How Zero-Click Searches Are Changing SEO (and What Small Business Owners Can Do About It)

Is SEO Dead? No. But It’s Evolving

Maybe you’ve seen the dramatic headlines: “AI is taking over search,” “ChatGPT is replacing Google,” or “SEO is dead.”

While those takes are a little over the top, they’re not totally wrong. What’s really happening is that Large Language Models (LLMs) are changing how people search and how your business gets discovered. SEO is rapidly changing.

Fact: 1 in 4 Google searches now end without a click.

You’ve probably experienced this yourself. You type a question like “how do I get more seller leads for my real estate business?” into Google, and before you even scroll, you get a full, instant answer. Maybe it was a featured snippet, a short checklist, or an AI-generated summary right at the top of the page. No need to click.

This is a zero-click search, where users get the information they need instantly. It’s no longer a rare event. According to data from March 2025, 27.2% of all Google searches in the U.S. resulted in zero clicks, meaning that more than one in four people are finding answers without ever visiting a website.

Add in tools like Gemini, ChatGPT, and voice assistants like Alexa, and it’s clear that the way people search is shifting rapidly. If you’re a real estate agent, contractor, or any local service provider, this shift matters. If your ideal customer isn’t clicking on your website or even seeing your name in search results, how will they find you?

The good news is that SEO isn’t dead. It’s evolving. If you learn how to adapt, you can still show up, stand out, and win business in this new era of AI-powered search. In fact, that same stat about zero-click searches? The number is actually down from a high of nearly 60% in 2024, showing that a thoughtful strategy can still earn you clicks.

In this post, we’ll break down:

• What zero-click searches and AI mean for your SEO strategy
• How search behavior is evolving
• Simple, actionable steps to stay ahead of the curve, even if you’re new to SEO

Why AI and LLMs Matter for Your Business

What is an LLM?

Before we dig into how SEO is changing and how small business owners need to pivot, let’s answer the question you may be asking: What even is an LLM?

An LLM, or Large Language Model, is a type of artificial intelligence trained on massive amounts of text. That includes everything from books and blog posts to business websites, forums, and customer FAQs. It learns how humans use language so it can answer questions, summarize content, and generate responses that feel natural and helpful. It’s really just predicting text

You’re already interacting with LLMs when you use:

• ChatGPT or Gemini to write emails or brainstorm content ideas
• Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), which summarizes answers at the top of search results
• Voice assistants like Siri or Alexa
• And even Google Maps, when it pulls info from business websites to answer local queries

Instead of pointing users to a bunch of blue links, LLMs try to answer their question directly—in full sentences, based on what they’ve learned from across the web.

Why Does This Matter For Your Business?

It matters a lot for small, local businesses. Your potential customers are asking AI things like:

• “What should I look for in a real estate agent?”
• “How much do plumbers charge to fix a leak?”
• “Who’s the best electrician near me?”

In many cases, they are getting answers before they ever see your brand (if they ever see it). So, how can you show up and stand out?

Here’s the main thing to know:

If your business content doesn’t show up in the LLM’s sources AND people don’t look at the sources, you’re invisible

However, if you understand how LLMs work and what kind of content they prefer, you can position your business as the go-to answer, even if the potential client never clicks a link. In fact, by showing up in trusted sources like Google reviews, your Google Business Profile, or your social media posts, you can completely bypass the need for a search results page click-through.

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💡 Visibility Hack: Don’t Rely on the Click

With zero-click searches on the rise, the goal isn’t just to rank in search results. It’s to show up where your clients are already looking. Get ahead of them searching for you. Be the one they call without looking for someone else in your field.

✅ A well-optimized Google Business Profile
✅ A steady stream of 5-star reviews
✅ Helpful social media posts

These sources are often featured in search results and used by AI tools to build answers.

💬 Pro tip: Posting consistent, helpful content on social media can boost your credibility, even when your website doesn’t get the click.

