Adapting to the era of zero-click search

On the surface, zero-click search is AI’s greatest gift to internet users, offering lightning-fast responses to any query you can think up. On the flipside, it can harm websites by reducing organic traffic — after all, why click through to a site if your answer is already at the top of the results page?

When you dig deeper, the truth is a bit more complicated. Yes, organic traffic has declined, but brands still have plenty of opportunities to connect with users by building brand awareness. B2B searchers are also likely to seek out more details as part of their extended buying cycles, so they may be more inclined to spend time looking for trustworthy sources.

With zero-click, speed is of the essence.

“As SEO and AI overviews evolve, users are expecting to get answers quickly. So, Google and other search engines are introducing that integration to provide information faster,” says Brandon Gilmore, Manager of SEO & Analytics at Motum B2B. “It happened first with featured snippets, and now it’s with AI overviews and sometimes both. It’s just the fastest way to get the user the information they’re looking for.”

No need to throw your SEO strategies out the window — though much has changed, the SEO landscape still favours data and good old common sense. That said, it’s important for B2B businesses to understand how zero-click works, how it might affect your data, and how to build a resilient SEO strategy that helps your content cut through the noise.

Zeroing in on zero-click search

Unless you live off the grid (in which case, we’d love to know how you’re reading this), you’re aware of how generative AI has catapulted in popularity over the past few years. Large language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Microsoft’s Copilot can generate anything from pizza recipes to pitch decks to (sometimes) working code in a programming language of your choice.

Now, Google shows AI-generated “overviews” at the top of its search engine results page (SERP), allowing users to find an instantaneous answer without clicking or scrolling further. You might think of it as an evolution of Google’s featured snippets, which typically pull information directly from one source (sort of like a quotation). AI overviews are distinct in that they extract content from multiple sources and rewrite it into a short summary, which may or may not match what’s written in the original sources.

Gilmore says there’s a hierarchy to all these content elements, albeit an inconsistent one. “AI overviews appear at the top of the search results, and then featured snippets appear underneath. Sometimes AI overviews don’t appear and featured snippets do, and sometimes neither appear. It depends on the query and what the search engine determines it needs to show.”

The good and bad sides of zero-click

Any of these types of zero-click search results can lead to fewer website visitors.

“Depending on the user’s search, the industry, and the competitiveness of the keyword, zero-click can have a negative impact on organic traffic,” Gilmore says. “On the other hand, it can also result in higher brand awareness, which can then lead to higher brand searches.”

In other words, if a user finds a reliable answer in a snippet or overview where your website is cited, there’s a better chance they’ll remember you and search for you specifically in the future. It’s all about providing reliable answers.

“The key thing to keep in mind with brand and zero-click is that it gives your brand the opportunity to deliver answers directly to the user right within the search results, quickly and concisely,” Gilmore says. The user might just get their answer and leave, but even this brief exchange can build trust and brand recognition.

“With the introduction of AI overviews and featured snippets, you may get less traffic for those long informative queries, but you may get more branded searches,” Gilmore explains. “That's a result of people seeing that your brand has the answers to these questions and gaining familiarity with your brand, but that also highlights the importance of having a strong brand presence online and building that brand awareness.”

Where to shift your focus

You may be wondering, if users only spend mere seconds to find what they need in a search and don’t click through to the website, is it worth making the effort to push your content to the top? Gilmore says it’s important to follow your audience.

“Whether it’s organic search, social media, paid search, or any other online form, the priority is always to be where your audience is,” he says. “So, if your audience uses organic search — which is one of the primary drivers for all B2B websites that we manage here at Motum B2B — that is an area we want to continue to serve up and be part of the conversation.”

To make sure your brand’s voice is heard, you’ll need to consider the distinct strategies needed to appear in AI overviews, featured snippets, and the search engine overall. In general, that starts with knowing what search queries your audience is actually using.

In the course of his work, Gilmore uses SEO tools to create datasets of common search queries for a particular brand, industry, or topic. His analysis breaks down how often certain terms are searched and variations in how they’re worded, which all serve as pieces of the larger puzzle that illustrates what users want to see.

Then it’s just a matter of giving them what they want.

“One tip to get into featured snippets is having clear and concise content that answers the question directly,” Gilmore explains. “Content like FAQs and glossaries do that very well. For AI overview optimization, having external sources reference you is also helpful in placement.”

A reference from an external source could be something like publishing an article in an online industry magazine, which then links to a page on your website. It could also mean doing case studies or guest blogs with your brand’s partners.

Understand how to measure success

It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on your search rankings to see how you can stay on top. As Gilmore says, “It’s about getting in there, doing the searches, and seeing how you and other businesses are presenting within your results.”

A golden rule of SEO is to see what the top website is doing and do it better. Gilmore mentions that some SEO tools, like SE Ranking and Semrush, now offer AI overview tracking and featured snippet tracking to see how you stack up in those positions.

From a B2B perspective, he reemphasizes the importance of monitoring your brand awareness and brand equity within the search results page, including zero-click features.

“In general, we see a lot of navigational and commercial search intent for our B2B clients,” he explains. Buyers may be more motivated to navigate to a site to find resources like product information and technical datasheets. “With informational queries, zero-click results have the largest impact on traffic, which is why it’s so important to build that brand awareness.”