This article explores in depth one of our Top 10 Media predictions, released as a whitepaper earlier this year.

The way consumers discover and evaluate brands online is changing rapidly. AI-generated search summaries, such as Google’s AI Overview, are reshaping how decisions are formed at the very start of the journey. Consumers are increasingly influenced by summarized answers before they click through to a website (if they click at all). At the same time, the rules of online visibility are being rewritten. Strong organic rankings no longer guarantee inclusion in AI-generated responses – and this creates a growing need for brands to optimize not just for search engines, but for the AI systems that interpret and consolidate information. In combination, these changes are redefining how search works for both consumers and advertisers.

For more than two decades, search visibility followed a relatively stable model: rank highly, win the click, then optimise the journey. AI-generated summaries are now beginning to disrupt that model, changing how visibility in search is created, measured and valued.

From rankings to responses

Historically, visibility meant position. If you ranked in the search engine’s top three organic listings or secured premium paid placement, you captured attention and traffic. Now, with AI summaries, that dynamic is changing – users now increasingly receive a synthesised response at the top of the results page, drawing from multiple sources and presenting a consolidated answer. The need to click through declines, especially for research-led or informational queries.

As of late 2025, estimates suggest that up to half of Google searches currently trigger AI-generated summaries, and that proportion is expected to rise significantly over the next few years – in 2028, it is set to be 75% (also in 2028, McKinsey projects that $750 billion in US revenue will funnel through AI-powered search). As the answer layer expands, the space available for both ads and organic results compresses, and traditional search results pages become secondary to the summary. The immediate effects are fewer visible impressions and fewer clicks.

Lower click volume, higher intent

As more queries are satisfied directly within the AI summary, click-through rates are falling as users often get the information they need without scrolling. Traffic volumes, particularly for top-of-funnel queries, are likely to decline. However, the clicks that do occur are changing in nature, with users often arriving having already formed an initial view of the category or brand positioning based on the AI-generated response. Unlike paid media environments, where exposure is heavily shaped by bidding dynamics, AI-generated responses may place greater weight on perceived authority and relevance. Many users will therefore be validating options, comparing suppliers or moving towards purchase.

This may result in fewer visits overall, but with a greater proportion coming from users who are further along the decision journey. However, this change is unlikely to benefit all brands equally, as AI-generated responses increasingly influence which options are considered in the first place.

For performance teams and procurement stakeholders, this creates a need to rethink how search performance is measured. Evaluating search purely on volume metrics will become increasingly misleading; instead, the focus should shift towards downstream value and marginal return per visit. Understanding how AI systems interpret and present brand information will therefore become an increasingly important area of focus for advertisers.

CPC pressure and constrained inventory

When AI summaries expand, traditional ads and organic listings are pushed further down the page. This tightens the supply of impressions, but, as advertiser demand is unlikely to decline at the same pace, the probable outcome will be an increase in the cost per click. Advertiser budgets will need to account for lower volume and higher costs, and forecasting models based on historic impression curves will need to be updated.

Traditional SEO success does not guarantee AI visibility

Perhaps the most disruptive aspect of the rise of AI summaries is that strong organic rankings does not guarantee inclusion in the summaries. Recent data shows that fewer than one in ten citations generated by leading AI systems such as ChatGPT and Gemini come from URLs that rank in Google’s top 10 organic results. In other words, more than 90% of high-ranking pages never appear in AI-generated answers. This means that the long-standing assumption that ranking performance and visibility are closely aligned is no longer applicable. A page that ranks well from a search perspective could – and probably will – be invisible within an AI search summary. On the other hand, content that doesn’t appear high up in organic rankings can be surfaced if it is clear, authoritative and relevant.

The rise of GEO

This shift in search outcomes has accelerated interest in ‘generative engine optimization’, or GEO, where brands optimize for inclusion within AI-generated responses over ranking position. More than half of US advertisers plan to fully implement their GEO strategy in early 2026. This urgency reflects growing concern about how effective traditional searches are now. In one recent survey, 42% of B2B CMOs cited declining performance from traditional search channels as a reason for adapting GEO and so-called ‘zero-click’ search environments. Understanding how AI systems interpret, prioritize and present brand information will become an increasingly important area of focus for advertisers.

GEO requires a different emphasis to SEO:

 • Building deep topical authority rather than thin keyword coverage 

 • Structuring content clearly so it can be easily interpreted and cited

 • Demonstrating expertise, credibility and consistency across channels

 • Strengthening third-party validation and earned media presence

In GEO, substance matters more than superficial optimization, as AI systems seek trusted, coherent sources to summarize. This shift creates an opportunity for brands that invest in clear, credible and genuinely useful content, which is more likely to be surfaced within AI-generated responses, helping to influence consumer perceptions earlier in the decision journey.

Conversational search and query fragmentation

The conversational nature of these AI interfaces is changing what search queries look like. Users tend to ask full questions rather than the short keywords that are common in Google searches, making queries more varied and specific. This means that brands need a deeper understanding of the questions consumers are asking and how they move through decision journeys. Content strategies must reflect how real people ask and refine questions within AI-powered environments.

As search behavior becomes more varied and conversational, advertisers will need to rely more on platform automation to manage targeting and optimization. However, this increased reliance on automated tools must be balanced with strong oversight to ensure campaigns deliver effectively and appear in suitable contexts.

Generative AI is already influencing web traffic

Generative AI is not a future trend – it’s already an important source of traffic for brand websites. Over a third of leading US websites now receive more traffic from GenAI sources than from paid media, and traffic driven by GenAI grew by more than 130% year on year in October. This trajectory suggests that AI interfaces will soon play a significant role in how consumers discover brands and information online. Brands that adapt earlier are likely to be better positioned as these dynamics evolve.

Implications for advertisers and media leaders

The rise of AI-generated search summaries will mean that advertisers need to rethink their approach to search:

1: Search should be reframed as a channel that can shape perception and decision-making, not simply a click engine. Being referenced within an AI summary can shape perception and consideration, even without a visit. Measurement frameworks should evolve to capture this upper-funnel influence.

2: Advertisers will need to start actively testing new ad formats that appear within or alongside AI summaries. As these placements become more widely adopted, early testing will help brands understand how they influence performance.

3: Credibility will become a media asset. Investment in clear, authoritative content, expert commentary, robust data and consistent brand positioning will increase the likelihood of appearing in AI responses. This approach will require closer integration between SEO, content, PR and paid media teams.

The final word

Success in search is no longer just about where a brand appears on a search results page, or its bidding strategy – it is now about whether your content is sufficiently trustworthy to be cited.

The brands that succeed in search in 2026 and beyond will not treat AI summaries as a threat to traffic, but as another way for consumers to form opinions and make decisions. As consumers increasingly rely on AI-generated responses, visibility will depend less on where you rank and more on whether you are considered a credible source of truth.

Explore ECI's Top 10 Media predictions for 2026

Contact our team: value@ecimm.com

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