For all the talk about zero-click search, folks seem to keep overlooking one of its key consequences: How Google (and others) will make money. In short, Google can’t survive in a zero-click world. Their entire business depends on clicks. Paid clicks.

The shift towards zero-click results signals a genuine turning point for how you think about marketing your business, in part, because it will absolutely grow your costs for acquiring new customers.

So, what’s the real story behind zero-click search? Does it forecast a world where Google is doomed? And, most importantly, what does it mean for your business? That’s what this episode of the podcast is all about.

Want to learn more? Here are the show notes for you.

AI and Zero-Click Search: The Real Story (Episode 467) — Headlines and Show Notes

Show Notes and Links

• The Rise of Agentic AI Among Your Customers (Episode 466)


• Exploration–exploitation dilemma – Wikipedia


• Revisiting The Brand is the Prompt (Thinks Out Loud) – Tim Peter & Associates


• Traffic Is Down; Revenue Is… Up? – SparkToro


• Revisiting AI is Eating the World (Thinks Out Loud)


• Google Earnings Q2 2025 PDF Link


• Google briefs brands on AI Mode ads ahead of Q4 rollout


• Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript | Seeking Alpha


• The Zero-Click Future: How Customer Behavior is Rewriting Digital Strategy – Becoming Radical | Podcast on Spotify


• Tim’s LinkedIn post about zero-click marketing — or, y’know, marketing


• AI in Search: Driving more queries and higher quality clicks


• The Future Of Search: 5 Key Findings On What Buyers Really Want


• AI Search Currently Drives Less Than 1% of Traffic To Most Sites, Google Is Still Dominant, and Watch The Long-term Risk of Igno


• Google and Bing Tests Search Title Expansion, Colors & Location Moves


• From Ranking to Reasoning: Philosophies Driving GEO Brand Presence Tools


• Google briefs brands on AI Mode ads ahead of Q4 rollout


• Industry Pioneer Reveals Why SEO Isn’t Working & What To Refocus On


• AI Search Changes Everything – Is Your Organization Built To Compete?


• How LLMs Interpret Content: How To Structure Information For AI Search


• Why Your SEO Isn’t Working, And It’s Not The Team’s Fault

Buy the Book — Digital Reset: Driving Marketing and Customer Acquisition Beyond Big Tech

Tim Peter has written a new book called Digital Reset: Driving Marketing Beyond Big Tech. You can learn more about it here on the site. Or buy your copy on Amazon.com today.

Past Appearances

Rutgers Business School MSDM Speaker: Series: a Conversation with Tim Peter, Author of "Digital Reset"

Free Downloads

We have some free downloads for you to help you navigate the current situation, which you can find right here:

• A Modern Content Marketing Checklist. Want to ensure that each piece of content works for your business? Download our latest checklist to help put your content marketing to work for you.


• Digital & E-commerce Maturity Matrix. As a bonus, here’s a PDF that can help you assess your company’s digital maturity. You can use this to better understand where your company excels and where its opportunities lie. And, of course, we’re here to help if you need it. The Digital & E-commerce Maturity Matrix rates your company’s effectiveness — Ad Hoc, Aware, Striving, Driving — in 6 key areas in digital today, including:
  
  
  
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  • Strategy
  
  
  • Technology
  
  
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  • Data