VP, Search
While website traffic is declining due to zero-click and AI summaries, this doesn’t mean buyers have disappeared. Instead, they’re initiating their journeys in a new way, through conversational AI engines and autonomous agents. The key takeaway for marketers is to shift from viewing a website as a destination to an “information engine” that fuels both human and AI interactions.
Is your website traffic declining? You’re not alone. Across the board, B2B marketers are seeing a drop in organic traffic, but before you panic, let’s be clear: this doesn’t mean buyers have vanished. They’re simply starting their journey in a new place, driven by the rise of artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs).
AI isn’t killing search; it’s evolving it. Your audience is still there, but instead of clicking through to your site, they’re starting their research with a conversational prompt, a zero-click search, or an AI-powered summary. This shift demands a new strategy, one that transforms your website from a mere destination into an information engine built to fuel both human and AI interactions.
The Rise of Zero-Click Experiences
The data is undeniable. Multiple studies confirm a clear and significant shift in how people find information online:
This is not a slow burn; it’s a pivotal shift in how traffic is generated and consumed, all thanks to the increasing prevalence of AI Overviews, LLM models, GenAI platforms and other zero-click formats. These powerful engines directly answer user questions, bypassing the need for a click.
Not only is this shift in behavior impacting site traffic, it’s also impacting current paid media performance. With click traffic diminishing, advertisers are competing more aggressively for the traffic that remains. This shift is inflating CPCs and degrading CTRs by pushing ads further down the SERP.
Brand Visibility Is Your Ultimate Goal
In this zero-click world, brand visibility becomes your most valuable asset. When an AI provides a summary, it sources from trusted names and authoritative sources. Your goal is to be one of them. Strong brand equity ensures your company appears in those AI overviews and agentic recommendations, making you part of the conversation long before a potential customer ever visits your site.
Interestingly, while top-of-funnel clicks may be down, homepage traffic from AI Overviews is actually up for many brands—hinting that brand trust surfaces when it matters most⁶. This shift shows that when a user sees a brand they know and trust in an AI summary, they are more likely to seek out your homepage directly to learn more.
AI Optimization Is a Holistic Discipline
Thriving in this new ecosystem requires more than just traditional SEO. Your AI optimization strategy must weave together multiple disciplines to create a unified presence across all channels.
Think of your website not just as a destination, but as a dynamic information engine designed to serve both human and AI agents. Complement your content with distribution spread across third-party content syndicates. Ensure your brand is part of the discussion in the most relevant digital communities.
High-Quality Content Will Never Die
Despite the changes, the fundamentals of marketing still apply: high-quality content wins. Google’s EEAT framework—Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness—is now more critical than ever. Early evidence shows that AI models disproportionately pull from sources with strong EEAT signals, such as expert-authored content, cited research, and reputable brands.
Key considerations for marketers:
While AI-generated summaries may answer quick questions, business buyers still turn to high-quality, branded content to validate use cases, compare solutions, and gain the confidence they need before making a purchase.
Optimizing For Your Human + AI Audience
When you create and optimize content, consider three distinct areas of focus and consumption by both humans and AI: SEO, GEO and AEO. SEO is designed to help humans find your content in traditional search. GEO and AEO are two subsets of AIO (think inbound vs. outbound). Each serves a distinct purpose within the content ecosystem.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization
Generative Engine Optimization
Answer Engine Optimization
The practice of improving a website’s visibility in traditional search engines (Google, Bing) via organic rankings.
The emerging practice of optimizing content so that it’s surfaced, cited, or summarized accurately in AI-powered generative search(e.g., ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini).
The practice of structuring content to be selected as direct answers in search engines (featured snippets, voice assistants, zero-click answers).
Drive traffic to a website.
Drive visibility & inclusion in AI-generated results.
Drive exposure & authority by being the trusted direct answer source.
User clicks links from SERPs and visits sites.
User often sees summarized answers directly in chat/AI engines (less clicking, more referencing).
User receives a short, authoritative answer without necessarily visiting the site.
Blog posts, landing pages, long-form content, technical pages.
Rich, context-aware content: explainer articles, authoritative guides, multi-modal assets (text, video, charts).
FAQs, how-tos, short definitions, concise and structured answers.
Google Search, Bing, Yahoo
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude
Google Featured Snippets, Bing Answer Box, Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant
Agentic Buying and the Role of Multimodal Content
The next frontier in B2B is agentic buying, where AI agents autonomously research, shortlist, and even make preliminary contact with vendors on behalf of a human buyer. Imagine a future where an AI agent, tasked with finding a new CRM, doesn’t just “search” but autonomously shortlists vendors, compares features, and even generates a list of qualifying questions for a sales team—all without a human ever visiting a product page. Your content must be structured to be a part of that agent’s “data set” from the very beginning.
AI models are also becoming increasingly multimodal, processing more than just text. This means your podcast transcripts, video subtitles, and even infographics can be key sources for an AI to pull from. B2B marketers should view every piece of content, regardless of format, as a potential input for an AI engine. A software firm’s podcast discussing the future of supply chain automation, for instance, could be transcribed, indexed, and cited by an AI when a logistics manager asks a conversational query about new tech solutions.
The Future of Advertising: Contextual Is Coming
AI platforms aren’t just changing how people find information; they’re also creating the next frontier for digital advertising. The monetization models are already in motion, and the changes will be significant.
This new ad landscape is already taking shape on leading AI platforms:
Other AI platforms are testing monetization through ads and it has become clear that we can expect to either subscribe to AI models or expect ads to subsidize their use. The early ad models are indicating that context is key and we are definitely moving away from the keyword based targeting that has powered search for decades.
According to Insider Intelligence, nearly 65% of marketers expect to shift budgets into AI-driven contextual ads by 2026⁷. Now is the time to prepare by experimenting with contextual targeting, building AI-ready creative assets, and securing budgets that allow for early adoption when these ad formats officially roll out.
Strategic Recommendations for B2B Marketers
The landscape is changing, but your audience is still waiting to be reached. By adapting your strategy now, you can position your brand for success in the AI-first world.
Actionable Strategies:
How is your organization adapting its content and search strategy to meet buyers in this new AI-powered landscape? Contact Just Global today to discuss our AI Answer Engine Visibility Report and how our team can support your brand’s continued growth.
B2B marketers have a rare chance to get ahead of a fast-emerging ad channel. ChatGPT Ads are not a paid search replacement, but they can help brands reach users during research and exploration moments.
Just Global | Trilliad and NinjaCat are partnering to scale responsible AI across B2B marketing. Together, the teams have built more than 150 AI agents to streamline workflows, unlock efficiency, and help marketers focus on strategy, optimization, and client impact.
Just Global | Trilliad is now a LinkedIn Ads Certified Agency, with certified specialists across LinkedIn Ads Fundamentals, Marketing Strategy, Measurement, and Content and Creative Design. For B2B brands, that means sharper audience planning, stronger campaign execution, and clearer reporting tied to business impact.