Zero-Click Searches: 93% of AI Mode Queries Never Leave Google

In Google AI Mode, only 6-8% of sessions result in someone visiting an external website. The other 93% end inside Google.

That number comes from Semrush's analysis of 69 million search sessions between May and July 2025. It makes AI Mode's zero-click rate nearly double that of AI Overviews (43%) and almost triple traditional search (34%).

This isn't the familiar "60% of searches are zero-click" stat that has circulated for years. AI Mode is a different product with a different interface and a different outcome for publishers. It's also where Google is steering search. Understanding the distinction between AI Mode and AI Overviews -- and what their respective zero-click rates mean -- is necessary for anyone whose traffic depends on Google.

What is a zero-click search?

A zero-click search is any search session where the user gets their answer without clicking through to a website. The user types a query, reads the response Google provides, and leaves.

This has existed for years in simpler forms: knowledge panels, featured snippets, calculator results. Google has long answered basic queries directly on the results page.

AI Overviews expanded this by generating multi-paragraph summaries for complex queries, sourced from multiple websites, displayed above traditional results. AI Mode takes it further. The entire interface is a conversational AI response. There are no ten blue links. No organic results. Just an AI-generated answer with collapsible source citations.

The progression from knowledge panels to AI Mode represents a steady expansion of what Google answers directly. Each step reduces the share of queries that result in a click.

The zero-click escalation

The data shows a clear pattern. More AI involvement in the search result means fewer clicks to external sites.

| Search type | Zero-click rate | Source | |---|---|---| | Traditional search (no AI features) | 34% | SE Ranking | | Search with AI Overview | 43% | SE Ranking | | Google AI Mode | 93% | Semrush |

Each step roughly doubles the zero-click rate of the one before it. Traditional search: about a third zero-click. AI Overview added on top: about half. AI Mode: nearly all.

The reason is straightforward. In traditional search, the results page is a list of links. Users must click somewhere to get information. When an AI Overview appears, users get a partial answer above those links. Some users are satisfied; others scroll down and click. In AI Mode, the answer is the interface. Users would need to actively expand citation links and choose to leave Google. Most don't.

For a broader view of how AI Overviews specifically affect click-through rates, see our analysis of AI Overview CTR impact.

What makes AI Mode different from AI Overviews

AI Overviews and AI Mode are separate Google features. They're often conflated in discussions about zero-click search, but they work differently and produce different outcomes.

AI Overviews are automatic summaries generated at the top of a traditional search results page. They appear on roughly 25% of Google searches as of late 2025. Below the AI Overview, the standard organic results still appear. Users see both the AI summary and the familiar list of links. The AI Overview reduces clicks, but doesn't eliminate the option to click.

AI Mode is a standalone conversational interface powered by Gemini. Users enter AI Mode from the search page and interact with a chatbot-style experience. There are no organic results displayed alongside the response. Google uses what it calls "query fan-out" -- running up to 16 simultaneous searches behind a single user query to synthesize a comprehensive answer. Users can ask follow-up questions without starting a new search.

The key difference: AI Overviews sit alongside organic results. AI Mode replaces them.

This matters for traffic. When organic results are visible, some percentage of users will scroll past the AI summary and click a link. When organic results don't exist in the interface, that behavior disappears.

Google has been testing a merger of AI Overviews and AI Mode since late 2025. If AI Mode becomes the default search experience rather than an opt-in feature, the 93% zero-click rate becomes the baseline for a much larger share of Google's search traffic.

Inside the Semrush study

The 93% figure deserves context. Semrush published their Google AI Mode study based on 69 million search sessions from US desktop users between May 1 and July 5, 2025.

Usage growth. AI Mode grew 4x during the study period, from 0.25% to 1% of all search sessions. That's still a small share of total Google searches, but the growth rate is steep.

