"The number of AI-powered search applications is growing. Google introduced its AI Overviews search function in 2024, followed by AI Mode in 2025, while OpenAI rolled out its ChatGPT chatbot in 2022, later integrating a conversational search feature. Anthropic's AI assistant Claude and "answer engine" Perplexity also feature conversational search results."
"While AI-generated search results are still relatively new in comparison to traditional search results, marketers are deeply feeling the effects. As consumers benefit from increasingly detailed search results driven by AI, brands are seeing significant decreases in site referral traffic. Digiday's survey found that more than one-third of brand and agency pros (37%) said their companies have seen decreases in upper-funnel search traffic as a result of AI, and 21% said their companies have seen decreases in lower-funnel search traffic as a result of AI."
"This phenomenon has come to be known among marketers as zero-click search - consumers find answers to their search queries directly on the results page and don't have to click through to additional websites for more information. Zero-click search is more common in AI-generated search results that typically provide information in conversational summaries, like Google's AI Overview."
AI-powered search applications are expanding, including Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode and OpenAI’s ChatGPT with conversational search. Marketers report measurable impacts as consumers receive more detailed AI-driven results without clicking to other sites. Survey results show 37% of brand and agency professionals observed decreases in upper-funnel search traffic and 21% observed decreases in lower-funnel search traffic due to AI. This shift is commonly called zero-click search, where users find answers directly on the results page. AI-generated results often present conversational summaries, increasing reliance on summaries and contributing to organic traffic declines.
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