The infected are back this summer. The Last of Us Season 2 is already underway on HBO and 28 Years Later is dropping in theaters this June, reminding us just how quickly the world can turn on its head, and how only the resourceful survive.
Sound familiar, marketers?
Welcome to the post-apocalyptic reality of search. Once a fertile land of clicks and traffic, today’s SEO landscape has been overrun by AI-generated answers, zero-click SERPs, and a search experience seemingly designed to keep users from ever reaching your site. It’s brutal. It’s unpredictable. And it’s happening right now.
Brands and marketers face a daunting ultimatum: adapt or perish.
This guide is your SEO backpack: packed with strategies, tools, and frameworks to help you navigate the new terrain, reclaim visibility, and keep your content alive in a world where clicks are scarce and competition is fierce. Ready to make the journey? Let’s go.
Ground zero: How the world of search changed
Not so long ago, most of us had never heard the phrase “zero-click search.” Today it describes nearly 60% of all Google queries. This scourge has been spreading like a zombie outbreak, and causing equal amounts of terror in the marketing community. Businesses have long relied on organic search as a mainstay for web visibility, accounting for 76% of trackable traffic to B2B websites as of about five years ago, per BrightEdge.
Zero-click searches, referring to those where a user gets their answer directly on the search results page without needing to click any links, are becoming more prevalent for several different reasons:
- AI Overviews: These AI-generated summaries of top results often satisfy informational needs without requiring a click-through to another source. (Buyer beware.)
- Enhanced SERP Features: Over time, Google has rolled out elements such as featured snippets, knowledge panels, and the “People Also Ask” section, providing further opportunities for searchers to find immediate answers without visiting a source.
- Mobile Search: This long-time trend continues to affect user behavior in search. It’s estimated that nearly two-thirds of searches occur on mobile devices in the U.S. Mobile users are more likely to glance at a SERP rather than clicking through to results. Voice search and assistants also come into play here.
- Google’s Self-Preference: The search giant sends a substantial share of traffic to its own properties, such as YouTube and Google Maps. While these might technically still be clicks, they’re not the ones that marketers and brands typically value.
Okay, so we know the root causes. The question, of course, is what you should do about it. At TopRank Marketing our team has been heavily focused on helping clients navigate SERP volatility and thrive in the new era of search. We see all these trends first-hand and we’ve been hard at work collaborating on solutions. Use this survival toolkit to find your way.
“AI has completely shifted the landscape and we’re currently living through a time where it’s impossible to predict what search market share will look like. Even if Google keeps their top spot, the way they deliver answers to queries will never be the same. The days of being one of ten blue links on a page are over.” – Steve Slater, Sr. Manager, SEO and SEM at HealthPartners in our blog post SEO Trends & Predictions for 2025
Survival toolkit: Resources to navigate the zero-click wasteland
When the rules change overnight, the smart ones don’t panic. They plan.
Continue to invest in smart, strategic SEO
In a world where AI Overviews push organic listings further down the page and zero-click searches claim more territory each month, it’s tempting to question the value of SEO altogether. But make no mistake: the fundamentals haven’t fallen — they’ve simply evolved.
Search engine optimization remains one of the most powerful long-term tools in a marketer’s survival kit. Organic visibility still drives some of the most qualified traffic, and in an age where paid media grows costlier and third-party data disappears into the wasteland, that matters more than ever.
To avoid joining the walking dead, your SEO strategy must be fortified, not abandoned. Focus on timeless foundations:
- Robust keyword and intent mapping to ensure you’re targeting questions your buyers are asking
- High-quality, human-centered content that prioritizes experience and answers over fluff
- Technical health: fast loading, mobile-friendly, well-structured content
- Internal linking and topical authority to help both users and crawlers navigate your domain
- Ongoing maintenance and optimization — because no content survives untouched for long
And let’s not forget E-E-A-T — experience, expertise, authority, and trust. These aren’t just survival traits; they’re ranking signals. In the age of AI, content that carries a human fingerprint is more valuable than ever.
Survival tools: Explore the fundamentals of SEO strategy in 2025, or learn how an E-E-A-T audit can bolster your website’s trust signals.
Analyze how AI Overviews are affecting you, and take action
These AI-powered SERP features are impacting different topics, categories and industries in different ways. It’s important to gain an understanding of how your domain and digital presence are being affected specifically, so you can inform your response.
Start with reconnaissance:
- Stay on the lookout for CTR drops despite steady or rising impressions
- Track changes in traffic for high-level informational content
- Monitor time on page and bounce rates — are users arriving but disengaging faster?
We all know that once you’re bitten by a zombie, there’s no going back. But if your website is showing signs of AIO disruption, there’s time to reverse negative trends and adapt your strategy to the new reality.
Survival tools: Learn more about the impact of AI Overviews on SEO and then follow with an audit and action plan.
Increase focus on branded keywords and mid-funnel topics
In uncertain terrain, your brand is your safehouse. While broad informational queries are increasingly swallowed by AI Overviews, branded search remains relatively untouched — for now. Users searching specifically for your brand or your products are signaling intent and awareness. That’s territory worth protecting.
Focusing on branded and mid-funnel content means meeting buyers not at the beginning of their journey — where AI is quickest to intercept — but when they’re already exploring solutions. It’s the difference between shouting into a crowd and whispering to someone who’s already leaning in.
Survival tools: Learn about using content hubs to signal your domain expertise, and topical mapping to cover your buyer’s journey holistically.
Rethink how you value organic search clicks and what you do with them
In The Last of Us, clickers are a monstrous threat to be avoided. But in marketing we love clickers! People clicking on our links, our ads, or our social posts are the catalysts who put marketing into motion and spark brand engagements.
It’s undeniable: SEO trends are leading to a reduction in the number of clicks from search for most websites. Does that make clicks less valuable? Quite the contrary. Much like a food shortage in a dystopian society, scarcity only makes clicks more essential and sought after. Marketers need to be confident that click-throughs are coming from qualified visitors, and that those visitors are receiving an experience worth engaging and remembering.
Survival tools: Find out the keys to taking your SEO content strategy from basic to advanced.
Diversify your content strategy for greater discoverability
It would be a big mistake to deprioritize SEO in your marketing strategy, but that doesn’t mean brands should be putting all of their eggs in the organic search basket. As platforms and user behaviors evolve, it’s important to ensure you are making it easy for buyers and decision-makers to discover your content in a variety of ways.
Diversify across tactics, channels and formats to keep your brand in sight like a flare in the night sky. This is particularly advisable because many complementary approaches, such as influencer marketing and original research, can actually boost SEO by enhancing domain authority and backlink profile.
Survival tools: Explore TopRank’s B2B marketing services to learn how our agency experts can help future-proof your strategy for whatever comes next.
The zero-click infection has spread, but you’re not defenseless
In this new SEO apocalypse, survival belongs to the adaptable: those who assess the altered landscape, sharpen their tools (or invent new ones), and keep moving.
With the right strategies and partners by your side, visibility is not a lost cause. It’s a mission. Now gear up, stay vigilant, and lead the way forward.
