Since the invention of search engines, websites have relied on clickthroughs as a means of generating traffic. Over the last decade, that reliance has been slowly eroded. Today, almost 60% of Google searches end without a user making a single click. In this post, we explore the rise of zero-click searches and their impact on site visibility and traffic and explain what businesses can do to maintain a successful online presence.
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The rise of zero-click searches
For decades, search was predictable. Users typed a query, scanned the results and clicked on a link to visit a web page. For websites, the aim was to appear high in the results and gain as many clickthroughs as possible.
Today, clickthroughs are a minority occurrence. Most users find what they need on the results page itself, without having to visit another website. The information they seek can be found in featured snippets, knowledge panels, People Also Ask boxes, local packs and, most recently, AI Overviews.
This behaviour isn’t new; zero-click search has been increasing for years. A SparkToro study found that 50.33% of browser-based searches resulted in no clicks as early as 2019. By 2024, follow-up research showed zero-click searches had increased to almost 60%. Moreover, with around a quarter of clicks going to other Google services, like Maps, YouTube and Knowledge Graphs, SparkToro found that for every 1000 searches in Europe, only 374 clicks went to the open web. In the US, the figure was 360.
SparkToro’s research ended just one month after Google had introduced AI Overviews, so its growing impact isn’t highlighted in the study. Nor does it consider voice search, where answers are given without needing to click.
Learn more about how Google is evolving, read: Why AI Algorithms Now Rule the Search Game
AI Overviews
AI Overviews, where Google provides AI-generated answers at the top of results pages, means that even fewer searches end up in a clickthrough. Moreover, their size means that organic listings are pushed further down the page, all but the top few remaining above the fold.
While AI Overviews mainly appear on informational searches, when they are present, research by Ahrefs shows that clickthrough rates decrease on average by 15%, with the top-ranking pages losing out by around 34.5%. If featured snippets are also shown, average clickthroughs drop by 23%.
Value over volume
As the rise in zero-click search means websites will receive fewer visits from Google, site owners may need to consider other ways to get value from these searches. Instead of measuring success in terms of traffic volume, they may need to focus on the quality of the clicks they do get. In terms of SEO and content strategy, this means targeting high-intent users with content that answers their real needs.
Rather than obsess over organic visitor numbers, businesses should focus on :
- Branded search, which has seen clickthroughs increase 19% with AI Overviews
- Deeper on-site engagement (scroll depth, bounce rate, dwell time)
- Conversion rates, whether through sign-ups, enquiries or purchases
Strategies to improve visibility
One of the key questions for website owners is how to stay visible when clicks are becoming scarcer. There are four main ways to achieve this:
- Target visibility in SERP features: Use schema markup, H2-H3 headings and concise summaries to optimise your likelihood of appearing in featured snippets, People Also Ask boxes and AI Overviews.
- Build EEAT-rich content: Highlight author credentials, cite trusted sources and include first-hand examples to boost Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
- Update your KPIs (key performance indicators): Track what really matters, i.e., branded impressions, mentions, conversions and traffic quality, not just sessions.
- Be present beyond Google: While Google remains the dominant search engine, more people are using alternative ways to discover content, particularly the under-35s. In the USA, for example, social media is now the most common way people discover news; in the UK, 40% of school pupils use TikTok for learning, and AIs like ChatGPT are being increasingly used for search.
So, while clicks may be declining on Google, brands can still attract traffic by promoting their content across social media and niche forums and optimising it for appearance in AI tools.
For more information, read: How to Improve Website Content Quality for SEO
How web hosting enhances SEO
With clickthroughs declining, higher rankings are critical to ensure visibility and maintain traffic. As website performance, reliability and security remain key ranking criteria for Google, your choice of hosting solution can have a significant impact on visibility and visitor numbers.
At eukhost, we help enhance your visibility by providing:
- Ultra-fast load times: Our high-performance servers, built with SSD and NVMe drives and Intel Xeon CPUs, reduce TTFB (time to first byte), a key metric that has a direct influence on rankings.
- Exceptional uptime: With guaranteed uptime of 99.9% or higher, your website will be reliable, maintaining round-the-clock visibility and eradicating crawl issues.
- Built-in security: From application firewalls, intrusion and malware prevention, SSLs and more, we make your site trustworthy for your users and search engines.
For more information, read: Why Website Speed is Still Vital in 2025
Conclusion
While zero-click searches might mean fewer clicks from Google, they don’t mean your website becomes invisible. By creating high-quality content, your brand can still appear in AI Overviews, featured snippets, People Also Asked boxes and Knowledge Graphs – producing higher quality clicks with better conversion rates. Moreover, by choosing a hosting provider, like eukhost, that offers performance, reliability and security, you improve the chances of your site being visible in these key elements of today’s search results.
Find out more about our fast, reliable and secure hosting solutions. Whether you’re launching your first site or running a large e-commerce platform, we’ve got you covered. For more information, check out our Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Servers and Cloud Hosting plans.
