According to Fishkin's 2026 study, 68% of searches get zero clicks from users. Google increasingly answers users' questions directly within its own search experience through AI Overviews, featured snippets, maps, videos, shopping results and other interactive features.
This trend has significant implications for businesses that rely on organic search traffic.
At Saigon Digital, we believe this research confirms what many SEO professionals have been observing over the past few years: SEO is no longer just about earning clicks. It is becoming about earning visibility, trust and brand influence across both search engines and AI-powered platforms.
In this article, we summarise Rand Fishkin's research and compare them to our Data, explain what it means for businesses, and outline how we believe organisations should adapt their digital strategy moving forward.
Key Takeaways
- Google is entering a zero-click era. Rand Fishkin's 2026 research found that 68% of Google searches now end without users clicking through to another website, largely due to AI Overviews and other on-page search features.
- Traditional SEO is evolving, not disappearing. Success should no longer be measured by traffic alone, but also by leads, conversions, brand visibility and business growth.
- AI is changing how customers discover businesses. Brands need to optimise for both traditional search engines and AI-powered platforms such as Google AI, ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.
- High-quality, authoritative content remains essential. Businesses that consistently publish expert-led, well-structured and trustworthy content are more likely to earn visibility in both search results and AI-generated answers.
- A future-ready SEO strategy combines SEO, GEO and strong technical foundations. By investing in technical SEO, Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), and a diversified digital presence, businesses can remain competitive as search continues to evolve.
Google Searches Are Producing Fewer Website Visits Than Ever
Fishkin's research, based on Similarweb's desktop and mobile clickstream data from January to April 2026, found that:
- 68.01% of Google searches ended without any click
- Less than 32% of searches resulted in users visiting another website
- In 2024, zero-click searches stood at 60.45%
- Over just two years, zero-click searches increased by 7.5 percentage points, representing approximately 12.5% growth
- Compared with roughly 45% zero-click searches in 2016, today's figure represents a 23 percentage point increase over the past decade
These numbers demonstrate a clear long-term trend.
In the past 10 years the number went from 45% to 68%
Demonstrating Google increasingly keeping users inside its own ecosystem rather than sending traffic to publishers, businesses and websites.
Why Is This Happening?
Fishkin attributes much of this change to Google's rapid adoption of AI-powered search features.
The biggest contributor is Google AI Overviews, which now appear on more than 20% of searches. According to the research, when AI Overviews appear, they reduce click-through rates by almost 60%.
Rather than presenting a list of blue links, Google increasingly provides:
- AI-generated answers
- Featured snippets
- Maps
- Shopping modules
- Videos
- Knowledge panels
- Frequently asked questions
- Interactive search features
For many informational searches, users receive enough information without ever needing to visit another website.
Google has effectively become both the search engine and the destination.
Google's Business Incentives Are Clear
Fishkin argues that these changes are unlikely to reverse.
From Google's perspective, keeping users inside its ecosystem provides several commercial advantages:
- Users perform more searches during each session.
- Advertising opportunities increase.
- Paid click performance continues to improve.
- Revenue continues to grow.
- AI products help Google compete with ChatGPT, Perplexity and other emerging AI platforms.
In other words, Google's commercial success increasingly depends on answering users directly rather than referring them elsewhere.
For businesses relying solely on organic website traffic, this represents a structural shift rather than a temporary algorithm update.
What Saigon Digital See From Our Own Data
We verified the underlying figures, then pulled quarterly Search Console data across our own client portfolio. The result: impressions are growing 3x to 19x faster than clicks, even where rankings are stable. Zero-click search is not a US-only trend. It is already reshaping SERPs in Vietnam.
The Third-Party Numbers Check Out
The 2026 zero-click studies are credible on their own terms: AI Overviews now appear on 20.5% of desktop SERPs (Ahrefs, 146M SERPs analysed), and when one is present, the #1 ranking page loses 58% of its CTR (Ahrefs, 300K keywords, GSC data). But third-party numbers only matter if they show up in real accounts. So we pulled quarterly Search Console data across our client portfolio to test the thesis directly. If zero-click is real, impressions should be growing far faster than clicks even where rankings hold steady.
The Clearest Case: 4.7x Impressions, 13% Clicks
A client saw impressions jump 4.7x in a single quarter (Q1 to Q2 2026: 101K → 477K) while clicks grew only 13% (8,758 → 9,890) at a stable average position. Because click growth did not scale alongside this massive surge in impressions, the overall CTR compressed from 8.66% to 2.08%. Google is showing the site far more frequently, but sending proportionally fewer visitors per impression.
