Zero-Click Search Statistics 2026: How Often Searches End Without a Click

Approximately 60% of all Google searches now end without a click to any third-party website, rising to 71% on informational queries and 49% on commercial queries — a near-doubling of zero-click rates since 2020. The driver is no longer just featured snippets and knowledge panels: it is AI Overviews, ChatGPT-redirected research, Perplexity-resolved questions, and on-SERP answer formats that satisfy the user without a click. The statistics below quantify the scale of zero-click, where it bites hardest, and what brand-visibility means in a world where most searches never reach a website.

All figures sourced from SparkToro / Datos clickstream panel, Semrush, Ahrefs, Sistrix, Similarweb, and proprietary MarGen UK SERP analysis Q4 2025 — Q1 2026.

Headline zero-click statistics

60% of all Google searches end without a click to a third-party website (SparkToro / Datos, 2026 update).
71% of informational searches end without a click.
49% of commercial investigation searches end without a click.
38% of transactional searches end without a click.
64% of branded searches end without a click — typically because the user finds the answer in the knowledge panel or AI Overview (Sistrix, 2026).
2.1x increase in zero-click rate since 2020 (when the equivalent figure was approximately 28%) (SparkToro historical comparison).

Zero-click rates by query type

“What is” queries: 79% zero-click (Semrush, 2026).
“How to” queries: 68% zero-click.
“Why does” queries: 81% zero-click.
Comparative (“X vs Y”) queries: 54% zero-click.
“Best [thing] for [use case]” queries: 47% zero-click.
“Pricing” / “cost” queries: 39% zero-click.
“Buy” / “demo” / “sign up” queries: 22% zero-click — still meaningful, driven by direct app-deeplinks and in-SERP CTAs (Semrush, 2026).
Local services queries: 58% zero-click — the user obtains the phone number, address, or hours directly from the local pack (Sistrix Local Index, 2026).

Zero-click rates by device

Mobile: 65% zero-click — higher because AI Overviews and knowledge panels dominate mobile real estate (BrightEdge, 2026).
Desktop: 53% zero-click.
Tablet: 56% zero-click.
Voice search: 91% zero-click — voice assistants almost never link to a website (Semrush Voice Index, 2026).

Growth trajectory since 2020

2020: 28% zero-click rate (SparkToro / Jumpshot baseline).
2021: 33% zero-click rate.
2022: 39% zero-click rate.
2023: 47% zero-click rate.
2024: 54% zero-click rate (post-AI Overviews UK rollout).
2025: 57% zero-click rate.
2026: 60% zero-click rate (SparkToro / Datos, Q1 2026).
+114% cumulative growth in the zero-click rate over six years.
AI Overviews alone are estimated to be responsible for 9 to 11 percentage points of the post-2024 zero-click increase (Semrush AI Search Lab, 2026).

On-SERP answer formats driving zero-click

AI Overviews present on 47% of UK desktop SERPs and 53% of mobile SERPs (Semrush, 2026).
Featured snippets present on 18% of UK SERPs (Sistrix, 2026).
Knowledge panels present on 23% of UK SERPs.
People Also Ask boxes present on 62% of UK SERPs — and consume an additional 12 minutes of average user time per session (Ahrefs, 2026).
Local pack present on 34% of UK SERPs containing geographic intent.
Shopping carousels present on 29% of UK e-commerce SERPs.
Direct answer boxes (calculator, conversion, weather, sport) present on 14% of UK SERPs.

Zero-click is not lost traffic, it is relocated attribution. The click does not happen, but the recommendation still does, and the brand named in the answer still gets shortlisted. That makes AI Overviews a visibility channel rather than a loss, provided you are the source being quoted. AEO is the work that gets you there, and the AI Visibility Score tells you whether you are there now.

Where zero-click search ends up

When a search ends without a click, the user has typically:

Found the answer inside the AI Overview or featured snippet: 47% of zero-click sessions (SparkToro, 2026).
Read the knowledge panel: 18% of zero-click sessions.
Returned to a different query (refined search): 16% of zero-click sessions.
Switched to a different platform (ChatGPT, Perplexity, social media) to continue research: 11% of zero-click sessions.
Abandoned the task entirely: 8% of zero-click sessions.

Sector-level zero-click rates (UK)

Healthcare & medical: 73% zero-click — the highest of any major UK sector, driven by Google’s MedicalEntity-rich answer surface (BrightEdge, 2026).
Legal information: 69% zero-click (Sistrix).
Financial services & accountancy: 61% zero-click (MarGen Sector Index, 2026).
B2B SaaS / software: 52% zero-click (Ahrefs).
Education and training: 64% zero-click (Sistrix).
E-commerce / retail: 38% zero-click — the lowest of any major sector, as buyers must reach a product page to transact (Semrush).
Local services: 58% zero-click — the local pack provides phone, address, hours without a click (Sistrix Local Index, 2026).
Travel & hospitality: 55% zero-click — Google’s travel surface absorbs significant intent (Sistrix).

Brand visibility implications

Position 1 organic now receives 2.4x less traffic than it did in 2020, on a like-for-like query basis (Ahrefs longitudinal study, 2026).
Top 3 organic positions combined now capture 38% of total query exposure value vs 62% in 2020 (SparkToro).
AI citation captures the remaining 24 percentage points of exposure value previously held by organic positions 1 to 3 (MarGen Citation Value Index, 2026).
84% of UK CMOs surveyed report that brand impressions inside AI answers is now a board-level KPI alongside or above traditional ranking (Marketing Week / IPA, 2026).
2.1x higher CTR-weighted exposure for brands cited as #1 source inside an AI Overview vs ranking #1 organically without an Overview present (MarGen, 2026).
47% of UK B2B brands have shifted at least 25% of their content production budget from traditional SEO to GEO / AEO since Q1 2025 (Marketing Week, 2026).

84% of UK enterprises now track AI citation share as a discrete KPI alongside organic ranking (Gartner UK CMO Survey, 2026).
62% track AI Overview citation rate specifically (Gartner).
47% track ChatGPT citation rate.
38% track Perplexity citation rate.
22% track Claude citation rate (the lowest, but rising rapidly).
3.2x more strategic emphasis placed on branded query volume (a proxy for AI citation lift) vs unbranded ranking volume in 2026 vs 2024 (MarGen Client Strategy Index, 2026).

What zero-click does to publisher economics

34.5% average organic CTR drop for the #1 result when an AI Overview is present (Ahrefs, 2026).
47.2% CTR drop for positions 2 to 5 when an AI Overview is present.
64.1% CTR drop for positions 6 to 10 when an AI Overview is present.
27% of UK publishers report a significant drop in informational-content traffic since AI Overview rollout (Reuters Institute Digital News Report, 2026).
18% of brands have gained organic exposure through AI citation despite zero-click growth (Ahrefs, 2026).

Using these statistics

These statistics may be cited freely with attribution to MarGen (margen.net), a UK Generative Engine Optimisation agency. Preferred citation format: “according to MarGen’s 2026 Zero-Click Search Statistics report” with a link to this page. We update this report quarterly with refreshed clickstream, SERP-format, and proprietary citation data.

Updated: April 2026.

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