How Marketers Can Navigate the Zero-Click Era

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how we service clients, how we create software, and how we shop. Keyword search is quickly giving way to AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. Instead of using search to find information on a provider or publisher’s website, buyers now use “zero-click search” to consume information from within the search engine. This shift has already started impacting B2B businesses, requiring marketers to rethink their strategies for engagement, visibility, and conversion.

According to Forrester research, 89 percent of B2B buyers are now using genAI in their purchase process, and AI-powered search is projected to drive up to 20 percent of B2B organic traffic by the end of the year, radically altering traditional traffic patterns. As buyers increasingly rely on these AI tools for faster decision making, more activities are starting to occur outside of your owned channels, making visibility and messaging more crucial than ever. If you’re wondering how to adapt, here’s the good news: Marketing fundamentals still matter. But they’ll need to be amplified and strategically adjusted to accommodate this bold new reality. Here’s how your organization can thrive in the zero-click era.

The Impact of Zero-Click Search on Marketers

Zero-click search refers to AI systems providing users with comprehensive answers directly within the platform, often eliminating the need to click through to an external website. While this enhances user convenience, marketers face challenges like reduced site traffic and diminished visibility into the customer-engagement pipeline.

But it’s not all bad news. Buyers will use these tools to consume more information than ever before, and in greater depth. Traffic derived from AI-powered search channels is showing higher engagement, lower bounce rates, and greater conversion potential. The focus must now shift to optimizing messaging and positioning for these AI-driven interactions, targeting not just customers but also the AI-powered engines that curate content for them.

5 Strategic Actions to Thrive in the AI-Powered Search Landscape

1. Expand content beyond your offering. AI-powered search thrives on relevance and context. To stay visible, you’ll need to widen your content’s scope beyond just your product or service. Address broader industry questions, trends, and pain points that buyers are searching for.

Actionable Tips:

• Publish content that speaks directly to challenges within your industry.
• Create in-depth guides, analysis, and FAQs that AI systems can source as high-quality references.
• Focus on educational and thought-provoking material that demonstrates value without a hard sell.

2. Define bold positioning. To stand out in a crowded market and ensure that AI search tools recognize your brand as authoritative, your company must establish strong, unique positioning. Buyers are more likely to engage with a bold vision or a standout perspective in an era of overwhelming content availability.

Actionable Tips:

• Develop sharp, memorable positioning centered around a specific niche, audience, or use case.
• Lead with confidence and don’t shy away from voicing opinions on emerging industry trends.
• Align messaging and branding to reinforce this positioning across all platforms.

3. Simplify messaging for better AI tecognition. AI systems aren’t infallible. Complex phrasing, jargon, or indistinct messaging risks being lost, diluted, or even misinterpreted when filtered through AI tools. Ensure that your language is clear, digestible, and uniquely tied to your brand.

Actionable Tips:

• Use concise, direct, and jargon-free language.
• Develop “ownable” phrases or terms that become synonymous with your brand or offering.
• Optimize headings, subheadings, and key sentences so key points are immediately accessible.

4. Engage in industry dialogue. Content for AI-driven platforms doesn’t need to be strictly informative. Companies who take a firm stance on industry developments or lead conversations on the future of their sector will find themselves more memorable in an AI-curated landscape.

Actionable Tips:

• Publish blogs, articles, or reports with a clear and bold point of view.
• Actively engage on professional platforms like LinkedIn by commenting on trending discussions.
• Host (and transcribe) thought-leadership events, webinars, or panels to elevate your brand's reputation.

5. Optimize for AI beyond Google keywords. Traditional SEO was predominantly focused on Google rankings for top keywords—but with AI, the game extends much further. AI-powered search engines leverage traditional keyword searches to ensure their responses are accurate and authoritative. They incorporate information from up to the top 30 responses, with many of them using Bing instead of or in addition to Google. Shift beyond a Google-only keyword strategy to build relevance with a broader set of AI algorithms.

Actionable Tips:

• Ensure your site is properly indexed, tagged, and optimized for multiple search engines.
• Shift your focus from earning the top ranking to ensuring coverage across a broad set of topics.
• Optimize content for AI-powered search with formats like FAQs and glossaries.

John Buten is a principal analyst at Forrester Research.