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AI Is Accelerating Change, But the Rules of Quality Content Still Apply

From zero-click searches to AI-generated summaries, it’s easy to feel like the SEO game has completely changed. In many ways it has, but here’s the good news:

The best way to succeed in AI-powered search is the same thing Google has wanted all along: 
Create high-quality, original content that directly answers the user’s question.

How do I know that? As a former Search Rater, my job was to manually evaluate search results to help train search engine algorithms. I assessed whether content was relevant, helpful, original, and trustworthy. The highest-rated content always best meets the user’s intent.

And guess what? That’s still true today. LLMs just scale that process faster.

Here are three key shifts AI is accelerating, along with how to respond:

🧠Shift 1: People Expect Instant, Clear Answers

More and more people are using AI tools like ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, or voice assistants instead of typing their questions into a search engine. Even when they do use Google, they’re scanning summaries and getting answers instantly.

This means your potential client may never land on your website, even if you rank well. Instead, they’re expecting fast, helpful answers right away.

What to do:

• Focus on real client questions. Write content that answers the exact questions your clients ask you in real life.
• Make content skimmable. Use clear headings, simple language, and bullet points or checklists to make your content easy to understand.
• Write like you speak. Think about how people voice their questions for AI assistants and write naturally.
• Write factual answers. AI gets things wrong as much, if not more, than it gets them right. Take advantage of this by being the trusted guide with correct answers.

📉Shift 2: Search Results Are Changing

Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is pushing traditional results “below the fold” (the point on a webpage where users have to scroll down). AI-generated summaries now appear at the top, often above paid ads and the blue organic links we’re used to.

Additionally, LLMs don’t always cite your work directly. They scan multiple trusted sources to generate an answer.

This means that even if you’ve done everything right with SEO, your page might be too far down to be seen, or it might not show up at all in an LLM conversation.

What to do:

• Structure content for featured snippets and AI summaries. Use FAQ sections, bullet points, and schema markup to help AI tools understand your content.
• Publish on platforms beyond your website. Increase your chances of being cited by publishing helpful content on your Google Business Profile, YouTube, or social media.
• Build a consistent brand voice. Ensure your brand voice is strong across all channels.

✍️Shift 3: Expectations for Content Are Higher Than Ever

AI tools and search engines can spot “thin” (low-quality) content from a mile away. Just like before, they want content written by real people with real experiences. That’s why it’s still important to present yourself as a genuine expert in your field.

Here’s what to do:

• Use real-world examples. Share personal tips, client stories, or real examples from your work.
• Add a personal touch. Include an author bio or “about” section to build trust and authority.
• Be the expert. Share the latest market trends that AI tools may not know about yet.

Here’s the bottom line: you don’t need to outsmart AI. You need to out-help your competition. That’s not hard, considering most small business owners have little to no content marketing strategy.

What This Means for SEO in 2026: Put Quality Over Quantity

If you run a small business and you’ve tried blogging, you’ve probably heard that the key to SEO is to churn out blog posts weekly or even daily. You probably guffawed at that. Because it’s not realistic for small business owners. Steller content creation is a full-time job.

Good news! That advice is super outdated. In fact, it’s actually harmful.

Why? Because more content does not equal more visibility. What’s the point of posting every Tuesday if no one reads it? That’s a lot of work for nothing.

In an AI-powered world, high-performing content isn’t about volume; it’s about value.

As a former Search Rater, I saw firsthand that search engines reward content that’s highly relevant, original, and useful. This hasn’t changed, but the bar is higher than ever.

Here’s what that means in practice:

Create Content With Purpose

Instead of cranking out shallow blog posts to fill a content calendar, create content that:

• Speaks directly to your audience’s hyper-local questions
• Showcases your real-world knowledge and experiences
• Lives long enough to build traction (evergreen content)

For real estate agents, that might mean writing a blog post about what homes are really selling for in a community or the specific home features buyers are looking for right now, based on your experience. Even better, build out dedicated pages for individual subdivisions that provide information people can’t find elsewhere. From my experience, you will get calls about the neighborhoods you build content for. Not every call will be “right now” business, but it will allow you to talk to a new person who called you (rather than you cold calling them, getting cussed at, and hung up on). This kind of content produces opportunities.

