Why Zero-Click Search Is Forcing Businesses to Pivot

Marketers have been working for years to refine their search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to ensure their company websites are visible in search results. But search powered by artificial intelligence (AI) risks making SEO all but obsolete.

That’s because when a user does a search, AI-powered engines such as Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT or Perplexity answer the question directly. Users don’t have to click to the website to get the answer.

These zero‑click results mean websites that normally would get traffic now see it shrinking. Businesses whose sales rely on this traffic risk not only shoppers not finding what they are searching for, but also not seeing related products on those websites that might further entice them to buy.

Moreover, any promotional offers on the website, invitations to sign up for product alerts, or open a store or credit card also are not seen. Zero click results in a domino effect that could substantially suppress sales because shoppers don’t see the tools used by businesses to bring them back.

About 80% of consumers rely on zero-click results in at least 40% of their searches, according to a recent report from Bain & Co. This reduces organic traffic to their websites by 15% to 25%.

With fewer actual visits to their websites, companies — especially small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) — lose access to customer data and engagement opportunities. Brand visibility increasingly depends on being included in AI‑generated answers, rather than ranking well in search listings.

See also: Cloudflare Debuts Bot Blocker to Help ‘Internet Survive Age of AI’

More People Using AI Chatbots for Search

Separating AI-powered searches into those used by traditional search engines such as Google and Bing, with those by AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity, Bain said that the trend in search engines is accelerating, with 60% of searches ending in no click-throughs.

Meanwhile, searches done through AI chatbots are gaining ground. About 40% to 70% of large language model (LLM) users tap them for research, to summarize information, understand the latest news and get shopping recommendations.

Digital search is critical for merchants, as nearly half of consumers worldwide shop digitally on their smartphones, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report, “2025 Global Digital Shopping Index: The Rise of the Mobile Window Shopper and What It Means for Payments.”

The report said 6 in 10 consumers browse for products on their phones several times a week, with about one-third doing so daily or almost daily. Half of consumers also complete retail purchases on their smartphones.

Read the report: The 2025 Global Digital Shopping Index: The Rise of the Mobile Window Shopper and What It Means for Payments

What Mailchimp Discovered

What is replacing SEO? A slew of acronyms have cropped up. They include generative engine optimization (GEO), which refers to crafting content with AI in mind. It aims to influence AI summaries by structuring content cleanly and tagging it for easy parsing. Another is answer engine optimization (AEO), which is shaping content in conversational Q&A formats optimized for those direct‑answer features, and AI optimization (AIO).

Intuit Mailchimp offsets the drop in online traffic by updating its sites to better serve web crawlers, according to The Wall Street Journal. These are bots that “read” websites to see if they can answer queries users ask the AI.

What Mailchimp also discovered: For AI chatbots, the speed at which the pages load and the code used to track user activity are more important for AI-driven searches than traditional search engines.

Why? AI chatbots have been optimized for machines than human readers, Mailchimp told the Journal. However, many CMOs who have seen traffic declines in recent months are not aware their websites haven’t been tailored to AI platforms.

Companies, especially SMBs, should shift focus from clicks to visibility, authority and conversions. That involves structured data like FAQs or “How‑To” schemas, concise answer formats, and monitoring impressions and brand mentions as key metrics. Techniques include improving AI-readability — such as short paragraphs, clear headings and tables lists — and diversifying presence across platforms where AI sources draw from.

There’s a silver lining. Zero‑click doesn’t have to mean vanish. Cited content still builds awareness, and AI recommendations can drive intent, even without click‑through. Businesses can also explore direct engagement through AI platforms, such as through partnerships, to reestablish control over the narrative.

Read more:

Google Unveils AI Tools to Help Brands, Retailers Drive Commerce Growth

Google’s AI Search Switch Leaves Indie Websites Unmoored

European AI Search Engines Plan New Index With Merchant Rankings

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