Zero-Click Search
When the answer is delivered without the user visiting the source.
Industry Term
Full explanation
A zero-click search happens when a user gets the information they need directly within a search or AI interface, without visiting the source website. As discovery becomes more answer-led, being accurately represented can matter beyond the click itself.
Why this matters
If a brand only measures clicks, most of its influence on an AI-mediated decision is invisible to it. Being described accurately in an answer nobody clicks through from still shapes what happens next.
Where this sits
Zero-Click Search belongs to AI-Mediated Discovery, one of the seven layers of the Aingworth Glossary. The larger shift Aingworth is talking about, covering Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and whatever comes after them, without depending on any one platform's name.
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