This tactic applies to other small business owners, too, not just Realtors.

• A plumber might create a resource page for emergency leak repair in older homes in their city.
• A landscaper could build a “What to plant in [zip code]” seasonal guide. Or, “Yard Maintenance To Do This Month in [City].”
• A mortgage broker might do a deep dive on local first-time home buyer programs with real examples.

By focusing on content that is specific, useful, and grounded in your local expertise, you will outperform generic blog posts every single time.

Focus Where Big Competitors Can’t

You’re never going to outrank Zillow, Realtor.com, or HomeAdvisor for broad search terms. However, you can easily outrank them with long-tail queries, neighborhood-specific topics, and problem-specific searches that the big sites don’t cover well.

The best part? Those searches may have lower traffic numbers, but they are made by real people who are ready to hire someone like you. In fact, that’s the sweet spot in SEO.

Expand Beyond Just Blogging

Blog posts are fantastic, but they are only a piece of the content marketing puzzle. Think about:

• Building evergreen service area pages
• Highlighting real projects, case studies, stories, recent wins, or problems solved.
• Posting Q&A-style content to social media that answers real client questions.

A great example of this is a local builder I know who posts daily on Facebook under the title, “Today in building…” He shares a real headache or challenge from the job site, sometimes including a simple fix or just asking fellow pros if they’ve faced a similar issue.

The result is content that is consistently interesting, relatable, and builds serious trust with both peers and potential clients. Remember, you don’t have to be polished. You just have to be real. Sharing your day-to-day expertise, whether it’s a short video or a simple post, is a powerful way to show up where it counts and beat AI.

How to Adapt Your SEO Strategy for the AI Era

AI hasn’t replaced SEO; it’s just raised the bar for what works.

To stay visible and competitive, you don’t need more content. You need a smarter strategy. These four moves will help you show up where it matters most.

Create Content Based on Real Questions

“Writing helpful content” isn’t enough. The real win is writing content that your ideal client is already searching for.

To find out what they’re asking, try this:

• Open your inbox or DMs. What questions do people keep asking you? If you’ve explained something multiple times, it deserves a blog post or PDF guide (which you can send out next time someone asks the question).
• Google the questions you keep getting asked, then use Google’s “People Also Ask” and “People Also Search For” boxes at the bottom of a search result page.
• Ask ChatGPT or Gemini: “What questions do homeowners in [zip code] ask before hiring a [your profession]?”

Audit and Update Existing Content

You don’t have to toss out old blog posts. They might be showing up in search, but not delivering the results you’re looking for.

Instead, give them a refresh:

• ✅Use Google Search Console to identify your top-performing pages
• ✅Ask, “Does this content still reflect my business today?”
• ✅Update headlines, clarify value, add internal links, and match content to current search intent.

💡Pro Tip: Combine to go deeper. If you have several short posts covering a similar topic (like five weak blog posts from 2014) consider merging them into one well-structured, in-depth resource. Not only does this serve your audience better, it reduces competition between your own pages (known as keyword cannibalization). Be sure to redirect the old content to the new content so you don’t lose “link juice.”

Go Beyond Your Google Business Profile Basics

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is more than a digital business card. It’s one of the first places AI tools check to verify your business.

To stand out, do this:

• Post weekly in the “Updates” section with FAQs, tips, and new listings or projects
• Upload photos of your actual work, such as homes you’ve sold, kitchens you’ve renovated, or decks you’ve built.
• Use natural, location-based language in your business description and posts
• Ask for Google reviews regularly (more on this topic below).

These small actions build trust and increase your chances of being included in AI-powered results and local searches.

