Zero-click AI answers

In a zero-click AI answer, the assistant resolves the user's question entirely in-chat: the buyer forms opinions, shortlists vendors and even rules companies out without visiting a single site. Traffic-based analytics are blind to all of it, which is why brands increasingly measure AI mentions and citations directly instead of inferring from referral visits.

The strategic response is twofold: fight to be *in* the answer (mentions, recommendations, favourable framing), and make the citation click-worthy for the fraction of users who do click through — engines display source names, so being cited still builds brand even at zero clicks.