The Same Pattern on Every Property
A B2B export client's impressions tripled in one quarter (873K → 2.6M) against a 15% click gain, halving CTR from 1.27% to 0.49%. Even a young site in growth mode grew impressions 19x in six months while clicks grew only 8x. Every marginal impression buys less traffic than it did a year ago.
The Portfolio Picture: 6–9x More Visibility Per Click
Blended across three properties over 18 months: clicks up 3.6x (5,303 → 18,997 per quarter), impressions up 23x (95K → 2.16M), portfolio CTR down from 5.54% to 0.88%. In practical terms, earning one click now requires 6 to 9 times more visibility than it did in early 2025.
One honest caveat: part of the CTR dilution comes from new content adding long-tail impressions. But that cannot explain a 4.7x impression spike at unchanged positions in one quarter, or the identical direction on every property at once.
It's Already in Vietnam
Our July 2026 SERP checks on Google Vietnam found AI Overviews live above the local pack on high-intent commercial queries, citing third-party listicles as sources. This is not a US-only story.
What It Means For Measurement
Clicks alone now understate search visibility. A falling CTR at stable position is a SERP-feature signal, not a rankings problem, and it needs a different response: snippet and citation work, not more links. Impressions, brand search, and AI citations belong in the KPI set.
Data Feference
This is our own metric that we measure for reference. We can see that AI Overviews now appear on 20.5% of desktop SERPs (Ahrefs, 146M SERPs, Sep 2025). Net effect across the portfolio: earning one click now requires 6–9x more visibility than in early 2025.
What Zero-Click Search Means for Businesses
Website traffic has long been the default measure of SEO success, especially in hospitality, education, retail, and F&B. Fishkin's research shows traffic alone is now an incomplete KPI. A website can lose organic visits while still increasing brand awareness, influencing AI-generated answers, generating qualified enquiries, and supporting offline sales.
The better questions to ask:
- Are branded searches increasing?
- Does our business appear in AI-generated answers?
- Are customers finding us across multiple channels?
These indicators reveal business growth more accurately than sessions alone.
SEO Is Not Dead. It Is Changing.
Some headlines read zero-click research as proof that SEO is dying. We disagree. SEO used to mean ranking pages and growing clicks. Today it means making your expertise visible wherever people search: Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, YouTube, Reddit, LinkedIn, and local platforms. Your content can influence a purchase even when the user never visits your site. That is an evolution, not a decline.
Why Authority Matters More Than Ever
AI systems draw answers from sources they consider reliable. The goal is no longer simply to rank. The goal is to become a source that AI systems confidently reference. That means continued investment in expert-written content, original research, case studies, structured data, clean technical SEO, authoritative backlinks, and accurate business information.
Traditional SEO helps search engines understand your website. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) helps AI systems understand, trust, and cite your expertise. The two disciplines overlap, and a modern strategy optimises for both.
Our SEO Strategy for 2026: Five Priorities
- Shift KPIs beyond traffic. Track qualified leads, organic revenue, conversion rate, branded search volume, and AI platform visibility instead of sessions alone. A site with 25,000 visitors at a 2.8% conversion rate generates 700 enquiries; one with 50,000 visitors at 0.6% generates only 300. Intent beats volume.
- Publish expertise, not volume. Generic content loses first in an AI-answer world. Prioritise buying guides, original research, case studies, and comparison articles built on what customers actually ask before purchasing, this is the content AI systems cite, extending your visibility beyond your own site.
- Keep technical foundations strong. Page speed, Core Web Vitals, crawlability, internal linking, and especially structured data. Schema markup earns rich results today and gives AI systems the structured context they increasingly rely on when generating answers.
- Build your brand across channels. Customer journeys now span LinkedIn, YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, ChatGPT, and Google Business Profile before a website visit ever happens. Adapt your expertise to each platform's format - diversification also hedges against the next Google change.
- Prepare for AI discovery (GEO). Use AI-readable structure, FAQ sections that match conversational queries, schema, entity and Knowledge Graph optimisation, and consistent business information everywhere. The businesses AI assistants recommend are the ones that gave them something worth citing.