Leverage Reviews As Content

When people search online, they don’t just want information – they want proof. Reviews, recommendations, referrals, and testimonials are one of the most powerful signals of trust. This goes for both IRL (in real life) people and for the AI tools pulling information to answer user questions. Think about your own customer journey when considering a service or product. Like the rest of us, you probably read reviews before making a decision.

Here’s why your reviews matter:

• AI pays attention. Tools like Google’s SGE and ChatGPT scan reviews to gauge what real people are saying about your business.
• Customers trust them. According to BrightLocal, 98% of people read online reviews for local businesses. A strong review presence can make the difference between someone calling you or scrolling past.
• They’re content gold. A review that says, “This plumber fixed a leak in my 1950s home in Raleigh in less than an hour” is packed with natural keywords, local context, and social proof. All of which boost your visibility.

What to do:

• ✅Ask regularly. Don’t just hope and pray for reviews to trickle in. Make it an integral part of your process to ask for feedback after a service call, sale, or consultation.
• ✅Encourage specifics. Guide your clients by prompting them with a question like, “Can you share what town you were in or what service we helped you with?” It’s far more valuable if a client says, “She helped us buy our first home in Zebulon,” than simply, “Great experience!”
• ✅Make it easy. Don’t just say “leave me a review.” Share the direct link to your Google Business Profile or preferred platform. Even better, send it in a follow-up email or text. The fewer steps a client has to take, the more likely they are to actually leave a review.
• ✅Repurpose reviews. They aren’t just testimonials; they’re free, user-generated content that shows you’re the real deal. Use them in your blog posts, landing pages, on social media, and in email newsletters.

💡Pro Tip: Turn one review into many. When people see reviews being featured in your posts or marketing, it sparks a “me too” reaction. Clients want their experience recognized, and showcasing reviews gives them that chance at a little spotlight. This creates a ripple effect: one review turns into many.

Make Content AI-Friendly

AI-powered search engines don’t reward keyword-stuffed blogs anymore. They reward content that is credible, clear, and easy to pull into a quick answer. Here’s how to make your content stand out to AI and to real people:

• ✅Be the Source, Not Just the Summary: AI pulls from original, trustworthy content. Don’t just repackage what big sites like Zillow or HomeAdvisor already said. Share insights from your own experience, like case studies, project stories, and lessons learned. This firsthand expertise is your secret weapon that’s impossible for AI to replicate. Bonus, humans will connect with it in a way that isn’t possible with generic AI summaries.
• ✅Format for Both Humans and Machines: Your content should be easy for both a person and a machine to scan. Use clear headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs. When your answer is easy to pull, AI is more likely to showcase it.
• ✅Keep It Fresh: AI rewards recent, active content. Outdated blog posts get buried, but updated guides, fresh examples, and current stats keep your site relevant in the eyes of search engines.
• ✅Talk to Machines with Schema: This sounds technical, but it’s simple. Schema markup is code that tells search engines exactly what your content is about. For example, you can add “FAQ schema” to a blog post so AI tools know what the questions and answers are. In WordPress, you can add this with a simple SEO plugin, no coding required.

Bring It All Together

SEO in the AI era isn’t about chasing gimmicks. It’s about clarity, trust, and staying relevant. You’ve now seen how to adapt by focusing on quality over quantity, answering the exact questions people ask, and leaning into your firsthand expertise.

Knowing this isn’t enough. The businesses that act now, even in small ways, will be the ones AI tools surface tomorrow. Don’t feel like you have to do everything at once. Pick just one of these actions and put it into practice this month:

• Ask for a review from your last client.
• Post a recent review to social media
• Post an FAQ on social media
• Write a blog post about the most common client question you hear.
• Update an old blog post with clearer answers
• Add a bio to your website to build trust

👉 Not sure where to start or need help with implementation? That’s what we do for small business owners every day. We’ll help you create a strategy that works today and still works tomorrow as AI keeps evolving. Schedule a free strategy session to get started.

This new approach to content is being referred to as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). We’ll dig into this new term in a future blog post, so stay tuned.