What SparkToro found about zero-click search in 2026
In the first four months of 2026, 68% of US Google searches ended without a click, according to new data from SparkToro and Similarweb. Fewer than one in three searches now sends a visit to the open web. For B2B brands, the message is plain: buyers still see you in the results, they just click less.
The exact figure was 68.01%, based on Similarweb’s desktop and mobile clickstream panel for January through April 2026. In 2024, the rate was 60.45%. That is a jump of 7.5 points in two years, which SparkToro called the fastest rise of this trend in a decade. Ten years ago the rate sat near 45%, so zero-click searches have climbed about 23 points since 2016.
SparkToro tied the rise to AI features inside Google. AI Overviews now show on more than 20% of searches, and when they appear, click-through rates fall by close to 60%. Google’s new AI Mode is not the main driver yet. It captured only 0.34% of searches in the same four-month window. A separate Ahrefs panel of tens of thousands of opted-in sites showed Google’s referral share to those sites fell about 8 points, or roughly 22%, from June 2025 to May 2026.
Who reported the SparkToro zero-click data
SparkToro published the study on June 8, 2026, in a post by founder Rand Fishkin. The data came from Similarweb’s clickstream panel. Fishkin noted the 2024 comparison figure came from Datos and the older 2016 numbers came from the now-closed Jumpshot panel, so the years are close but not perfect matches. Search Engine Land covered the same 68% finding in its report on the study.
How zero-click search fits B2B marketing in 2026
The drop in clicks lands on top of a bigger change in how buyers find vendors. AI search has already passed SEO as the top content distribution channel for B2B tech marketers, as covered in our report on AI search overtaking SEO. When the answer engine resolves the question on the page, the click becomes optional and the citation becomes the prize. Pressure is also building over who controls that surface, seen in the UK ruling that lets publishers opt out of Google AI search. For B2B teams, the practical effect is that a strong rank can still earn zero traffic, so the work shifts to being the source the result and the model quote. That depends on clear, credible content and on brand perception strong enough to transfer trust.
Talking Shift: zero-click breaks the scorecard B2B brands still trust
Start Some Shift sees a measurement problem most B2B teams have not faced yet. For twenty years, a click was proof the work was working. At a 68% zero-click rate, that proof is gone for two out of three searches. The brands in trouble are the ones who will spend 2026 optimizing for a number the buyer quietly retired. Here is the line worth sitting with: when the result answers the question, your job is to be the answer the result quotes, even when no one clicks. That means writing pages an engine can quote in full, putting your strongest facts where a model will lift them, and earning enough trust that your name is the one the answer cites. The hard part is internal. Most enterprise dashboards still reward traffic, so the team that does this right can look like it is losing while it quietly wins the surface that still sends buyers. The first move is to change what the dashboard measures, before the market changes it for you.
What B2B marketers should do about zero-click search
The data points to a clear near-term plan:
- Replace raw traffic as a headline KPI, and track brand visibility inside search and AI answers instead.
- Write self-contained answers, with each key fact specific and sourced, so engines can quote you cleanly.
- Build quote-ready summaries into your highest-intent pages to improve AI pickup.
- Remember your listing shares the result with direct competitors, so give buyers one clear reason your name deserves the attention over theirs.
- Publish original data and expert points of view, the formats engines tend to cite.
- Keep a machine-readable page about your company so engines attribute you correctly.
- Measure pipeline and branded search lift, not just sessions, to see if visibility is working.
What to watch next for zero-click search
Watch whether Google’s AI Mode grows fast enough to become the next driver of zero-click growth, since it sat at only 0.34% of searches in early 2026. Watch for clearer ways to measure AI visibility, because brands cannot manage what they cannot see. And watch credibility become the next contest, as brands compete to be the source the answer trusts.
