60% of Searches End Without a Click—Now What?

Your Best SEO Strategy Is Sitting in Your Sales Department

The days of search engine optimization are over. Today, we refer to it as “search everywhere optimization.” While gaining improvement in overall rankings remains important, the amount of traffic that it drives today is significantly less than it was just a year ago. In fact, if your traditional search click-throughs are flat, you are probably doing a pretty great job with your SEO.

The reason for this is due to the proliferation of “zero click searches, meaning the user gets the information from the AI atop the search results and has no need to click on any of the listings below. Overall, although studies vary, up to 60% of searches today don’t result in a click. 

Mobile users are more likely to not click on the traditional listings, primarily given the smaller size of the device. In fact, 77.2% of mobile searches don’t result in a click compared to just 46.5% on desktop computers. (Source: Semrush) So, you can see why Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is essential for B2B brands because many buyers use AI assistants, especially for initial research. 

AEO focuses on making a brand the authoritative source cited in AI-generated responses and that carries a lot of weight with users, because Google and the other search engines are seen as reliable and independent sources of information and recommendation. This third-party validation builds credibility for your brand since it is seen as a trusted source. 

To gain recognition in the AEO, businesses can utilize a variety of strategies. The best way is to create content that helps buyers evaluate products. It is also recommended that you implement Schema markup, Use FAQ’s on your website and blog, and write “How To” content for your own website, as well as third party sites. 

One of the best sites for obtaining AEO content is Quora. The format for Quora lends itself perfectly to AEO, because it is set up as a Q&A format to begin with. LinkedIn is another great source of AEO content as it is seen as a very reliable source for quality information. Finally, there’s Reddit. If you can only provide content on one website, I’d recommend you use Reddit. It is highly reliable and provides third party recommendations that are trusted by the large language models (LLMs) that drive AEO search responses. 

So, how do you specifically know what content to write about in your industry? The best source of information is your own teammates who are in the sales department. They are in the field and are hearing the objections and the information that buyers need to know when making a purchase decision. I’d also recommend that you use tools such as Semrush which track the volume of specific questions that the public is asking online. 

About the Author

Bob Bentz is president of Purplegator Marketing Agency & Consultants in Philadelphia. He has been a frequent public speaker in the search engine optimization business since 2002. Bentz has written three books, including “Relevance Raises Response” (SECOND EDITION). He is an adjunct professor at West Virginia University where he teaches a graduate level course in the Integrated Marketing Communications school.