Zero Click Searches – What You Need To Know

SEO and marketing teams noticed something earlier this year when reviewing their Google Search Console Search results report, they saw a clear difference between total impressions and total clicks. This is called “zero click searches.” Impressions were either increasing or holding steady, but total clicks were decreasing, and the difference between the two metrics could easily be seen on the Performance report chart.

Zero click searches aren’t new – search features like People Also Ask, Knowledge Panels, videos you can play in search results, featured snippets and local packs are some examples. However, with AI Overviews showing up at the top of search results for more and more search queries, this difference between the two metrics became more pronounced, and marketing teams searched for reasons – was there a Google penalty, did the algorithms change, or was there something wrong with the website’s SEO? 

Without announcements from Google, SEO personnel and marketers were scrambling to figure out the disconnect between impressions and clicks.  After analyzing this disparity, leading SEO analysts figured it out: searchers were getting everything they needed answer-wise from AI Overview search results on questions without going to a web page. Without the need to click to a page, the search intent was satisfied. The content featured in the AI Overviews search result satisfied the total impressions metric in Search Console and if the link was not clicked, this brought down the total clicks metric.

[Example Of The Zero Click Search Effect]

What Are Zero Click Searches?

Zero click searches happen when a searcher gets the answer(s) she or he needs directly from the organic search engine results pages (SERPs) without clicking to a third-party website or web page, video, podcast, etc. The answer(s) come from web pages featured in the answer with links, but if the searcher is happy with the results, she/he won’t click the links to learn more.

The Great Decoupling – A Result Of AI Overviews

With the visible disconnect between impressions and clicks increasing as illustrated in Google Search Console, Darwin Santos named it “The Great Decoupling.” When your GSC Performance report shows a clear, visible gap between total clicks and impressions like the search results performance report below, this is how you know if your site is affected. You can narrow down the website sections by adding filters to isolate which pages were affected, but you won’t know if it’s due to AI Mode or Overviews.

Google recently added sites and pages that are featured in AI Overviews and AI Mode to Search Console, but there isn’t a way yet to break that information out to see specific pages. The best you can do now is to set a custom date based on where you see the distance between impressions and clicks, and use various filters or regexes to narrow down a website section or page groups, but even then, it’s still a best guess.

[Zero Click Search Effect Called “The Great Decoupling”]

Is zero-click traffic increasing?

The screenshots from Google Search Console that are shared online confirm that in the last several months zero click traffic is increasing for informational queries, calculator questions and quick answers. Industries that are impacted by zero click search results are news publishers, B2B/SaaS blog posts, resource pages, guides, health and finance sites. As an example see the illustration below which guides a searcher step by step on how to calculate percentages in search results.

[Example Of A Calculation Query And AI Overview Answer]

Why Are Zero Click Searches Being Felt So Much Now?

It was inevitable that as Google pushed out more search features to help people find better answers faster, that there would be a tipping point. And it’s clear now that this point was when Google began featuring AI Overviews for different query types. Web searchers are typing in or saying complete, multiple sentences in Google’s search box and AI Overviews provide in-depth answers without any necessary clicking.

If you pay attention to your Google search home page, you’ve seen the “AI Mode” search option on the far left side with legacy search mode options such as images, videos, shopping, etc., which will increase zero clicks for web sites.

[AI Mode Tab]

How Can Web Pages Be Optimized For Zero-Click Search Results?

Marketing and search teams can use these strategies to increase search results visibility for their pages; these are not guaranteed to boost impressions and clicks, but may be opportunities that haven’t existed previously for your site.

• Review and re-format existing content to show up in featured snippets:
  • Use paragraphs for definitions – one paragraph per explanation
  • Use bulleted or numbered lists for step by step instructions, “top X”, etc. Use the appropriate schema to mark these up
  • Create tables to organize data in your content – pricing, features, stats
  • Contrast/compare products/services, etc.

• Structure your content and improve technical SEO:
  • Ask/answer questions – one paragraph for each question and answer; use appropriate structured data markup
  • Use clear heading structure (H1 – H6), bullet points, tables
  • Optimize your site for both desktop and mobile versions
  • Improve site/page speed load times and user experience

• Invest in PPC:
  • If you haven’t used PPC before, consider developing and implementing a Google advertising campaign to replace lost organic traffic

• Go beyond Google for organic visibility:
  • Too often, marketers and site owners depend on Google for organic traffic
  • Social media visibility such as LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, etc. can boost organic traffic
  • Email marketing – it isn’t dead and can drive conversions for demo requests, etc.

Measure The Results

Until services and tools are built, tested and offered that accurately measure your site’s performance in AI Mode/Overviews, measure what is captured. Begin tracking your brand visibility in Google Search Console:

• Search Console → Performance → Search Results
• Select Total Impressions and Average Position
• Filter for your brand name

SEO software like SEMrush monitor and record your content’s visibility in these search result opportunities:

• People Also Ask (PAA)
• Featured snippets
• Knowledge panels
• AI Overviews

AI Visibility Software like Brandi AI can monitor your visibility on AI applications and help you optimize content for generative AI search results on platforms like:

• ChatGPT
• Gemini
• Claude
• Perplexity

Don’t despair if you see increased visibility, but no total clicks improvement – you’re building brand visibility.

GA4 also has data you can measure. Go to Reports → Acquisition → Traffic Acquisition and review Direct Traffic. If it increases, your content was seen in search results and visited later by typing in your URL directly into their browser.

Don’t forget to set up and monitor conversions in GA4 Advertising reports as well.

While zero click searches have been around with Knowledge Panels, PAA and featured snippets, AI Overviews search results have increased this metric for multiple industries due to the popularity of getting answers instantly without having to click on links or modify search queries.

Hopefully you are now equipped with the SEO tasks that you can do for your site to increase traffic to your pages, including paid search and re-formatting content.

Benson SEO has Search Engine Optimization, Paid Search Ads and Web Analytics services to help your site improve its visibility in search results.