Businesses that invest in AI-ready, authoritative content today are positioning themselves for where search is going, not where it was. Stop competing only for the next click. Become the source that both search engines and AI platforms recommend with confidence.
What To Expect Next
Fishkin's latest research highlights a mature shift in the US market, with expanded UK, European, and Australian zero-click data validating this as a permanent global standard. For international enterprises operating across these major economies, navigating this high-zero-click environment requires an immediate shift in strategy.
Based on the trajectory of AI Overviews and search layout changes in English-speaking markets, here is what global businesses should expect over the next 6 to 12 months:
- Deepening AIO Coverage Across High-Value Funnels: Informational searches have already been heavily absorbed. Expect AI Overviews to dominate high-intent commercial research queries (e.g., "best enterprise software," "competitor comparison," "pricing models") across US, UK, and APAC regions.
- CTR Compression at Stable Rankings: Portfolio data across major global markets shows impressions growing 3x to 19x faster than clicks. This gap will widen as rich SERP features expand, meaning stable keyword positions will no longer guarantee historical traffic volumes.
- Third-Party Aggregators as Citation Battlegrounds: AI Overviews frequently draw answers from authoritative listicles, forums, and comparison platforms. For international brands, securing real estate within the third-party publications that AI cites will become just as critical as traditional organic rankings.
- Brand Search as the Ultimate Metric: As anonymous informational clicks diminish globally, branded search volume and direct-to-site traffic will become the truest indicators that your off-SERP marketing is successfully generating demand.
We will continue to track portfolio data across global markets quarterly to help international brands adapt to these shifting search dynamics. If there is a specific market, industry vertical, or international query set you want our team to analyze, get in touch.
How Saigon Digital Helps Businesses Thrive in the Zero-Click Era
The future of search requires more than traditional SEO.
At Saigon Digital, we help organisations build digital visibility across both search engines and AI-powered discovery platforms.
Our services include:
SEO Services
Our SEO specialists improve your website's technical performance, strengthen topical authority and develop content strategies that support sustainable business growth through local, national and international search.
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)
As AI-powered search becomes mainstream, we help businesses optimize content for platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI.
Our GEO services include:
- AI Readability Optimisation
- Generative Engine Optimisation
- Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)
- Knowledge Graph and Schema implementation
- AI Content Audits
- AI Visibility Performance Reporting
AI Workflow Automation
Beyond marketing, we also help businesses improve operational efficiency through AI-driven workflow automation, intelligent agents and customized business processes that reduce manual work and support scalable growth.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a zero-click search?
A zero-click search occurs when a user finds the information they need directly on Google's search results page without clicking through to another website. This is made possible by features such as AI Overviews, featured snippets, knowledge panels, maps, and other rich search results. According to Rand Fishkin's 2026 research, approximately 68% of Google searches now end without a click, highlighting how search behaviour has evolved in recent years.
2. Does zero-click search mean SEO is no longer important?
No. SEO remains an essential part of digital marketing, but its role is evolving. While businesses may receive fewer clicks from certain informational searches, strong SEO still helps improve brand visibility, establish authority, support AI-generated answers, and attract high-intent users who are ready to take action. The focus is shifting from simply increasing traffic to driving meaningful business outcomes.
3. What is Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)?
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the process of optimising your website and content so that AI-powered search platforms, such as ChatGPT, Google AI, Gemini and Perplexity, can understand, trust and reference your information when generating answers. GEO builds on traditional SEO by focusing on structured content, topical authority, schema markup, and clear, AI-readable information that improves your brand's visibility across emerging search experiences.
4. How can businesses adapt to Google's increasing use of AI?
Businesses should adopt a broader digital strategy rather than relying solely on traditional search traffic. This includes publishing expert-led content, maintaining strong technical SEO, implementing structured data, building authority across multiple digital channels, and optimising content for both search engines and AI platforms. Measuring success through leads, conversions and brand visibility-rather than traffic alone-is becoming increasingly important.
5. How can Saigon Digital help businesses prepare for the future of SEO?
Saigon Digital helps businesses build a future-ready digital presence through a combination of SEO Services, Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and AI Workflow Automation. From technical SEO and content strategy to AI visibility, schema implementation and automation solutions, our team develops bespoke strategies that help businesses remain discoverable, competitive and ready for the next generation of search.
References
Fishkin, R. (2026). In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click. SparkToro. Data sourced from Similarweb's US desktop and mobile clickstream panel (January–April 2026).
