Zero-click searches have been around for years.
Ever since Google introduced SERP features like featured snippets, knowledge panels, and map packs, people have relied less and less on organic results and focused more on what Google shows them upfront.
For the first time, zero-click searches surpassed organic clicks in 2019, with 55% of all searches ending without a click.
But zero-click searches are making a massive comeback in 2025. We might just see an all-time low in organic clicks as generative AI and LLMs take off.
When zero-click searches take over, will SEO even be necessary? Let’s discover the answer here.
What is Zero-Click Search?
A zero-click search happens when a user searches for something on Google (or another search engine) but doesn’t click on any of the results.
Instead, they get the answer they need directly on the search results page. In the past, this primarily referred to SERP features like featured snippets, definitions, weather boxes, knowledge panels, or local packs.
Since 2024, Google has upgraded its search interface to include an AI-generated summary for queries, which includes links to pages used as references.
Think of it like asking a question and getting an instant reply without needing to dig deeper. While it’s convenient for users, it’s a challenge for websites that rely on clicks for traffic, leads, or sales.
What are the Sources of Zero-Click Searches?
In 2025, zero-click searches extend beyond traditional search engines, such as Google or Bing. Any platform that satisfies an inquiry without users having to click through websites and read their content can be considered a source of zero-click searches.
Here we’ll look at the most popular alternative solutions where users get answers without clicking any organic search results:
1. AI Overviews
AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of Google’s search results, giving users a quick, synthesized answer to their query.
It is Google’s second iteration at integrating generative AI capabilities into the SERPs (the first was Search Generative Experience).
This feature uses generative AI to specifically and comprehensively address a user’s inquiry in a conversational and easy-to-read format. To incentivize content creators, Google also added links to the sources they used to generate the summary.
Here is AI Overviews in action:
2. ChatGPT
You could say ChatGPT started all this generative AI craze. It is an AI chatbot that lets users ask questions and get direct, conversational answers without using a traditional search engine.
ChatGPT is not a search engine, at least not in the traditional sense. But many users already use the tool for finding information. And that makes this AI chatbot a purveyor of zero-click searches.
In the past, ChatGPT relied primarily on its massive training data for coming up with answers. It’s recently been updated to have search functionality, allowing it to access data from the open web and retrieve real-time information.
3. Gemini
Gemini is Google’s AI chatbot response to Microsoft’s ChatGPT, which means it pretty much does the same thing: you key in a prompt, and it generates content.
The only difference is that Gemini has access to the breadth of the knowledge found in Google’s index. In theory, this makes its content more refined than other AI chatbots, but its prose is a little weaker than ChatGPT’s.
Given that Gemini gives all the answers to a prompt, it is also a major contributor to zero-click searches and reduced website traffic.
4. Perplexity AI
Perplexity AI is a conversational search engine that answers questions using real-time web data.
Unlike ChatGPT, Perplexity goes big on featuring sources in its generated content, giving users a sense of security that the tool isn’t making up the information.
While it encourages zero-click behavior, the dedicated Sources tab lets users click through any of the listed resource pages, resulting in website traffic.
5. AI Mode
As of writing, AI Mode is Google’s latest and greatest brainchild, which aims to fully replace the known SERP features (like the AI Overviews, local pack, and organic blue links) with an AI-generated summary.
AI Mode still hasn’t rolled out globally, so only the Indian and North American markets can enjoy this new feature.
But from what we’ve heard, this will likely radically change how search works, giving searchers answers to their questions directly and completely removing the burden of clicking through organic blue links.
Why are Zero-Click Searches Rising in Popularity?
Zero-click searches are great if you’re just a user looking for answers. Here are some specific reasons why zero-click behavior is on the rise in search:
AI summaries deliver instant answers
To be perfectly blunt, AI summaries spoon-feed everything users need to know. It delivers instant answers by pulling key insights from multiple sources and presenting them right on the results page.
In that case, no more scrolling, endless reading, and clicking. All the information is handed to you in seconds, making it convenient and addictive.
Conversational search replaces traditional clicks
What makes LLMs stand out against traditional search engines is that they present what you need in a conversational manner. That means no more reading through blocks of unnecessary text only to extract a few essential sentences or insights.
Plus, if you have any follow-up questions, you can simply build on the previous content to receive real-time answers. Basically, generative AI tools are like your personal smart assistant that does the heavy lifting on your behalf.
Faster user experience is prioritized
According to the New York Post, the attention span of a person on a single screen has dropped from 2.5 minutes in 2004 to 47 seconds in 2025. Soon enough, as we digest more information and get sucked into the grind, it will only get worse.
Given that statistic, it stands to reason that people want information quickly. To address this need for a faster user experience, LLMs surface quick answers. This saves time, making traditional website visits feel like an unnecessary extra step.
5 Reasons Why Zero-Click Searches Are a Threat to Online Visibility?
While zero-click searches are advantageous for users, they might not be as forgiving of websites trying to swim their way out of online obscurity.
After all, ranking #1 for organic search is already challenging in itself. Imagine how difficult it will be to optimize content for LLMs, knowing we have zero clue about these tools’ AI citation algorithms.
