This opinion piece was written by Marc Martin, Anomaly’s SEO Specialist. As this change was only rolled out by Google in the last week of May 2026 we don’t yet have clear data or numbers to fall back on. Much of this article is speculative, based on many years of experience in the SEO field, the research conducted on these changes, and what we may expect to see.
What is changing with Google Search?
In the biggest change to Google Search in 25 years, the new default for Google Search will be AI mode. Google has integrated Gemini 3.5 Flash into the search box, effectively making the search box behave in the same manner as an AI chat box. This means you’ll be able to ask follow up questions, request additional information, and expand or fine tune your search and results. Google is becoming more like an AI assistant, rather than a traditional search engine. This will result in a lot of people getting their information directly from the search box, rather than clicking through to a website.
“Zero click” searches that result in no website clicks have been on the rise for years, with a large increase since the introduction of Google’s AI summaries. Some reports show numbers as high as 60% of searches resulting in no clicks and that was before the recent introduction of an AI assistant to the search box.
The impact
With what we know about zero click searches, and the rollout of these new changes, we can extrapolate what can be expected going forward. While researching the new changes, I considered how it will impact our clients. Here are some examples to better explain what we expect to see.
Capri Theatre
The Capri Theatre is a heritage listed cinema in Adelaide, South Australia. Anomaly have been working on their SEO for a little over a year with great results. With what we know about the Google Search changes, Capri is an example of a business that is likely to see a dramatic drop in their clicks and click through rate. In positive news, we don’t anticipate this drop will be reflected in their ticket sales, venue hire numbers, or events.
The biggest reasons people search for the Capri Theatre is for session times, event information, or to just see if there are any upcoming events that will interest them. Now people will be able to get all that information in the AI results and will not have to click through to the site to find the information they’re looking for. If these people are planning to buy tickets to a film or event then they’re still going to buy those tickets and attend that event, but they may not click on the website at all during the decision to attend that event.
AW Vater
AW Vater is an agricultural company in South Australia, providing support, assistance, and supplies to local farmers and communities. I’ve been working on AW Vater’s SEO for over three years now, seeing good results, including through the tougher growing seasons when agricultural purchasing intent was low.
AW Vater is another company that I expect will see a dramatic drop in clicks, but not in orders. A lot of the traffic on AW Vater’s website is due to their expertise which they share through blog and news posts. This is the sort of content that is going to see the biggest hit in clicks with the new AI search. AI will summarise the information from their content and deliver it to the person directly in the search result, rather than the person clicking through to read the content on AW Vater’s website. However, AW Vater is a brand that has a good reputation amongst farmers, their reputation and the orders they receive won’t be going away. The brand name will also continue to grow as Google references them in results, so ensuring that Google continues to reference them going forward is our biggest focus from an SEO and GEO point of view.
Is SEO Dead?
Absolutely not. I’m in a lot of SEO spaces and I’m seeing a lot of people claiming SEO is dead or no longer necessary… this is just not true. The websites that are going to be hit the hardest by this change are those that are poorly optimised, have thin content, or have gone for “quick” SEO wins rather than following best practices.
If your site is poorly optimised, bots and AI agents will have a hard time crawling your website and finding the information they’re looking for. If a bot gets “lost” on your website they’re not going to keep looking for the information on your website like a person might, they assume the information isn’t there and move on to the next site. If they can’t find the information on your site, your site won’t get mentioned or referenced.
We’ve all seen the recent increase in blog posts that are thin on content and obviously only there to pump keywords. This sort of content is just not going to cut the mustard. Informative and educational content has always been a cornerstone of SEO and will now be more important than ever. AI needs content to reference and if your website is the one supplying that content you’ll get referenced, helping to boost your brand. In marketing it’s a commonly accepted rule that someone needs to see your brand 5-7 times to remember it. This will hold true with AI referencing too, the more they reference you and a person sees your website being referenced, the more they will come to trust your website and may start going directly to your site to get their information. At the very least, if they’re looking to purchase a product or service you provide, they’ll know your brand name and purchase from you.
SEO moving forward
Moving forward I don’t believe SEO is going to change as much as people fear. If you’re already following best practices and not chasing quick wins, then your website is in a good position. Everyone is going to lose clicks, but if you continue to be referenced by Google’s AI results, your brand name will remain strong, and you’ll continue to build trust with your potential customers and clients.
I also don’t think the drop in clicks is going to be immediate. A lot of people aren’t even aware of the changes yet, it’s going to take time for people to adjust and utilise the AI agent in their search bar. I expect there to be a steady drop in clicks spanning the next few months as more people begin to utilise the AI assistant available in their search box, rather than clicking on websites.
Working at Anomaly I’m lucky, all our SEO clients are experts in their fields, or uniquely positioned (like Capri Theatre). This means our focus moving forward is clear, capitalise on their expertise and ensure their websites reflect the expertise they offer. We will continue putting a hard focus on content on their websites, blog posts on important topics for their industries, ensuring service pages are up to date with solid content, and making sure the content is easy for AI bots to find.
SEO isn’t dead, it’s more important than ever. If you want your SEO handled by experts who don’t take short cuts, speak to Anomaly today!
