Search behavior changed faster in the last 18 months than in the previous decade. AI answers now sit above the fold for most informational queries, zero-click results keep climbing, and yet — our client portfolio grew organic revenue 34% year over year. The traffic didn't disappear. It moved.
This is our data from $50M+ in managed spend across 60 active clients, and the playbook we've rebuilt around it.
Informational queries are gone. Good riddance.
The top of the funnel got absorbed by AI answers — but those clicks never converted well anyway. What still drives clicks, consistently, are queries with commercial and transactional intent: comparisons, pricing, alternatives, reviews. Buyers still want to see the source before they spend.
Where we're winning right now
- Comparison and alternatives pages — the highest-converting template in our portfolio, and AI engines cite them constantly.
- Original data studies — proprietary numbers earn links and AI citations simultaneously.
- Brand search cultivation — social and PR investment now shows up directly in branded query volume.
Stop optimizing for the click you lost. Optimize for the citation you can win — AI engines are the new page one.
The playbook, condensed
Audit which of your pages AI engines already cite. Double down on templates with commercial intent. Publish original data quarterly. And measure branded search growth as a first-class KPI — it's the clearest signal that your brand, not just your content, is winning the category.
Search isn't dying. It's consolidating around trust — and that's an advantage for brands willing to earn it.
Daniel Fisher
July 15, 2026The point about branded search as a first-class KPI finally made this click for me. We've been treating it as a vanity metric while our comparison pages quietly drove most of our pipeline.