Zero-click search: what it means for your business

A zero-click search is a Google search that ends without the person clicking a result. Picture someone reading your phone number on Google and ringing you without opening your website. You got the call but your website saw nothing.

Here’s a made-up example. Someone in Marrickville searches for a plumber and sees one firm’s number on Google. They tap the call button and the phone rings in the plumber’s van. The plumber’s website records no visit. Whether this counts as zero-click depends on who is counting but the call still has to be answered and written down.

Our AI SEO agency can help you track what happens before a click as well as after it. AI answers can end a search the same way. Work on how they describe a firm is called GEO, short for generative engine optimisation. Our guide on what is GEO explains it.

What should you do about zero-click search?

Treat every search as a chance to be found even when no click follows. These five steps cost little.

1. Check the phone number, opening hours, service area and website link that Google shows for you.
2. Make sure the call button rings a number that gets answered.
3. Open the performance page in your Google Business Profile and note calls, direction requests and website clicks each month.
4. Keep your own record of enquiries and ask every new customer how they found you.
5. Give people a reason to visit your website, such as real project photos, a price guide and a simple quote request.

What is a zero-click search?

A zero-click search is a search that ends without a click on any result. SparkToro defined it in 2024 as a search that ends without clicking on any of the results presented.²

Wikipedia uses the term more widely. It describes a zero-click result as one where the person gets what they want on the results page itself.³ Under that wider idea someone who reads your hours on Google and then rings you counts too. Your website numbers can’t see someone who never reaches your website.

Definition: A search result page is the page Google shows after a search. A zero-click rate counts the searches that meet one study’s no-click rule. A search with no website visit is a different measure, because a person can tap the call button on your Google listing without opening your site.

Can customers contact you without visiting your website?

Yes, because your Google Business Profile has buttons for calls, directions and your website and Google counts each action on its own.⁴

Google describes the calls figure as the number of times a customer clicked the call button.⁴ That is a tap and not a connected call. Google also says the data counts actions from ordinary search results and from Google Ads.⁴ So don’t treat the total as free traffic. Google only shows this data for verified profiles. You see just the figures that apply to you.⁴

The call button works best when someone answers it. A customer who can’t reach you may ring the next firm, whatever the dashboard says.

How common is zero-click search in Australia?

We found no Australian figure in the studies we read so we don’t give one. The best public numbers on zero-click searches come from the United States (US) and the European Union (EU).

Please don’t read the jump from 58.5% to 68.01% as a trend. The two studies used other data panels and other rules. SparkToro’s own author says its comparison graph “compares a bit of apples and oranges”.¹

For a small Sydney firm the useful number is your own. Count how many people saw your listing and how many tapped call. Then count how many became jobs.

How do you measure more than website clicks?

Count each step on its own: seeing your listing, tapping a button, sending an enquiry and booking a job. Use the table below each month.

Don’t add the rows together because each one is counted in its own way. Google says Search Console helps you monitor and improve how your website does in Google Search.⁶ It counts appearances and clicks and doesn’t count customers. Our guide to tracking AI traffic in Google Analytics covers visits from AI tools. Our AI visibility guide covers how to track what AI answers say about you.

Kavera note: SHORE’s non-brand Google appearances increased from 1,204 to 9,492, about 7.9x, between two four-week windows. The periods were 22 June to 19 July 2026 and 4 September to 1 October 2026, covering Australian searches across its website and Maps listing together. SHORE is our client.

Do fewer website visits mean SEO has stopped working?

Not by itself, so check what changed before you blame Google or AI.

Look at which searches your pages appear for in Search Console and whether your enquiries changed too. Compare periods of the same length. Google says sites that appear in its AI features are counted in the overall search traffic in Search Console. They are reported in the Web search type.⁷ So you can’t split AI answers out of the standard report. Search Console also has a separate Generative AI performance report. It counts how many times links to your site were shown in AI Overviews and AI Mode. That is a count of impressions and not of clicks.⁸ A site whose links haven’t been shown often enough may not see the report at all.⁸ Our Google AI Overviews guide covers how a page can appear there.

Kavera note: In our Sydney trades check we recorded a business mention apart from a source link. A name can appear while the link goes to a directory or review site. Directory links appeared in 14 of 50 completed Perplexity answers and 8 of 50 ChatGPT answers. Someone can see your name in an AI answer and still not reach your website.

What should a tradie change first?

Fix the details people can use without visiting you. Google says businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results.⁵ It says local results rely mainly on relevance, distance and how well known a business is. It also says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.⁵

Start with your real business name, a phone number that gets answered, accurate hours, your service area and a clear list of services, then add photos of real jobs. Ask every genuine customer for a review and don’t pick only the ones you expect to be happy. Google’s Maps policy doesn’t allow you to selectively ask for positive reviews.⁹ Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking.⁵ Our Google Maps ranking guide goes deeper on the local side and our local SEO service covers the work.

The fine print

The 2026 SparkToro study covers the US only. Its data comes from a Similarweb panel of desktop and phone browsers and leaves out the Google phone app. It assumed a search session ends after 10 seconds of inactivity on a phone. It also assumed two-thirds of searches were on phones and one-third on desktop. Paid clicks on phones were estimated because they couldn’t be measured directly.¹

The 2024 study used a Datos panel of desktop and Android phone browsers in the US and the EU. It leaves out iPhones. The panel’s desktop history starts in September 2022 but its mobile data only goes back to January 2024. The combined percentages above therefore cover January to May 2024. The study reported 360 clicks to the open web for every 1,000 US searches and 374 for the EU. Its page now notes that newer research exists.²

The SHORE figure counts appearances and not website visits or enquiries. It doesn’t show which change caused the rise. Profile figures differ from one firm to the next. Google updates the searches figure at the start of each month.⁴ Our Sydney counts come from one fixed set of 50 questions.

Where can you get help tracking this?

You can start today with the five steps above. If you would like help, our AI SEO agency can look at your listing, your website and your enquiry record together.

Our SEO audit is free. It is a technical, visibility, keyword, competitor and Google Business Profile review with a prioritised roadmap. Implementation is separate unless retained. Compare the options on our SEO packages page. No SEO package guarantees rankings, leads or revenue.