest by declining web traffic need an aggressive content strategy to appear in AI search. Download our whitepaper for tips on how to build an effective content strategy for AI.
Traffic can’t be your go-to metric anymore.
With fewer humans clicking out to websites, other metrics will become even more important to measure brand awareness and reputation.
Takeaway: Adjust your reporting structure to include AI search-related metrics, like quantity and quality of attributions for the questions that matter most to your audience. To read more on this topic, click here.
Advertising structures and incentives will change.
Some companies are charging AI to crawl their content. Others are exploring how to distribute advertising revenue in proportion to the amount a publisher’s content contributed to AI’s response.
Takeaway: Make sure that you understand how AI bots engage with your website. On the backend, this means knowing when, where, and how often bots crawl your site. On the content side, now is the time to make sure that your brand appears in AI’s responses by creating hyper-specific and highly relevant content surrounding your brand.
Diversify your marketing mix.
If web pages become less relevant as fewer people visit them, then it’s time to reprioritize your channels.
Takeaway: Adjust your resources to build audiences through direct engagements, including newsletters, custom apps, live events. And through content formats that are more difficult for AI to summarize, like video and audio.
Specificity is your friend.
According to The Economist, niche websites centered around specific hobbies or interests are more resilient to the decline in traffic than generalists.
Takeaway: Find your brand’s niche audience segment, lifestyle, or hobby, and tailor content to serve that interest.
An Opportunity to Integrate Search Behavior and Lifestyle
AI is integrating search into our lives like never before. We’d bet you have friends who have asked ChatGPT to create a workout plan from their health goals, or plan a vacation to Paris based on their specific budget. The more sophisticated AI becomes, the more consumers will find new and creative ways to use it.
This change in behavior is not going away. Just like social media became a critical force of culture, so will AI. The single most important focus for brands today should be positioning themselves to benefit from this new behavior, rather than mourning the death of traditional search.
With such a seamless experience, it’s no wonder clicks have gotten boring.
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