If you’ve ever searched for something on Google and found the answer you were looking for directly on the search engine results page (SERP), without having to click on a website link, you’ve experienced what’s known as a zero click search.
Zero-click searches occur when Google provides the user with the information they’re looking for, directly on the results page.
This can happen through featured snippets, which is the boxed answer that can appear at the top of the results), or knowledge panels – these are information boxes that appear on the right-hand side of the page.
More recently, Google has introduced AI-generated summaries to search queries, called AI Overviews. These AI Overviews synthesise information from multiple websites and present it to the search engine user as one detailed answer at the top of the results page.
What impact do zero-click searches have on SEO?
While this may be more convenient for the user, making the search experience faster and easier, it poses a challenge for businesses.
Even if your website is ranking highly in search results, fewer people may click through to your site, as they’ve already found what they need.
Unfortunately, this can have a detrimental impact on SEO performance, as this can lead to a decline in website traffic, which can result in fewer conversions.
On the other hand, AI Overviews can actually help increase your brand visibility. If the content on your website is well-structured, factually correct, high-quality and deemed trustworthy, it may be cited as a source of information within these AI-generated summaries.
Even if the user doesn’t click onto your website, seeing the name of your brand associated with this information can help build credibility and awareness.
Over time, this visibility can position your brand as an authority in its field, which can increase the chances that users will visit your site directly in the future.
As zero-click searches become more common, the best approach is to focus on creating high-quality, factual content that provides value to the user.
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