What Every CMO Needs To Know About The Zero-Click World

Forbes

4 days ago

Kathleen Lucente is the CEO and Founder of Red Fan Communications, a strategic communications and advisory firm for dynamic B2B tech brands.
From agency roles to Fortune 500 marketing leadership to founding my own public relations agency 17 years ago, I've watched countless marketing trends come and go. Some reshape tactics; others shift budgets. But what's happening with zero-click search is unlike anything I've seen. It's a change that affects every function under a chief marketing officer's leadership.
When Google launched AI Overviews in the U.S. in May 2024, most marketing leaders I spoke with treated it like another algorithm update—something the SEO team would handle. That lasted 90 days. By fall, the calls I was getting sounded very different: 'Our content isn't getting traffic.' 'Our thought leadership isn't reaching buyers.' 'We're invisible in our own industry.'
Nearly 60% of Google searches now end without a single click to any website, according to SparkToro's 2024 Zero-Click Search Study, and that percentage will likely increase. What most CMOs still don't understand is that this isn't just a digital marketing problem. It's a complete reimagining of how buyers discover, research and evaluate solutions, requiring tight coordination from marketing, content and communications.
Why This Affects Every Marketing Function
Working extensively with B2B marketing leaders, I see that companies adapting successfully are treating zero-click as a revolution, not an evolution. When buyers stop clicking through to your website, every marketing touchpoint changes.
Bain & Company research shows B2B software companies experiencing up to 30% drops in click-through rates. Forrester reports that 89% of B2B buyers now use generative AI tools during their purchasing process. When assessing technical requirements, 38% trust platforms like ChatGPT, according to Inbox Insight's 2024 study. The buyer journey that marketing teams have optimized for decades simply no longer exists.
I tell every CMO that if 85% of buyers purchase from their 'day one' list—vendors they knew before searching—as Bain research shows, and AI answers industry questions without mentioning your brand, your demand generation strategy needs to be rebuilt.
The Three-Team Coordination Challenge
I've never seen a marketing shift that demands such cross-functional coordination. Zero-click success requires that marketing, content and communications teams work together in new ways.
Marketing teams must reallocate budgets from keyword optimization toward proprietary research and executive positioning programs. Traditional metrics—traffic, leads, conversions—miss the influence gained through AI citations that never send users to your website.
Content teams need complete strategy rebuilds. I'm seeing the smartest companies shift from publication frequency toward expertise demonstration. Content must lead with direct, extractable answers formatted for AI consumption. B2B content agencies are retraining writing teams to adopt question-and-answer-style formatting where brand expertise appears prominently in easily extractable formats.
Communications teams have become central to marketing success. Research shows that the majority of signals informing AI's brand understanding come from editorial media sources. PR and analyst relations aren't supporting marketing anymore; they're driving it.
My most successful clients are breaking down traditional silos to build consistent authority signals prioritized by AI systems.
New Metrics That Matter
After working with marketing leaders through every major digital shift since 2007, this measurement challenge is unlike anything we've faced. Traditional marketing metrics—click-through rates, website traffic, conversion funnels—don't capture the same business impact.
Successful CMOs have implemented new frameworks. They track their brand's share of voice in AI responses—how often their brand appears in AI-generated answers for industry questions. They monitor executive recognition through speaking opportunities, media quotes and thought leadership citations. They analyze entity association, ensuring AI systems correctly connect their brand with core value propositions.
Most importantly, they're developing attribution models that connect AI-driven brand exposure to business outcomes through direct inquiries, referral conversations and sales meetings that originate from AI-influenced awareness.
Immediate Organizational Action Is Crucial
Companies treating this as a tactical digital marketing adjustment are falling behind. Those succeeding recognize that zero-click requires organizational transformation.
Marketing operations must implement new tracking systems that monitor AI platform mentions. Content calendars require complete rebuilds around expertise areas rather than keyword targets. Executive calendars must include regular thought leadership commitments as core business activities, not optional PR opportunities.
Buyer behavior data underscores this. Research indicates that buyers are increasingly relying on AI agents for solution research, vendor evaluation and initial negotiations. Marketing strategies must be optimized for AI intermediaries, not just human decision makers.
The Strategic Reality For Marketing Leaders
I've watched many marketing 'revolutions' that became evolutionary. This isn't one of them. Zero-click represents a permanent shift that creates substantial competitive advantages for companies that adapt quickly.
AI systems prioritize authoritative sources, meaning market leaders can dominate the industry share of voice in AI responses. The strategic advantage is significant: If AI answers 80% of industry questions and consistently cites your executives as experts, you capture more qualified mindshare than website traffic could ever provide.
The playbook that built successful B2B companies is now obsolete. CMOs who adapt their entire marketing organization to zero-click will capture dominant market positions.
When answers come without clicks, the brands with the best answers win everything.
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