Credit: Photo by nikko macaspac on Unsplash
The launch of Google AI Mode in Australia marks a significant shift in search with an expected sharp dip in referral traffic for publishers and for brands.
Google is now more an answer engine than a search engine, meaning fewer clicks and webpage visits, cutting traffic, and potentially bringing a dip in advertising revenue for publishers.
Purveyors of news and marketers of products now face a critical challenge of how to stay visible, reforming strategy to overcome a zero-click future.
But it may not all be grim. Clicks that do come through from AI search are reported to be stronger leads, with better conversion rates to a sale of a subscription.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau say publishers need to understand their role in a new information supply system and find ways to retain (and monetise) that.
“As these tools increasingly summarise, recommend and transact on behalf of users, the traditional pathways that connect audiences with quality content and trusted brands are becoming harder to trace and, in some cases, bypassed entirely,” said Gai Le Roy, IAB CEO.
“Maintaining a sustainable, diverse media ecosystem depends on ensuring that the creators and publishers who produce credible information know how to navigate this new landscape and retain viable ways to monetise their work.”
This shift raises serious questions about the future viability of businesses that have long relied on organic traffic and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).
“It's going to hurt a lot of businesses, they just don’t know it yet,” said Sam Boardman, director at marketing agency Vonnimedia.
“First is that businesses have relied on discovery through search to be found. Now that is changing and people are no longer required to visit webpages, download lead magnets and give away their data. Businesses that are built on search are going to hurt the most.
“The second issue is that what's driving rankings in AI algorithms isn't necessarily the same things that are driving search indexes.
“We've found for our own businesses that recommendations from AI are being driven by recommendations in places like Quora and Reddit, versus strong domain authority from the traditional SEO tactics. Years of SEO investment may be torn down overnight. We'll wait and see.”
Scott Purcell, co-founder at men’s lifestyle publisher Man of Many, warns of a “potentially existential structural transformation” for publishers.
He highlights the main concerns as zero-click trends, low-click through rates, a loss of incentive for original reporting and a lack of transparency and control.
The launch of AI overviews in the US last year saw an increase in the “no-click” trend, a clear indication of what the Australian market can expect.
Google searches resulting in zero clicks surged to nearly 69% from 56% in the year following its launch, according to data from traffic analysis website Similarweb.
Click-through rates from AI tools are also up to 95.7% lower than traditional Google search, according to a report by TollBit, a platform that helps publishers manage and monetise AI's use of its content.
Purcell at Man of Many recognises the implications for journalists.
“If platforms scrape and summarise high-quality content without sending commensurate traffic or revenue, the fundamental business model for journalism collapses,” he said.
“This threatens the incentive to produce original reporting, impacting the broader democratic function of the press.”
And publishers will have little or no control over how content is used or appears by AI Mode, with Google not providing publishers with access to data that measures this.
Hannah Mannion, SEO & website director at Yango media agency, views the AI Mode as an “inevitable evolution”. Despite concerns, she says this could result in higher conversion rates.
“By making it easier for users to find comprehensive answers quickly, it could be that they also start to convert at a higher rate, due to being ready to take action earlier,” Mannion said.
“Google AI Mode is also exploring agentic capabilities, where users can give the AI agent permission to take action, such as buying tickets and making reservations.
“This makes AI mode an appealing space for brands to be appearing in, requiring a considered SEO and GEO strategy for increased visibility across these types of generative engines.”
Nick Grinberg, head of strategy at Next&Co, said he’s seen success in how AI traffic drives conversion, suggesting that while click-through rates might drop, the quality and intent is still there.
“We have observed in our US-based clients that the traffic that comes via AI search actually converts better,” he said.
“Brands may see fewer visits, but with stronger intent. AI Mode changes ad inventory.
“Advertisers may see volume dip, prices and competition may swing, and measurement gets blurrier (in the short term), but I am hopeful AI-driven inventory will put fewer but smarter ads to customers that are more contextually aware and genuinely useful.”
The strategy?
AI Mode will work off Google’s ranking system, meaning higher competition for advertisers to appear, and increased pressure to build brand authority.
Publishers need to re-prioritise proprietary, high-value content that gives the algorithm a reason to recognise and cite them.
Elise Hedley Dale, founder and media director at media agency Media Words, said this is a “wake-up call” for marketers who’ve become out of touch with the process of what drives a brand’s connection with consumers.
