What zero-click search means
Zero-click search means a Google search that ends without the person clicking any result. They may have read the answer on the results page, tapped the phone number in a map listing, given up, or typed a different search. SparkToro, the firm behind the best-known studies, counts all of those as zero-click.
That definition matters for a service business. A customer who sees your number in a map result and calls you has not clicked your website, yet you got the lead. A customer who reads a two-line AI summary of “how long does a water heater last” and leaves has not either, and you got nothing. Both count the same in the headline percentage.
This article is part of our AI search optimization library. It sets out the main studies, how to read them, and what to do. For the broader “is SEO dead” debate, see is SEO dead.
Zero-click search statistics: who measured what
Each number below comes from a different group, panel and period. They are measurements of different things, so we list them separately.
| Study | Who and when | Data | Finding | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zero-Click Search Study | SparkToro (Rand Fishkin) with Datos, July 2024 | US and EU Google searches, September 2022 to May 2024; desktop, plus Android from January 2024 | US: 58.5% of searches ended with no click; about 360 clicks per 1,000 searches went to the open web; almost 30% of all clicks went to Google-owned properties | iPhones and the Google app not covered; ad blockers likely distorted ad clicks |
| “Less than one third still send a click” | SparkToro with Similarweb, June 2026 | US searches, January to April 2026; desktop and mobile web | 68.01% ended with no click, versus 60.45% for 2024 in the earlier panel; searches with at least one click down 9.51 percentage points | Different panel than 2024; Google app not covered, so the real rate may be higher; some figures estimated |
| Google users click less when an AI summary appears | Pew Research Center, July 2025 | 900 US adults’ browsing in March 2025; 68,879 unique Google searches | Clicks on a regular result in 8% of visits with an AI summary versus 15% without; a click on a link inside the summary in about 1%; the browsing session ended in 26% of visits with a summary versus 16% without | Small panel; 18% of searches had a summary; correlational |
| AI Overviews and clicks | Ahrefs, February 2026 | 300,000 keywords; Search Console data, December 2023 versus December 2025; desktop | Position 1 click rate on AI Overview keywords fell from 7.3% to 1.6%; Ahrefs estimates this is 58% lower than it would have been | Desktop only; the comparison group is informational keywords; the 58% depends on a forecast; Ahrefs’ summary says AI Overviews “correlate with” the lower rate |
| Google’s own view | Google, Liz Reid, August 2025 | Not published | Total organic click volume from Google Search to websites has been relatively stable year over year; average click quality has risen | Company statement without the underlying data |
How to read these numbers
Compare a study with itself, not with another. SparkToro’s 2026 figure (68.01%) comes from Similarweb data. The 2026 post compares it with 60.45% for 2024 from the Datos panel, and warns that different panels make the comparison imperfect. The July 2024 study itself reported 58.5%, so even the 2024 number depends on which cut you use. The direction is clear. The exact gap is not.
None of them is about your town. These are broad averages across all kinds of searches. Ahrefs says it did not analyze local queries; it mentions the local pack only as one of several results-page features that lower click rates. Pew looked at searches of all kinds. Do not apply a national percentage to a plumber’s phone calls.
Cause is not proven. Pew and Ahrefs show a link between AI summaries and fewer clicks. Neither can rule out that people who see summaries search differently. Ahrefs’ own summary describes its result as a correlation, and its 58% rests on a forecast of what the click rate would have been.
Google disagrees on volume, not on the trend. Google’s claim is about the total number of clicks, which can hold steady if people search more. SparkToro’s is about the share of searches. Both can be true. We explain that in is SEO dead.
Clicks to Google’s own pages count as clicks. In the 2024 study almost 30% of all clicks went to Google-owned properties, such as Maps and YouTube. A customer going from the search to your Maps listing is a click, but not to your website.
What zero-click search means for a local business
Local service searches are different from “how does a thermostat work”. The person wants to hire someone. So the useful questions are where they finish the job.
- On the results page. They call, request directions, open your booking link or send a message from your Business Profile. Google’s Business Profile performance report counts calls (taps on the call button), website clicks, messages, bookings (only when a booking provider handles them) and directions, for verified profiles.
- On your site. They click through to compare services, prices and hours, then call or book.
- Somewhere else. They get an answer from an AI assistant and then contact you or a competitor.
The pages at risk are thin ones that only answer a simple, generic question. A page that holds specific facts a summary cannot replace has more to offer: your prices, your service area, your hours, how fast you reply, your process, photos of your own work.
A zero-click search strategy for a service business
- Make your name, address, phone, hours and services identical in your Google Business Profile, on your site and on other listings. This is what the customer sees without clicking. See local SEO and AI search visibility.
- Make the action possible from the results. A tap-to-call number, a booking link and a clear service area on your profile.
- Write pages that answer completely. Give the specific answer in the first paragraph, then the details: what is included, price or “from” price, timing, how to book. Google’s guidance for AI features is the same as for Search: useful, original content, indexed and eligible for a snippet. See Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode.
- Add what a summary cannot copy. Your price list with dates, first-hand photos, your process, your area. If you cannot tell your pages from a competitor’s, a summary will not need yours.
- Build the searches that are about you. People who search your business name or ask for you by name are less exposed to a summary. Reviews and word of mouth feed that.
- Measure leads, not visits. Count calls, form submissions and bookings. Add “How did you hear about us?” to your form and phone script, with an AI option.
How to measure when clicks fall
- Business Profile performance for calls, directions, messages, bookings and website clicks.
- Search Console for impressions and clicks. Google says AI Overview and AI Mode traffic is included in the Performance report under the Web search type.
- Call and form tracking on your own site, so you see leads, not sessions.
- A monthly answer check. Ask the five questions customers ask before hiring you in Google and the main AI assistants, and log who is named. Results vary between runs.
What does not work
- Chasing the percentage. A national figure will not tell you whether your phone is ringing.
- Treating a summary as a lost customer. Check your calls first.
- Buying “zero-click optimization”. There is no markup or file that makes you the answer, and Google says its AI features have no additional requirements beyond Search eligibility. Nobody can guarantee being named in an AI answer.
How Magnet Mint can help
We build websites that customers, Google and AI assistants can read, and we record what the main assistants say about your business before and after the changes. The GEO/AEO audit is from $750. You can also start with a free demo. Prices are as of October 2026.
Published . Updated .