With the rollout of AI-generated summaries like Google AI Overviews, traditional search behavior is shifting rapidly. Fewer users are clicking through to websites. More answers are delivered directly on the search results page. and long-standing performance metrics performance teams have relied on for years are starting to lose their clarity.
For performance marketers, this isn’t just a technical change. It’s a structural shift in how intent is discovered, measured, and converted.
How AI Is
This evolution has introduced what many call “zero-click search,” where users get the information they need without ever leaving the search page.
Declining organic search traffic
Reduced click-through rates (CTR)
Fewer measurable signals for performance optimization
Compressed conversion funnels
Search isn’t disappearing, but the way people move from curiosity to action is clearly evolving.
What AI Means for
1. Search Clicks
As AI satisfies user intent earlier in the journey, the pool of traditional search clicks shrinks. That means:
- Higher competition for paid query inventory
- Rising CPCs in Google Ads and Microsoft Ads
- Reduced scalability from keyword-only strategies
In simple terms, performance advertisers are competing for fewer declared intent moments than they used to .
2.
Historically, a click signaled interest. Today, users may research, compare, and evaluate solutions without ever visiting a site.
Intent still exists, but it no longer always manifests as a measurable click.
This forces performance teams to rethink how they:
- Identify high-intent audiences
- Attribute conversion pathways
- Measure incremental lift
- Optimize beyond keyword bids
The traditional search funnel is no longer the sole source of performance data.
The Rise of Search
To navigate this AI shift, performance advertisers must understand the difference between explicit search intent and implicit search intent.
To navigate this AI shift, performance advertisers must understand the difference between explicit search intent and implicit search intent.
Explicit Search
Explicit search occurs when users directly type a query into a search engine. For years, this has been the backbone of paid search and SEO strategies.
It’s measurable, direct, and powerful — but increasingly limited by AI-driven results and shrinking click inventory.
Implicit Search
Implicit search captures intent signals through context rather than declared keywords.
Instead of waiting for a user to type a query, implicit intent is inferred from:
- The content they are consuming
- The topics they are researching
- Their stage in the buying journey
- Behavioral and contextual signals
As AI reduces visibility into query-level behavior, implicit intent across the open web becomes increasingly valuable.
What AI Means for
Intent hasn’t declined.It has redistributed.
The of Performance Discoverability
In an AI-first search environment, sustainable performance growth requires a broader approach:
- Diversification beyond traditional keyword campaigns
- Contextual alignment with high-intent content environments
- Measurement models that extend beyond SERP-based attribution
- A strategy that captures both declared and inferred intent
Performance marketing can no longer rely exclusively on explicit query bidding.
Advertisers must identify intent wherever it surfaces.
How Helps Capture High-Intent Conversions
At Perform Media, we help performance advertisers activate implicit intent across the open web.
Our contextual engine dynamically matches over 7 million keyword and topic combinations to live page content and user mindset within a verified, invitation-only publisher marketplace. Campaigns are:
- 100% cookie-free
- Optimized for post-click outcomes (sales, form fills, enrollments, quotes, bookings)
- Purchased on a CPC model
- Focused on measurable performance, not impressions
Rather than competing solely within shrinking search inventory, we extend performance into trusted, high-intent content environments; capturing conversions where curiosity becomes action.
In an AI-driven search landscape, performance growth depends on identifying intent earlier, broader, and more intelligently.
That’s where contextual performance becomes essential.
Ready to in an AI-first search world?
Stay discoverable, compliant, and ahead of the curve. Reach out to advertisers@performmedia.com to learn how Perform Media delivers performance in the zero-click world.