Search rankings have been a battleground for brands and publishers since the early days of the Web, and in a surprising twist over the past 12 months, as Search evolved into Answer, many are left scratching their heads about how to succeed in a digital ecosystem with new rules.
Tools like Google’s Search Generative Experience and Bing Copilot now serve up instant summaries directly on the search results page. While this makes things faster for users, it comes at a cost. Publishers and brands are seeing less organic traffic, fewer clicks and a changing path to consumer engagement.
For smaller publishers already under pressure from years of digital disruption, this shift could be more than just a challenge. This could threaten their survival.
For publishers, some already struggling to keep up with digital transformation, the consequences of this shift could be catastrophic. When a user query is answered by an AI snapshot at the top of a search result, the need to click through to a news article, blog post or product page drops dramatically.
Falling traffic
Multiple studies have shown that click-through rates on organic listings drop by 40% or more when AI-generated answers are displayed. In extreme cases, traffic to some content types has fallen by up to 80%.
This is part of a growing trend known as zero-click search, where users get the information they need without leaving the search results page. Google and Microsoft are both moving toward this model, aiming to become answer engines rather than just gateways.
For brands, this means fewer opportunities to bring users into owned digital ecosystems where engagement, conversion and data capture happen.
Programmatic advertising is caught in the crossfire. If organic traffic to publisher sites falls, so will the available inventory for open-web display and native advertising. This will tighten supply and raise CPMs (cost per mile), but more likely, it will push even more ad spend into walled gardens like Google, Meta, TikTok, and Amazon.
AI ecosystem
Already, Google is experimenting with ads embedded in AI-generated overviews, keeping both traffic and monetisation within its ecosystem.
Publishers are particularly vulnerable. Their business models, built on a mix of ad revenue, subscriptions, and syndication, depend heavily on search traffic and visibility. If generative AI systems summarise their articles without attribution or traffic, revenue drops.
The risk is systemic: less traffic means less revenue, which means fewer journalists, less original reporting, and a diminished open web.
From a global perspective, the pressure is building. Publishers in the UK, US and Europe are reporting early traffic declines from Google’s SGE. Some are exploring legal action or regulatory intervention. In the EU, SGE and similar features may face scrutiny under the Digital Markets Act.
Traditional SEO strategies
Others are testing structured data and schema markup (JSON-LD format) to make their content more machine-readable and increase the odds of being cited in AI responses.
Brands are also adjusting. Traditional SEO strategies must now account for AI parsing and summarisation. Structured data is more important than ever. Schema types like Product, FAQ, and HowTo give AI clearer signals, improve visibility.
But this visibility may be limited to a brand mention, not a visit to the site. That changes how we think about measurement and ROI.
This is not just a content issue, it’s a behavioural shift. Gen Z is already using TikTok and Instagram as search engines. Around 40% of young users now begin their discovery journey on social platforms rather than Google.
Chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity are gaining traction as alternatives to traditional search. For digital marketers, this means the entire user journey is fragmenting.
Advertising must adapt
Advertising must adapt. We’re entering a phase where brand discovery might happen on TikTok, product comparison on an AI chatbot, and conversion via direct link or social commerce. The open web, once the connective tissue of digital advertising, is losing its central role.
So what can be done? A few strategies are emerging, though far from mature. To stay competitive in an AI-driven search environment, brands and publishers must adopt structured data like JSON-LD, to help AI understand and credit their content, while also optimising formats with clear headers and rich metadata.
Diversifying traffic through newsletters, apps, and social platforms reduces reliance on organic search, and new attribution tools are essential for tracking how content appears in AI summaries. With AI-native ad formats emerging, early experimentation may offer strategic advantages in a shifting digital landscape.
Basically, start again with everything you know.
Technical burden
The coming 12 months will be a trial ground but also put massive technical burden on publishers to adapt quickly. Google’s AI search experiences may roll out more broadly. Publishers and brands that adapt early, structuring content, diversifying channels, and rethinking measurement, will be better positioned.
Those who rely solely on organic traffic may find their reach and revenue squeezed.
Ultimately, AI isn’t killing the open web, but it is forcing a reset. Search has always been a battleground of incentives, with platforms vying to retain users and publishers seeking to earn traffic. With AI summaries, that tension is reaching a new peak.
How the industry responds, both technically and commercially, will determine the future of digital discovery and advertising.
MMA NEXT! Conference
As head of the MMA AI Leadership Coalition for Africa, I am privileged to be at the forefront of AI developments on the continent, and also to act as moderator for the MMA NEXT! Conference which takes place on Thursday [8 May 2025] in Johannesburg.
Here we will be bringing together top voices in marketing, data, technology, and creativity for a high-impact day of ideas, strategy, and leadership – offering attendees a chance to gain insight into the latest innovative technologies, and best practices to move your business to the next level.
Marketers who are ready to tap into the pulse of digital transformation and learn from the leaders shaping ‘what’s next in marketing’ can register here to secure a seat.
Vincent Maher is the CEO of TrueI/O and head of the MMA AI Leadership Coalition for Africa.