Query behavior. AI Mode queries average 7.22 words, compared to 4.0 words in traditional search. Users type longer, more conversational questions -- more like how they'd ask a person than how they'd type into a search box. This aligns with what we see across AI search platforms; ChatGPT queries average 23 words.

Session depth. Users in AI Mode average 2-3 searches per session, compared to 5+ in traditional search. They ask fewer but more complex questions and get more complete answers per query.

The zero-click finding. Only 6-8% of AI Mode sessions led to an external domain visit. The other 92-94% stayed within Google. Users treated AI Mode like a chatbot, not a link directory.

What the study doesn't cover. The data reflects US desktop users during AI Mode's early rollout. Mobile behavior, international usage, and behavior as the feature matures could differ. The study also doesn't distinguish between query types -- a limitation addressed by other research.

For the full collection of AI search data points, including these and 60+ others, see our AI search statistics for 2026.

The counter-argument: transactional queries still send traffic

The 93% number is an average across all query types. Not all queries behave the same way.

Sagapixel conducted a study with 52 participants specifically looking at transactional queries in AI Mode -- searches for services like attorneys, dentists, and home contractors. Their findings tell a different story.

69% of users clicked through to a website when searching for high-involvement services in AI Mode. These are queries where the user needs to evaluate, compare, and ultimately contact a business. An AI summary isn't enough.

89% clicked on multiple businesses during their session, visiting an average of 3.7 different sites. Rather than one winner-takes-all click, AI Mode creates a consideration set. Users browse the AI response, identify several options, and visit multiple sites before making a decision.

The pattern: informational queries drive the 93% zero-click rate. "What is" and "how to" queries get answered in-line. But when someone searches with intent to hire, buy, or compare options, they still leave Google.

This distinction matters for content strategy. If your traffic comes primarily from informational queries, AI Mode poses a direct threat. If your traffic comes from transactional or commercial queries, the impact is less severe -- though the way users find you is changing.

Who gets cited in AI Mode

When AI Mode does cite external sources, certain domains appear far more often than others.

Ahrefs found that the most-cited domain in AI Mode is Wikipedia, appearing in 28.9% of AI Mode responses. YouTube, Reddit, and Google's own properties follow.

The citation distribution is heavily concentrated. The top 20 domains account for 66.18% of all citations. User-generated content platforms dominate the list. This tracks with what we see across AI platforms -- Reddit, Wikipedia, and YouTube are the three most-cited domains in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI features alike.

Ahrefs also found that AI Mode and AI Overviews cite different URLs for the same queries. A page that gets cited in an AI Overview isn't guaranteed to appear in AI Mode's response, and vice versa. The two features use different retrieval and synthesis methods.

For smaller publishers, the concentration of citations among top domains is the more pressing concern. Breaking into the top citation sources requires either significant domain authority or content that fills a gap the major platforms don't cover -- original research, proprietary data, or specialized expertise that Wikipedia and Reddit can't replicate.

What this means for your traffic

The macro trend is clear: AI Mode produces dramatically fewer clicks than any previous Google search format. But the details matter.

Informational content is most exposed. If your organic traffic depends on ranking for "what is," "how to," or factual queries, AI Mode can answer those without sending users to your site. This category of content faces the largest zero-click risk.

Transactional content is more resilient. Queries with purchase intent, service comparisons, and local searches still generate clicks even in AI Mode. Users need to visit sites to complete transactions, compare options, and make decisions.

The traffic paradox. Total search volume continues to grow. Google processes more queries each year. SparkToro found that Google search usage actually increased to 12.6 sessions per week among users who also use ChatGPT. More searches happening means that even with a higher zero-click rate, absolute click volume may decline more slowly than the percentage suggests.

AI traffic converts better. Semrush data shows that AI search visitors convert at 4.4x the rate of traditional organic visitors. Fewer visitors arriving from AI-influenced search, but each one is more likely to take action. This changes how to evaluate traffic losses -- a 50% drop in visits with a 4x conversion improvement means revenue may hold steady or grow.

