Matt: Welcome back to Growth Unleashed, the podcast for pet brands that want to grow smarter without relying on paid ads. I’m Matt, the founder of Bubblegum Search.
Louis: And I’m Louis, the SEO manager here at Bubblegum. Today we wanted to discuss this developing idea of a zero-click environment in online search. This isn’t exactly new. This is something we’ve been seeing for the last few years on Google search results. They’ve been adding features and changing it. And essentially what is happening, as I think it was Rand Fishkin that coined this term…
Matt: Or Amanda from SparkToro, I think it might have been, but yeah.
Louis: …is yeah, there’s fewer clicks flying around online. And it’s worrying a lot of online businesses, and it seems to be a fundamental change to the way that people are searching online.
Matt: Definitely. And especially as AI Overviews is here now and has been rolling out as well. And again, to be clear, we’re not saying that clicks aren’t the goal or clicks aren’t what we want. But in 2025, you don’t earn the click unless your brand is showing up where your audience has already been influenced. Of course, today we’re going to break down how brands can adapt and thrive in this new search environment.
Louis: Before that, though, I think it would be helpful if we defined zero-click search and why it’s got businesses worried.
Matt: Zero-click means when someone performs a query, the answer is shown directly in the search results and they don’t need to click through to a website. That’s why it’s zero-click. The user is satisfied without leaving the results page. And while AI Overviews is a big part of that, this has been happening for a while. Featured snippets and rich results have been increasing – People Also Ask, Knowledge Panels, Local Packs, Product Carousels – especially in ecommerce.
Matt: AI Overviews are now shifting toward AI Mode as well. So we’re seeing some of the biggest changes in years. And it’s not just Google. This trend has been happening across social platforms, where you’re penalised for adding outbound links. They don’t want you leaving their platform. All of this contributes to this zero-click world. That’s why we’re big advocates of zero-click marketing – how to combat this and what to do about it.
Louis: And people aren’t just searching on Google anymore. LLMs like ChatGPT and Perplexity are starting to eat into Google’s share. They’re designed to keep you in the chat instead of sending you to a website. They give you the answer directly.
Matt: Exactly. All these things have hit around the same time and created a new environment that’s affecting how brands get discovered.
Louis: And just to be clear, zero-click sounds dramatic. It’s not literally zero clicks.
Matt: Right. There was a recent study we did with Acura that compared 2024 to 2023. It showed keyword groupings by intent – informational or commercial – and compared clickthrough rates by device. A year ago, the first position on mobile had about a 30% CTR. After AI Overviews rolled out, that dropped to about 15 to 16%. So yes, clickthrough rates are down, but not gone entirely.
Louis: Yeah, the SEO world’s being a bit dramatic.
Matt: We were spoiled for a long time. It doesn’t mean ranking isn’t worth it anymore – it definitely is. But across the board, there are fewer clicks than there used to be. That’s the big shift. But like we’ll talk about today, there are ways to reclaim that visibility and build brand awareness even without the click.
Louis: Also worth pointing out – clicks might be down, but revenue isn’t necessarily. Rand Fishkin’s study showed this, and we’ve seen it with clients too. People still buy – they just don’t follow the same linear journey. You might only ever see the final click that converts. All the discovery happens elsewhere now.
Matt: Exactly. More touchpoints on the journey. So less traffic doesn’t mean less revenue.
Louis: Right. So let’s talk about why this matters especially for pet brands.
Matt: Go for it.
Louis: Pet brands serve pet parents, and trust is absolutely key to them. AI Overviews, featured snippets, and LLM answers are all based on the perceived trustworthiness of an entity. So if someone asks, “What are the best dog food brands in 2025?” – those top few that get mentioned are going to get all the trust. If you’re not there, your competitors will be. They’ll earn the click, the visit, the brand recall. You want to be the recommended brand – in snippets, People Also Ask, even in LLM answers from ChatGPT and Perplexity.
Matt: Exactly. You want to be the instant answer. Even if they don’t click right away, you’re the one that keeps showing up. That earns direct searches and brand recall later.
Matt: To do that, you need to build trust with both Google and AI systems. That means strong on-page structure, correct schema, high-authority backlinks, and branded mentions in the right places – where your audience is already paying attention. Being visible where your audience is being influenced is everything.
Louis: As an agency, we’ve been focused on improving zero-click marketing over the last year and a half. We’ve identified some really effective tactics. Let’s run through a few of those.
Matt: Cool. So the first one is your owned content – making sure your content is well structured, readable, and easy for AI to parse. That means short paragraphs, subheadings, bullet points – and no big walls of text.
Matt: We also recommend doing a SERP feature audit. Look at which SERP features appear for the keywords you care about. Then look at what percentage of those you currently own – and where the gaps are. Based on that, you can implement the right schema to help you appear in those results.
Matt: That could be People Also Ask, image packs, local packs, or product carousels. Especially important for ecommerce brands. And there are loads of schema types – product, FAQ, how-to, review – it’s a long list. That audit shows what’s missing and what to implement.
Louis: Totally. One upside to this new SERP landscape is you can now appear multiple times on the same results page. In the past, unless you were cannibalising, you might show up once organically and once via paid. But now, if you get it right, you could be in the shopping pack, People Also Ask, and the local map pack – all at once. That’s huge visibility.
Louis: The key is trust. If the audience sees you repeatedly, you become the reliable brand. And that helps even in zero-click environments.
Matt: Yep. The other side of this is off-site. Be where your audience already spends time. Get reviewed by the YouTubers they follow, mentioned by Instagrammers they trust, or recommended in Reddit threads. These all help Google and LLMs decide you’re worth featuring.
Louis: Exactly. You’re building authority and brand salience. You want to own more mindshare than your competitors at every stage of the journey.
Matt: So the takeaway is this: the SERP is more packed than ever. Most users are making decisions before they ever visit your site. So in a zero-click world, you need to influence them before they land.
Louis: That comes through schema, content structure, digital PR, and brand building – all designed to earn visibility before the click.
Matt: And it’s ongoing. Google keeps changing. AI mode might become the default search method soon. So it’s about staying on top of these changes and staying visible.
Louis: If you’re unsure whether your brand is showing up in all the right places, book a free authority audit. We’ll show you what’s showing up – and what’s not.
Matt: Thanks for listening, and we’ll catch you next time.