Zero-click reality is rewriting the rules of search for brands
By Sam Bradley • February 23, 2026 •
Ivy Liu
Worries over whether the changing dynamics of search marketing will affect major brands have finally reached the boardroom.
In several earnings calls this month, executives at high-profile advertisers like Airbnb and Expedia fielded questions from analysts over the impact of generative AI chatbots or Google’s AI Overviews feature on their businesses. It’s a sign that alarm bells are ringing.
“It’s going to be really tricky for brands to play in this new space,” said Daniel Moreno, a senior SEO and GEO consultant at Dept U.K.
“Whether they’re seeing it in the data or they just come across an article, this has been brought up … across every client,” said Scott Hendler, associate director of paid search at media agency Ars X Machina. “There’s definitely a concern.”
According to data sourced from media agency Wpromote’s Polaris IQ platform, advertisers’ organic search traffic dropped on average 12% between the third- and fourth quarters of 2025. Publishing, telecom and healthcare clients saw the biggest drop offs, while e-commerce clients saw minor drops only.
A clear picture has emerged across the industry. As Google increases the scope of its Overviews and AI Mode features, more users are ending their journeys in a zero-click cul-de-sac.
“It’s almost a given that [for] every account’s search console that you look at, they’ve seen some level of drops in clicks and impressions,” said Moreno.
But there’s another “general trend” at play that’s somewhat more promising, according to Charlie Marchant, CEO of SEO firm ExposureNinja. Marketers across categories are finding that when search traffic falls, sales or conversions are typically holding steady. And what referral traffic they’re able to track from the likes of ChatGPT appears to lead to higher rates of conversions. It’s a finding echoed during earnings calls this month.
“Traffic that comes from chatbots convert at a higher rate than traffic that comes from Google,” said Airbnb boss Brian Chesky last week.
Meanwhile Ariane Gorin, CEO and director of Expedia, told analysts: “AI search opens up even more possibilities to reach more travelers. And as there’s more context in those searches, there’s an opportunity for us to better target and then, as we bring those travelers into our ecosystem, to better convert.“
The reason search traffic declines aren’t hitting conversion rates is because casual users at an earlier stage of the sales journey are the ones being lost to zero-click search results. Users with a real interest in a purchase are holding the course.
“There’s more of the consumer discovery and evaluation happening within these AI summaries,” said Edward ’Teddie’ Cowell, global vp of SEO at WPP Media. But, he added, “People still want to buy stuff. You still go into the website to transact.”
That’s a relief for those execs worried about revenue lines on graphs. It doesn’t mean there’s no work to be done. “In the past, clients haven’t put too much effort into SEO … but now, they’ve been forced to think about it,” said Moreno.
In the past year it’s led to a new search playbook emerging, one that starts with optimizations and organic activity, but which has implications for paid search investments. As users alter the way they search for information, leaning into AI features by entering longer and chattier questions into the Google dialogue box, clients are shifting investments to bid against longer keywords and conversational queries in the hope they’ll catch users as they peruse a page with an AI Overview.
They’re not cutting or boosting spend necessarily. Rather, they’re shifting dollars around the board to where they can be most effective. “We’re fighting for prime real estate,” said AXM’s Hendler.
That playbook will change again when Google broadens out access to ad units in Overviews and AI Mode, which are currently being tested.
Though brands would likely queue up to spend media budget on the opportunity, there’s currently no deliberate way for buyers to take advantage of such placements. Instead, Google pulls ads from campaigns targeting with broad match keywords, or its AI Max for Search placements.
Google’s spokespeople have previously indicated AI Max for Search is destined to become its AI ad conduit. But with no guarantee a brand’s ad will be selected to run against an Overview or in AI Mode, buyers told Digiday it doesn’t yet make sense to go all in on the latter.
“It’s buying the whole charcuterie board just to get the olives,” said Dez Muserelli, director of paid search at Attention Arc.
When it becomes possible to guarantee that outcome, the game’s rules will change all over again.
