GEO: Clicks aren’t dead yet, but the funnel is changing shape

Zero-click searches add to the resurgence in marketing mix modelling

Okay, the headline might be a little alarmist. Clicks are far from dead. But it's pretty well known that some sites dependent on referral traffic are seeing a hit to clickthroughs from the rollout of Google AI Overviews. The latest figures from Ahrefs say that when AIOs are present they bring about a 58% reduction in clicks.

This raises inevitable questions about measurement and metrics.

As impressions and clicks began to diverge in 2025, this posed a problem for search marketers who are not yet able to isolate AIO clicks in Search Console without using a workaround. 

AI search for awareness and consideration

This is especially relevant for companies that have long buying cycles, such as in B2B. Customers in these categories could be increasingly conducting detailed research via AI platforms, before they get round to visiting your website. The funnel is being warped, with the consideration phase shortened and decisions made elsewhere.

We’ve seen shades of this before for a limited number of informational searches with Google’s featured snippets, the original ‘position zero’. But marketers are now wondering just how many clicks they are going to lose – and if this means their conversion rate should then increase.

Earned content in position zero

Alongside the imperative for marketers to understand these evolving metrics there’s also a broader shift for them to get their heads around. Customer attention is fragmented across platforms, and even with the growing availability of addressable audiences, marketers realise they have to gauge success in the round. That’s why marketing mix modelling (MMM) and econometrics have seen a resurgence over the past couple of years.

Google recognised this trend with its Meridian MMM launch in July 2025, helping marketing teams understand effectiveness and ROI across channels such as search, social, video and TV.

As earned content now gets a more prominent place in position zero in search (i.e. brand mentions in AI summaries, often drawn from third parties) – more marketers are realising they need measurement models that go beyond the channel-specific last click.

This is an excerpt from CTI Digital's report, The GEO Mindset Shift: an introduction to AI search for marketers. CTI offers GEO services.