“Too many marketers are on autopilot - letting platforms optimise for convenience instead of creativity,” said Dale.
“Platforms don’t create demand; they harvest it. Real growth still comes from investing up the funnel with bold, consistent brand plays that make people feel something.
“For marketers and publishers, this shift means doubling down on what machines can’t do - the creativity, empathy and storytelling that build real connection.”
Grinberg at Next&Co said it's a guarantee that volatility will increase with search traffic over the coming months for brands and publishers.
“A lot of searches now end on the results page (“what/how/best” queries see the biggest hit) as opposed to generating a clickthrough,” said Grinberg.
“Publishers will feel the squeeze on explainer and consensus content first. Content needs to become more proprietary in nature, giving AI a reason to cite you, not summarise you,” he said.
Emilia Chambers, head of strategy at marketing agency The Pistol, said the impact won’t be immediate but advertisers need to stay vigilant, “future-proofing” their approach to work with the system and leverage AI’s way forward.
“For advertisers, that means doubling down on AI-powered solutions like consolidated campaigns, smart bidding, AI Max, Broad Match, Performance Max, and maintaining impeccable feed hygiene.
“For publishers, it's about strengthening fundamentals by creating genuinely unique content, embracing multimodality with quality images and videos and ensuring technical SEO is tight”.
There is still a value in the old system.
Lukas Temple, managing director at BCM Group, said the core principles of interest-and intent-based marketing haven’t changed .
Brands need to not only adapt, but also take a proactive approach by focusing on long-term, brand-led engagement strategies instead of reactive tactics.
“It’s simply the way we measure, prioritise, and activate that is changing,” said Temple.
“What we’re finding with most brands is that the challenge lies in the complexity of change management, not the change in scope.
“Those who are effectively managing the change are presented with a parallel opportunity. While many brands’ precious resources will shift toward reactive marketing, the opportunity to be more than a mirror to your customers and to invest in proactive, brand-led content offers perhaps an even greater reward than ever before, while everyone’s looking the other way.”
Alfie Lagos, director and founder at Lexlab, said marketers “need to proceed with eyes wide open” addressing AI’s limitations with search accuracy.
“The strategy won't be choosing between traditional search and AI Mode, it's recognising that brand equity now determines visibility across both,” said Lagos.
“We're advising clients to audit their AI visibility using tools like SEMRush (while putting heat on SEMRush to get that bloody Australian data in there pronto), invest in brand-building campaigns that create the recognition AI algorithms favour, and maintain traditional SEO excellence because users will still click through to verify AI Mode's often-incorrect answers.”
Lagos said brands treating this as either a purely positive opportunity or a distant future concern will miss the nuance.
“It's messy, imperfect, but already reshaping search economics in ways that favour the prepared.”
Some companies have already adopted policies to guide their induction to AI transformation and safeguard its value.
Scott Purcell at Man of Many said he will continue to focus on “human content” through the publisher’s Responsible Artificial Intelligence Usage & Disclosure Policy, “diversifying beyond search” and investing in multiple points of engagement such as newsletters, original video, podcasting and membership platforms and building brand authority for AI search.
“Here at Man of Many, we view AI Mode as an accelerator of existing trends rather than a new problem, necessitating a clear shift toward Relevance Optimization and direct audience relationships,” he said.
“We are shifting our focus to content structured to influence the AI models, treating answers and summaries as "prime media."
Authority in the LLM era is measured by brand mentions and trustworthiness, the Google framework to evaluate content, E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).
“We are working to ensure our content serves as the highest-quality building block for AI answers, even if it results in zero clicks initially,” Purcell said.
Generative Engine Optimisation will be more important than ever for publishers and marketers. AI Mode shifts strategy from just a focus on links, keywords and page rankings, to a need to optimise and structure content so that it can be accurately understood and selected by AI tools.
“Innovation in discovery experiences is inevitable and can enhance relevance for consumers, but the industry needs greater transparency around how these AI systems select and represent content,” said Le Roy at IAB.
“For marketers wanting to ensure their brands and information surface within these experiences, it’s time to audit and restructure content for Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) making it clear, contextual, and machine-readable and to build fit-for-channel strategies that extend beyond traditional search into social and visual environments where discovery increasingly occurs”.
Grinberg at Next&Co said brands need to integrate GEO (generative engine optimisation) into their existing SEO (search engine optimisation) strategy to ensure that efforts are aligned with the way Google's Gemini and other LLMs interpret and surface content.
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