Brand visibility still has value. Seer Interactive found that brands cited in AI responses get 35% higher organic CTR when users do click. Being mentioned in AI-generated answers functions as a form of endorsement that influences subsequent behavior.

How to adapt

Optimize for citation, not just ranking

Traditional SEO optimizes for position in organic results. In an AI Mode world, being cited in the AI response matters more than ranking in results that users may never see.

Content with statistics, citations, and quotations achieves 30-40% higher visibility in AI responses according to the Princeton/Georgia Tech GEO study. Include specific data points, name your sources, and structure content so that key claims are easy for AI systems to extract and attribute.

Freshness matters disproportionately. 95% of ChatGPT citations come from content updated within 10 months. Pages with "last updated" timestamps get 1.8x more citations. If your content is older than a year and you haven't updated it, AI systems are likely skipping it.

For a full breakdown of citation optimization techniques, see our guide on generative engine optimization (GEO).

Build brand recognition in AI responses

When your brand appears in an AI-generated answer, users who later encounter your site in organic results or ads are more likely to click. The 35% organic CTR boost for cited brands means that AI visibility has a measurable downstream effect even when users don't click the citation link directly.

This requires building the kind of authority that AI systems reference: original research, expert commentary, data that other sites cite. If AI systems learn to associate your brand with a topic, you appear in responses about that topic.

Target transactional and navigational intent

The Sagapixel data shows that transactional queries still generate clicks in AI Mode. If you're choosing where to invest in content, prioritize queries where users need to visit a website to accomplish their goal.

Product comparisons, service evaluations, pricing pages, tools, and interactive content all require a site visit. AI can summarize information, but it can't replace the experience of using a product, requesting a quote, or completing a purchase.

Diversify traffic sources

Dependence on Google organic traffic carries more risk than it did two years ago. The publishers that reported the largest traffic declines -- HubSpot (70-80%), Forbes (50%), CNN (27-38%) -- were heavily reliant on informational organic traffic from Google.

Building direct traffic through email, growing social distribution, investing in paid acquisition where unit economics work, and creating content that generates repeat visits all reduce exposure to changes in Google's search interface.

Create content AI can't easily summarize

AI systems are good at synthesizing existing information. They're not good at replacing original research, proprietary data, interactive tools, or video content.

A page that lists "10 tips for X" is easy to summarize in an AI response. A page that lets users check their site's AI Overview appearance, analyze their SERP position, or track their rankings provides value that requires visiting the site.

Original datasets, calculators, interactive assessments, and tools create reasons to click that AI can't replicate in a text response.

Monitor your AI visibility

You can't optimize what you don't measure. Track whether your content appears in AI-generated responses for your target queries. Check which queries trigger AI Mode versus standard results. Monitor citation frequency and compare it against your traditional ranking positions.

For a comparison of how SEO, GEO, and AEO strategies work together, see our SEO vs GEO vs AEO breakdown. For background on answer engine optimization specifically, see our AEO guide.

Key takeaways

Google AI Mode produces a 93% zero-click rate, based on Semrush's study of 69 million sessions. This is nearly double AI Overviews (43%) and nearly triple traditional search (34%).

AI Mode and AI Overviews are different features. AI Overviews appear alongside organic results. AI Mode replaces them with a conversational interface. The distinction explains the gap in zero-click rates.

Not all queries are equal. Transactional searches in AI Mode still send 69% of users to websites. The 93% average is driven by informational queries.

AI Mode is growing fast -- 4x in two months during Semrush's study -- and Google is testing merging it with AI Overviews. The zero-click trend is accelerating, not plateauing.

Fewer clicks doesn't necessarily mean less revenue. AI search visitors convert at 4.4x the rate of traditional organic visitors. Brands cited in AI responses get 35% more organic clicks.

Adaptation means optimizing for citation rather than just ranking, targeting transactional intent, diversifying traffic sources, and creating content that requires a site visit to be useful.