“Zero-Click” Google Searches on the Rise in the AI Era

AI Chosen Over Search Engines

The way people use the internet is undergoing a major change with the rapid spread of generative AI.

Seed, a Tokyo-based company that provides web-marketing support, conducted a survey of 1,500 people across Japan from late October to early November to gauge changes in the way people are searching for information online. The results show that 6% of those who started using AI hardly use search engines anymore. However, the percentage of those shifting away from using search engines to obtain information increases to 44.2% when those whose use of them has decreased “significantly” or “somewhat” are added. Moreover, it is not only the number of searches but also the frequency of visits to individual websites that has declined, as was the case for 30.5% of the survey respondents.

In 2024, Google began displaying an “AI Overview” at the top of its search results pages. When users search for something they are curious about, AI provides an instant summary based on information gathered from relevant websites.

The survey found that 48.8% of the respondents engage in so-called “zero click” behavior by relying on the AI-generated answer to their inquiry provided on the search engine, instead of visiting individual websites to obtain information.

The phenomenon of “zero click” behavior reflects the high degree of trust in AI. The percentage who say they trust it is 60.6% including those who think it is “very” and “somewhat” trustworthy. Users tend to prioritize receiving quick, easy summaries in a timely manner, rather than obtaining a perfectly correct answer.

When asked about how, in the future, they would research unknown things, 677 of the respondents, or 45%, said they would use search engines. Meanwhile, 343 said that they would use AI or a search engine depending on the situation, and 226 that they would use generative AI, for a combined 38% willing to utilize AI.

Up to now, website operators have tended to direct their knowledge and money toward search engine optimization, so as to earn more page views by ranking high in Google search results. However, now that users are becoming increasingly reliant on generative AI, an era is fast approaching when concentrating on SEO alone will be insufficient to attract clicks.

Data Sources

• Survey on AI usage in online searches (Japanese) by Seed.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)