Ascero AI Research · updated June 2026
Most Google searches (~56%) now end without a click, searches with an AI Overview are zero-click ~83% of the time, and ~900M people ask ChatGPT every week. The question for a small business is no longer "do I rank?" — it is "am I the business the AI names?" This report compiles the data behind the shift.
Free to cite (CC BY 4.0). Compiled from named sources; links where authoritative.
Zero-click and open-web-click figures are from the Datos / SparkToro search studies; AI-Overview coverage and zero-click rates are from Semrush analysis. AI-assistant usage (ChatGPT weekly users, AI-referral growth) figures are widely-reported industry numbers and are labeled as such rather than linked to a single primary dataset. Where studies disagree on exact percentages (zero-click estimates range from ~56% to ~65% by method), we lead with the more conservative, widely-cited figure.
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AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), also called GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), is the practice of making your business the one that AI answer engines — Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini — cite and recommend when a buyer asks a question. It is the successor to classic SEO for a search world where most queries end without a click.
Because the click is disappearing. Around 56% of Google searches now end without a click, and searches that show an AI Overview are zero-click about 83% of the time. Meanwhile ChatGPT has ~900M weekly users and AI-referred traffic grew ~527% in 2025. If the AI does not name your business in its answer, the buyer never reaches your site — a competitor gets the call.
Ask them. Query the AI engines the way a buyer would ("best [your service] in [your city]") and see whether you are named, named accurately, and named with a link. Ascero AI's free AI Visibility Audit runs that check systematically and shows where you are missing.
Structured data (schema) so engines can parse you; clear, self-contained, citable answers to the questions buyers ask; consistent business information across the web; and presence in the third-party sources AI engines trust. It is a content-and-structure problem, not a single keyword to buy.
Ascero AI runs a free AI Visibility Audit — we ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI the questions your buyers ask, and show you exactly where you are missing and how to fix it.