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Zero-click search

Concept in AI search and SEO
Volatile, last checked 2026-09-04 This page carries measured figures that move quickly.Reviewed 2026-09-04

A zero-click search is a search that ends without the user clicking through to a page outside the search engine. The answer comes from the results page itself, from a knowledge panel, a featured snippet, a local pack or an AI Overview, or the user refines the query and never leaves. Clickstream panels first put the rate above half of all Google searches in June 2019[1], and at 68.01% of US searches in early 2026[2]. The figure depends heavily on the panel and the method, and Google has disputed the framing since 2021[3].

Measurement

SparkToro's 2019 analysis of Jumpshot clickstream data found that in June 2019, for the first time, a majority of browser-based Google.com searches ended with no click[1]. A follow-up on Similarweb data covering 5.1 trillion worldwide searches put the 2020 rate near 65%, split 46.5% on desktop and 77.2% on mobile[4]. SparkToro's 2024 study, on Datos panel data from September 2022 to May 2024, found 58.5% for US searches and 59.7% for the EU[5], and its 2026 study, back on a Similarweb panel, put the US figure at 68.01%[2].

Panel choice moves the number more than behaviour does. A Semrush study of 20,000 US users and 609,809 queries in May 2022 reported 25.6% on desktop and 17.3% on mobile, less than half the clickstream figure for a comparable period[6]. The two SparkToro studies do not agree on 2024 either: the Datos panel read 58.5%[5] where the Similarweb panel read 60.45%[7]. Measured on one panel, the 7.5 points added between 2024 and 2026 are the fastest two-year move SparkToro has recorded[7].

The question, typed once AI overview Sources listed, small, to one side Results below Answered here Session ends No click, no visit The remainder A publisher visit The open web is paid here Impressions hold, clicks fall
The overview sits above the results and answers the question in place, so the click that used to reach a publisher is spent inside the results page.

Clicks reaching the open web

The commercially interesting figure is where the remaining clicks land. In 2024, every 1,000 US Google searches sent 360 clicks to a property Google does not own and that was not an ad, against 374 in the EU[8]. By early 2026 clicks of any kind, Google properties and ads included, had fallen 9.51 points from the 2024 reading, a 22.9% decline[2].

Google's position

Danny Sullivan, Google's Search Liaison, called the methodology behind zero-click claims flawed in March 2021, and said Search sends billions of clicks to websites every day and has sent more traffic to the open web every year since it was built[3]. The two sides count different things: the panels report a share of searches, Google reports absolute click volume.

Relationship to AI Overviews

The 2024 to 2026 acceleration coincides with the rollout of AI Overviews, though a panel cannot separate the two on its own. Similarweb data on news queries showed zero-click rising from 56% in May 2024, when the feature launched, to almost 69% in May 2025[9]. An Ahrefs study of 300,000 keywords, half with an overview and half without, measured a 58% reduction in organic clicks to the top-ranking desktop result by December 2025, against 34.5% in April of that year[10].

Field data outside the vendor panels points the same way. Pew Research Center tracked the browsing of 900 US adults across 68,879 Google searches in March 2025 and found they ended the browsing session entirely on 26% of pages carrying an AI summary, against 16% of pages with only traditional results[11].

Data

  • 360
    United States
  • 374
    European Union
Clicks reaching the open web per 1,000 Google searches, 2024. Figures in clicks/1000.Source: sparktoro.com
Show the numbers (2)
Pointclicks/1000
United States360
European Union374
References (11)
  1. Less than Half of Google Searches Now Result in a Click Archive
    Vendor documentation Published 2019-08-13 Retrieved 2026-09-04 Volatile, last checked 2026-09-04
  2. In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click Archive
    Vendor documentation Published 2026-06-09 Retrieved 2026-09-04 Volatile, last checked 2026-09-04
  3. Google Search sends more traffic to the open web every year Archive
    Vendor documentation Published 2021-03-24 Retrieved 2026-09-04 Contested
  4. Zero-click Google searches rose to nearly 65% in 2020 Archive
    Journalism Published 2021-03-22 Retrieved 2026-09-04 Volatile, last checked 2026-09-04
  5. 2024 Zero-Click Search Study Archive
    Vendor documentation Published 2024-07-02 Retrieved 2026-09-04 Volatile, last checked 2026-09-04
  6. Google search study: 25.6% of desktop, 17.3% of mobile are zero-click
    Vendor documentation Published 2022-10-25 Retrieved 2026-09-04 Single-source Volatile, last checked 2026-09-04
  7. In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click Archive
    Vendor documentation Published 2026-06-09 Retrieved 2026-09-04 Volatile, last checked 2026-09-04
  8. 2024 Zero-Click Search Study Archive
    Vendor documentation Published 2024-07-02 Retrieved 2026-09-04 Volatile, last checked 2026-09-04
  9. How Google AI Overviews is fuelling zero-click searches for top publishers Archive
    Journalism Published 2025-07-07 Retrieved 2026-09-04 Single-source Volatile, last checked 2026-09-04
  10. Google's AI summaries now swallow 58% of clicks that once went to websites Archive
    Journalism Published 2026-02-04 Retrieved 2026-09-04 Volatile, last checked 2026-09-04
  11. Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results
    Academic Published 2025-07-22 Retrieved 2026-09-04 Volatile, last checked 2026-09-04

Last updated 2026-09-04. Written and maintained by Baseline Labs.

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