Zero-click searches stemming from generative AI tools pose a threat to the position of traditional search engines as the sole source of information. By extension, this puts websites engaged in SEO (both large and small) in a predicament, especially when it comes to search visibility.
Here are 5 specific reasons why zero-click behavior is a threat to online visibility:
1. Declining organic traffic
As the name suggests, zero-click searches directly result in fewer, if not absolutely no, clicks on organic search results. This leads to fewer organic traffic coming into websites.
This decline stems from the fundamental difference between traditional search engines and modern LLMs. Users get instant answers from tools like AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity, meaning they feel no need to investigate further and click the original source.
This means even if your page ranks high, it might still see fewer visits. In other words, your content works behind the scenes, but the traffic never reaches your site.
2. Harder to Measure ROI
Analytics is a core pillar of any marketing campaign.
Knowing what works and what doesn’t gives you the essential insights you need to recalibrate your campaign to perfection.
This distinction directly influences how much revenue you can make throughout the period.
That used to be the case with SEO.
However, measuring analytics and ROI has become extra difficult in 2025 because traditional metrics lose meaning, including:
- Clickthrough rate
- Page views
- Bounce rate
- Keyword rankings
- Domain authority
Your content may power an AI summary or influence a response, but you won’t always see that impact in your analytics unless users click the source page for that information. Unfortunately, not all LLMs are generous in including references.
This creates a blind spot for marketers and businesses trying to justify their SEO investment. When traffic doesn’t land on your site, proving value and calculating returns becomes murky.
3. Lower website conversions
Piggybacking off #2, lower website conversions are a growing concern in the age of zero-click searches.
If users fixate on the quick answers from the AI summary without bothering to visit your content, the conversion will plummet along with the decline in traffic. That means limited desired action taking place on your site, such as signing up, downloading, or making a purchase.
While Google and Bing allegedly claim that website traffic coming from LLMs is more engaged, of higher quality, and warmer than traditional organic traffic, Dan Taylor’s LLM vs organic traffic study challenges this.
The only sectors where LLM traffic’s key event conversion rate exceeds organic conversion rates are:
- Careers
- Catalog websites
- Health
- Publishing
- Real estate and property
Meanwhile, the rest of the sectors lean toward organic traffic’s superiority in conversion rates.
Here is a table summarizing the comparison:
Unfortunately, since we are transitioning to a zero-click-search-dominated industry, site owners and marketers are forced to divide their attention, optimizing both for LLMs and search engines.
4. Limited knowledge about LLM algorithms
It took SEOs decades before they managed to uncover the strategies and decipher Google’s major search ranking factors (although Google listed some best practices on their site).
Since LLM technology is relatively new, knowing the quirks and algorithms of each generative AI tool might take a while.
Until then, most marketers will be left in the dark when it comes to optimizing for zero-click platforms. Unlike traditional SEO, where ranking factors are clearer and trackable, LLMs work behind many closed doors.
This lack of transparency makes optimization feel like guesswork—tedious, experimental, and often expensive.
Without many large-scale studies available, marketers struggle to understand how their content is being used or prioritized by AI tools.
As a result, the time and budget spent on content deliver little to no visibility or measurable return to websites.
5. Less incentive for content creators
If you’re an SEO copywriter or content manager, your goal is to boost a site’s visibility by increasing the organic ranking of its pages. That’s why you’re paid.
High-ranking content equals traffic, which, if highly persuasive, can convert readers into buyers.
But with LLM-based search engines that give answers upfront, fewer users visit the source. Add to the fact that LLMs citations do not always base on organic rankings, meaning even top pages might go unnoticed.
This can discourage creators, devalue their work, and even cost jobs. Worse, entire websites shift away from SEO-driven content altogether and redirect efforts to channels like email or social media, where visibility and ROI feel more within reach.
Data-driven Strategies to Combat the Zero-Click Threat?
At the end of the day, zero-click searches are double-edged swords: great for users, not so much for site owners, content creators, and SEOs (at least for now).
Given everything we know about this new era of search, how can content creators combat the threat posed by LLMs?
Simple. We don’t combat it. We adapt. By showing up on LLM citations, you exponentially increase your chance of driving traffic from non-organic sources, which is still good, all things considered.
Several small-scale data-focused strategies have emerged in recent weeks, showing a list of ways to overcome zero-click searches by optimizing websites for LLMs.
Here are a few:
- Free robots.txt and metadata from commands blocking LLM bots
- Phrase your content conversationally, as humans would phrase AI prompts
- Make your content comprehensive, adding more value and covering more concepts
- Improve readability, specifically its Flesch-Kincaid score
- Boost your positive brand mentions across the open internet
- Build more backlinks from reputable sites
- Focus on increasing your domain authority or domain rating
Zero-click searches may feel like a threat now, but they also open new doors, especially if you start optimizing for AI citations and find ways to drive high-value traffic from LLMs.
SEO is far from irrelevant, but it’s evolving fast. Relying solely on blue links is no longer enough. LLMs represent uncharted territory, and no website has truly mastered them yet.
The sooner you adapt your strategy for AI-driven search, the better your chances of staying visible. Otherwise, if you don’t, you might actually end up with zero clicks from both LLMs and traditional search.