Think your agency’s copping out because they suddenly sound very excited about “visibility” and “impressions”?
You’re not wrong to ask.
“What’s the point of being seen if no one clicks?”
“Feels like SEO’s just turned into… marketing air.”
Yeah. I get it. Completely.
It feels like a stitch-up. You paid to get found. You wanted traffic. Enquiries. Sales. Not… vibes.
And now Google’s generating AI-powered answers right on the search page. (Someone searches, gets what they need immediately, and often doesn’t even need to visit your website.)
It’s a bit like turning up to a networking event and realising someone’s already handed out your business cards before you even walked in.
So… is it game over? Did SEO die? Are impressions just the participation trophy for digital marketing?
Zero-Click Isn’t New. It Isn’t Temporary. It’s the Game.
Snippets. Knowledge panels. Maps. FAQs. Shopping feeds.
This has been search for years. AI just turned the dial right up.
You’ve probably seen the stat that more than half of Google searches end without a click. That was true back in 2021 before AI Overviews even arrived. Whether that number’s gone up since? Nobody really knows yet. Google isn’t saying. The SEO world is still scrambling to measure it.
What’s obvious is this: the direction hasn’t changed. Zero-click was rising for years*. AI just strapped a jet engine to it.
The Goal Never Changed. Just the Interface.
Google’s job has always been simple: answer questions fast. Keep people on Google. Sell ads.
First, it was snippets. Then “People Also Ask.” Then knowledge panels. Then map packs, product feeds, reviews…
Now it’s AI Overviews. Different tool. Same goal.
So… Is SEO Dead?
No. But if you’re still measuring success by traffic graphs alone, it probably feels dead.
It’s not about clicks. It’s about presence.
Are you showing up where decisions get made whether or not someone clicks?
What’s Actually Changed?
Google answers more questions directly in the search results. AI summaries swallow simple, factual queries. Thin, generic content gets flattened into background noise.
And search journeys? Messier than ever. Google openly states that 15% of searches every single day are entirely new queries they’ve never seen before. Think about that. It’s not a stable ecosystem, it’s a moving target.
Clicks haven’t disappeared entirely. People still click when the question is complex, when the stakes are high, or when the decision actually matters.
People still buy from businesses they trust and can verify. They still research. They still check reviews, compare options, stalk your About page. It’s just happening in more places — Google, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, AI chat… and often without you knowing it.
What Hasn’t Changed?
The fundamentals.
Be useful. Be findable. Be credible.
The machine’s louder. The rules haven’t changed.
Oh… and About Content.
Let’s be honest. We’ve probably been nudging you about this for years.
“You really should be creating regular content.”
“You need thought leadership.”
“Show Google you exist.”
And yeah… it probably landed in the too-hard basket.
Fair. Content takes effort.
Well… guess what? You’re out of baskets.
The zero-click, AI-powered search world doesn’t leave you the choice anymore. If you’re not producing high-quality content that’s an extension of your brand – content that builds trust, proves you’re real, and serves your customers – you simply don’t show up.
Otherwise, you’re basically running a lemonade stand that’s been left unattended with a coin box and an honesty policy.
That’s what a website without content looks like now. A polite rumour that you might exist – while Google and AI happily serve answers from businesses that actually bothered to turn up.
This isn’t just about traffic anymore. It’s about whether you exist in the ecosystem at all.
So… What’s the Play?
Turn up. Properly. Show what you do. Show how you help. Prove you’re real, useful, and worth choosing.
That means content that answers real questions. It means demonstrating that the business actually exists – with real people, real locations, and something useful to offer. It means being visible in more than one place, because the customer journey no longer starts and ends on a single Google results page.
It means building the kind of footprint that Google and AI notice. The kind your customers notice. One that signals, loudly and clearly, that you’re here and you’re worth paying attention to.
What We’re Actually Doing About It:
Optimising for Visibility, Not Just Traffic
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- AI Overviews
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- Featured snippets
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- Map packs
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- Reviews
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- Product feeds
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- Brand mentions anywhere Google and AI borrow from
Doubling Down on Brand Signals
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- Real people
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- Local presence
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- Proper About Us pages
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- Reputation signals — reviews, press, mentions, socials
Content That’s Actually Useful
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- No fluff
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- Structured, valuable content aimed at real questions, real customers, real conversions
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- The kind of content someone lands on when they’re ready to act, not just browse
Multi-Channel Discovery
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- SEO feeds Google
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- Google feeds AI
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- AI feeds users
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- And users search everywhere now – TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit…
Measuring What Actually Matters
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- Leads
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- Enquiries
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- Store visits
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- Brand searches
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- Phone calls
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- Reviews
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- AI Overview presence (yes, we track this now)
And What We’re Not Doing:
Panicking.
Selling vanity rankings.
Chasing meaningless traffic.
Pretending impressions are the whole answer.
The Bit Most Agencies Won’t Say Out Loud
Zero-click isn’t a glitch. It’s not a phase. It’s not some temporary AI experiment.
This is where search has been heading for years.
And no, it doesn’t mean the game’s over.
It means that being visible, wherever the decision happens, still wins. Whether that’s an AI summary, a map pack, a video, a review, or a direct search for your name after someone glimpses you in the results.
If someone finds you, trusts you, and chooses you – the machine did its job. Whether the traffic graph lit up or not.
Visibility drives action. Click or no click.
This isn’t the end of SEO. It’s the end of measuring SEO like it’s 2015.
The work? Mostly the same. The scoreboard? Completely different.
Are you showing up?
Are you trusted?
Are you the one they remember when it matters?
That’s the win. AI or no AI.
Need help figuring out how to stay visible (and valuable) in this weird new version of the internet?
That’s literally why we exist. Before the robots finish the FAQ… without you.
Sidebar: “Remember when marketing was simpler?”
Yeah. Us neither.
*No current reliable zero-click or AI Overview click impact data has been released by Google or third parties (as of mid-2025).
