Dude, where's my traffic?

The facts speak for themselves: Your organic traffic is declining. The question is what to do about it.

It’s no secret that the volume of referral traffic on the web is decreasing (referral traffic shows a 6.7% decline from June 2024 to June 2025¹) while simultaneously the overall number of web users and searches is actually increasing (324 million total US users in 2025 versus 320 million in 2024²). How can both statements possibly be true? The answer lies in generative AI and the phenomena of the Zero Click search. In other words, while AI platforms are sending more traffic to sites, it’s not enough to offset the bigger losses from search driven visits.

Understanding how user intent impacts search volume in the AI era

To help make sense of this it’s important to understand how the web works today. Google tries to translate the question of user need based on what it sees as the intent, of which there are four basic types: navigational, commercial, entertainment, and informational. Let’s look at each one:

Navigational intent: Users simply looking for a brand’s website. They Google it and follow the link.
Commercial intent: Users who wish to buy something and already have a good idea of what will suit their needs and budget.
Entertainment intent: Self-explanatory — users seeking entertainment content.
Informational intent: This is the largest single category, representing approximately 53% of all searches.³ These users have experienced a change in their life and now need a new product or service. They’re looking to educate themselves on their options.

This last type of search is the one most under threat from generative AI because users are getting answers to their questions directly from AI Overviews and AI platforms like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini, to name a few. That means they do not need to click on a link at all — hence the term “Zero Click.”

The shift in search behavior

Users have also become increasingly sophisticated in customizing their search behavior to find answers more specific to their needs — a phenomenon known as long-tail search terms. This has resulted in an increase in the average number of keywords used in a typical search, rising to seven or eight words.⁴

What does this shift mean? Users now demand answers tailored to their specific circumstances rather than generic information. This is where answer bots really come into their own; they respond with precise, contextual responses in natural language and in real time.

We all understood that once Google established itself as the market leader in the early 2000s, no direct competitor would develop a better search engine using the same approach. The only thing that would challenge Google’s dominance would be when someone invented a fundamentally better way to access information that was stored on the web. That time has now arrived.

The death of content marketing as we know it?

The era of content marketing that flooded the internet with lengthy, keyword-stuffed articles is over. For example, nobody wants to scroll through a food blogger’s childhood memories, the entire history of Italian cuisine, and the global impact of pasta just to find a spaghetti recipe.

Users want specific, actionable results tailored to their exact needs, like a recipe that uses the ingredients they actually have in their kitchen right now. Answer bots are great at delivering precisely this type of personalized, relevant information instantly.

The path forward: Four strategic pillars

There’s no magic bullet right now. Marketers are figuring out the new rules around search as we speak. It’s also true that each of the answer bots are different. They each have their own characteristics, outputs, and biases as they have been trained on different data. However, there are several foundational strategies you can implement:

Enhanced SEO fundamentals. Despite all these changes, there’s still substantial organic traffic to capture. The basics remain important, but with new priorities. Large Language Models (LLMs) show clear preference for content created following Google’s E-E-A-T principles (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Content that appears in Google’s AI Overviews or ChatGPT responses tends to be conversational yet direct, well-structured, and backed by authoritative sources.⁵
Technical optimization for AI systems. The major Generative AI platforms each have different training approaches and inherent biases, but certain technical elements consistently improve content discoverability. Schema markup becomes even more critical for helping AI understand content context, while clean site architecture and structured content formatting enable better AI parsing. Good content structure prioritizes clear hierarchies, scannable formats, and fast-loading, crawlable sites that both traditional search engines and AI systems can process quickly.
Direct relationship building. Brands can no longer rely solely on Google traffic. Building first-party relationships through email marketing, retargeting, and direct traffic strategies becomes essential. This includes creating memorable brand experiences, exclusive resources, and community features that encourage direct engagement.
Strategic social media presence. While building on third-party platforms carries inherent risks, social media remains a vital tool for reaching audiences. The focus shifts from broadcasting to building authentic communities around your brand, recognizing that these platforms are part of a diversified discovery strategy rather than the foundation. In this instance, it’s ok to build sandcastles on other peoples beaches!

Looking ahead

The internet hasn’t changed entirely just yet. For example, ChatGPT still only handles some 37 million queries per day⁶, while Google is handling 8.5 billion. But we are not far from seeing significant changes in how users navigate the marketing funnel. The marketing and advertising industries are both bracing for big shifts, with eMarketer saying AI agents could cause a 38% drop in advertising exposure during discovery and 47% during consideration.

This will redefine the upper funnel and reshape digital marketing⁷. Marketers still need to focus on what’s immediately ahead of them, and also need to stay ahead of these changes, continuing to iterate based on insights from consumers’ changing search behavior. The brands that will thrive are those that combine technical excellence with genuine value creation, delivered through content, with direct relationships they’ve built with their audience.

Need help navigating these changes?

We’ve been working with clients to implement these strategies across a number of industries, and we understand the nuances of optimizing for both traditional search and AI discovery. If you’re looking to adapt your approach for this evolving landscape, we’d be happy to discuss how these principles apply to your specific situation. If you’d like help, please get in touch with me directly [email protected].

Author Bio

Robin Riddle is the Chief Strategy Officer at DDM Content Solutions. He works across B2B as well as B2C and specializes in financial services, insurance and healthcare. Prior to his time here, he led content marketing businesses at both The Economist and The Wall Street Journal. A passionate advocate for the value of content marketing, Riddle is also heavily involved in industry issues and speaks at many events on the intersections of content marketing, native advertising and AI.

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