Search engine results pages (SERPs) are undergoing a radical transformation. As generative AI becomes visible in platforms like Google and Bing, traditional metrics like click-through rate (CTR) are taking a hit.
If your data is reporting organic search impressions are up, but your organic search traffic is flat or declining, you're not alone. AI-powered summaries and zero-click search experiences that deliver answers without a user ever leaving the search page could be the culprit.
Below, we'll explore how AI in search is reshaping user behavior, what it means for your digital marketing strategy, and how businesses can adapt to maintain visibility and engagement.
Understanding the AI Shift in Search
Search engines are no longer just delivering a list of links—they’re delivering answers.
Tools such as Google’s AI Overviews present users with synthesized content summaries that are pulled from multiple web sources. In many cases, these overviews provide an answer to the user’s query immediately, which can elimnate the need to click through to a website.
For marketers who’ve relied on organic search traffic to fill the top of the funnel, this trend poses a real challenge.
The Decline of CTRs: What the Data Shows
Recent industry data shows a stark change in click behavior:
- CTR on organic listings has dropped by as much as 34.5% in verticals where AI Overviews are heavily implemented.
- Impressions are up—thanks to your content being included in AI-generated summaries—but actual visits are down.
- Zero-click searches now account for almost 60% of all Google searches.
More people may be seeing your brand in search results, but fewer are clicking through to engage with your content directly.
Why This Matters for B2B Search Marketing
While the impact may be more gradual in the B2B space than in consumer markets, the implications are no less important:
- Less Control Over Messaging: AI-generated summaries pull snippets of your content—often out of context—without your input. This limits your ability to shape brand perception during early buyer research.
- Weakened Funnel Entry Points: If prospects are getting the information they need from search results alone, they may never visit your site to engage with your gated assets, demos, or lead magnets.
- Attribution Blind Spots: With fewer clicks and shorter paths to conversion, your data may underreport the role your content plays in influencing buyer decisions.
What You Can Do: Strategies for Adapting to AI's Impact in Search Results
While we can’t control how AI renders search results and whether or not a user clicks-through to a website, we can optimize strategies to work with the new landscape:
- Optimize for Inclusion in AI Summaries: Structure your content to answer questions clearly and concisely, using well-structured headings, factual statements and
- Focus on Branding and Authority: Consistent thought leadership, recognizable branding, and authoritative content can help you stand out—even when you’re just a source in an AI-generated snippet.
- Invest in High-Value Content Hubs: Content hubs that comprehensively cover a topic signal topical authority to both AI and human users. These pages are more likely to be included in summaries and referenced across multiple queries.
- Reconsider Attribution Models: Traditional models may undervalue your content’s contribution. Consider multi-touch or data-driven attribution to capture the full impact of your SEO efforts.
- Strengthen Other Channels: If organic search CTR is in decline, diversify how you drive traffic to your site. Focus on other channels such as email (remarket to known prospects), social media (target top-of-funnel, based on demo or audience characteristics) or paid search (target bottom-of-funnel searches)
Embrace the Change, Don't Fight It
For forward-thinking marketers, AI-powered search presents a new opportunity to reach audiences—often before they click.
The goal in search is no longer just to drive traffic, but to create content that earns inclusion in AI-generated results. Authority, clarity, and usefulness have always been SEO best practices—they’re now more visible and more valuable.
Marketers who adapt early won’t just maintain visibility—they’ll expand their influence in a search landscape increasingly shaped by AI.