For two decades, the rules of visibility on the web were simple: publish content, rank for keywords, monitor traffic, tweak. Then AI became mainstream and changed everything in powerful yet complex ways. The short version? Search is no longer about “ten blue links.” It is now all about answers.
Full transparency, I’m a fan of the AI-powered search engines, such as Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. I can type in a query and get a succinct answer without the bother of scrolling the search results and clicking on sites. Because let’s be honest, the convenience is hard to deny.
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The Zero-Click Squeeze
Zero-click searches are already a fact of life and I can’t see them going away anytime soon. According to multiple studies, 58.8% of B2B search queries end without a user clicking through to a website. It’s important to note that customers aren’t choosing to skip the click; they’re just getting what they need in the AI-generated summary at the top of the results page.
This puts enormous pressure on brands, especially those in the B2B space. If a customer’s question is answered before they reach your site, how do you still create a relationship? How do you make sure the impression builds trust, even when there is no traffic to count in Google Analytics?
It’s not impossible to grow both visibility and credibility in the age of zero-clicks. The trick is to get your brand cited in those AI-generated summaries. To do that, you need to think in terms of answer-based content.
Be the Expert, Not the Ad Man
Over the years, websites have become sleeker and more minimalist. That design shift often came at the expense of clarity. Content was trimmed down and snappy taglines replaced real explanations. As a PR professional in the tech space, I spend a lot of time reading company websites, and too often I can’t tell what the company actually does. Ironically, the “About Us” page is often the most useful section, because the origin story usually spells out the market problem. Sometimes it’s the only place where the business is explained with any precision.
This is why I actually see the rise of AI as a positive development for B2B brands. The AI models value precision. They scan for content that directly answers the user’s questions, prioritizing clear, specific and authoritative language. If your website content is crafted around real questions and provides concrete, useful answers, you will increase the chance of getting surfaced. The brands that win will sound less like ad copy and more like the expert in the room.
Ask yourself: what exactly is my customer trying to solve when they search? What language do they use? And what will they need tomorrow, not just today? Search engines reward sites that demonstrate authority and can answer both the immediate question and the follow-up ones. That means publishing content that helps with emerging topics, new trends, and the next step in the customer’s journey. When done well, this approach builds site authority and ensures your brand remains visible over time.
Authority is a Key Signal
AI models are far from neutral. When generating answers, they look for signals of authority, or proof that the site has quality content they can trust. That means the brands that publish articles, white papers, press releases, and thought leadership pieces in credible outlets are more likely to be cited.
Authority is no longer just about backlinks. It is about whether your name shows up in enough trustworthy places that the model treats you as a reliable source. If you want your answer to be the answer, you need a steady pipeline of credible, attributable content. That includes owned channels, but it also means placing stories in respected media, publishing original research, and making sure your experts are quoted where decision-makers pay attention.
Structure Matters Too
Think about how machines read. Schema markup, clear headings, scannable paragraphs, and question-and-answer formatting all make it easier for AI systems to pull your content. Answer-based search favors text that is structured and easy to parse.
Consistency across formats also matters. Blog posts, social snippets, press coverage, and even video transcripts feed into the same pool of data. The more consistent you are, the easier it is for the AI to recognize your brand’s perspective and surface it in answers.
What if the user never clicks? That does not mean your effort is wasted. In fact, impressions inside AI-generated answers can be as valuable as traffic. If your brand is mentioned as the source, you gain credibility in the customer’s mind at the exact moment they are learning.
The trick is to make sure your name, product, or perspective is inseparable from the answer itself. Don’t bury attribution at the bottom of a page, instead, make it part of the solution. For example, “According to [Brand], here is how to solve X.” That way, even if the user never visits your site, your authority has been established.
This is reputation-building in a zero-click world.
About The Author Of This Article
Bonnie Moss is Founder and President of Moss Networks.
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