The era of zero-click funnels

Recent research indicates that the rise of AI-powered search is accelerating a “zero-click” reality, where consumers get what they need without ever leaving the results page. Zero-click outcomes were already dominant with featured snippets and rich results, but Large Language Model (LLM) answers and AI summaries are now turning entire funnels into on-page experiences that never touch a brand’s website.

The era of zero-click funnels

Zero-click behaviour is no longer an edge case; it is becoming the default. In 2024, an estimated 58.5% of US Google searches and 59.7% of EU searches ended without any click to another site, according to a widely cited SparkToro study, meaning only around 360–374 clicks per 1,000 searches reached the open web. More recent analyses show this trend intensifying: in 2025, zero-click outcomes are projected to exceed 70% of searches as AI-generated answers expand across more query types.​

This shift is not just about losing clicks; it is about losing entire stages of the traditional funnel. Instead of moving from awareness to consideration through multiple pages, reviews, and comparison tools, users receive consolidated guidance in one interface—often without seeing the underlying sources.

How AI search multiplies zero-click behaviour

AI summaries and LLM-based assistants dramatically increase the likelihood that a session ends without an external click. Google’s AI Overviews have already appeared in over 13% of US desktop searches as of March 2025, nearly doubling in just a few months. When AI Overviews are present, multiple studies report substantial drops in organic click-through rates, with some analyses suggesting declines of 30%+ for affected result sets.​

McKinsey estimates that half of consumers now use AI-powered search and that up to $750 billion in US revenue will flow through AI search by 2028, with unprepared brands facing traffic declines of 20–50% from traditional search channels (McKinsey). In parallel, Bain reports that 80% of consumers rely on zero-click style answers in at least 40% of their searches, contributing to a 15–25% drop in organic web traffic for many brands. In practical terms, AI systems are now performing awareness, comparison, and even shortlisting inside the answer itself, compressing the funnel into a “zero-click journey.”​

What a zero-click funnel looks like

In a zero-click funnel, the consumer can:

• Discover a category through a conversational AI question.

• Receive a summarized explanation, a ranked set of product options, and key pros and cons.

• Get price ranges, review snapshots, and purchase prompts (often via embedded shopping links or partner integrations).

All of this can happen before a single external site is visited, and in many cases, the consumer converts through an integrated marketplace or recommendation widget without ever seeing the original content owners. The funnel still exists—but it is now owned and orchestrated by AI intermediaries rather than by brand-controlled properties.​

Strategic implications

For marketers, the key implication is that visibility and persuasion must increasingly happen “inside the answer,” not just on the landing page. McKinsey argues that winning brands will systematically improve their presence and sentiment across the sources AI uses—such as news outlets, reviews, and structured reference content—rather than focusing solely on classic SEO (McKinsey). Leading practitioners now treat AI visibility and zero-click funnels as core acquisition channels, designing content and partnerships so that LLMs themselves surface, summarize, and recommend their brands, even when no click occurs.​

In a world where most journeys may never reach the open web, the brands that adapt their measurement, content, and distribution strategies to this zero-click, AI-mediated funnel will be the ones that remain discoverable—and chosen.