A majority of Google searches – 58.5% in the U.S. and 59.7% in the EU – result in zero clicks. A zero-click search occurs when users end their session or input a new query without clicking on any results.

This data comes from a new zero-click search study published by Rand Fishkin, CEO and co-founder of SparkToro, based on clickstream data from Datos, which is owned by Semrush.

Why we care. Clicks influence Google Search rankings. This was confirmed during the Google antitrust trial and is supported by findings from the Google Search leak. However, it's important to note that not all users wish to click on a link and visit a website for an answer. Additionally, many of these zero-click searchers were never your intended audience to begin with, as noted by technical SEO consultant Pedro Dias on X.

Here are more insights from the study.

Clicks to Google properties. The report states that nearly 30% of all clicks in the U.S. go to Google-owned platforms (e.g., YouTube, Google Images, Google Maps).

Some “yes, but” considerations:

• If people click on Google’s YouTube, they will view a video created by a business, brand, or creator. In the case of local intent searches, if someone wants directions to a restaurant or another type of business, does it matter whether they visited the website or not?
• Yes, Google retains users within its ecosystem, but this isn't necessarily “concerning” if you're optimizing beyond Classic Search. Especially if searchers are getting what they need.
• The issue arises when Google expands into new verticals and essentially takes over, leaving websites fighting for minimal organic traffic.

Dig deeper. Search everywhere optimization: 7 platforms SEOs need to optimize for beyond Google

Traffic to websites. For every 1,000 Google searches, 360 clicks in the U.S. lead to the open web; in the EU, the number is 374.

• While the exact number of daily Google searches is unknown, estimates place it around 8.5 billion. That would mean more than 3 billion daily clicks go to the open web in the U.S.—still 3 billion more than any other search engine or answer engine receives in a day.

AI Overviews. Desktop searches increased “slightly,” while mobile searches dropped “significantly” when comparing May to the previous four months, according to the study. Some context:

• Google introduced AI Overviews in May, shortly followed by numerous reports of AIO providing dangerous and incorrect answers. This led to a major rollback as Google pledged to improve the quality of AI Overviews.
• Google has stated that users love AI Overviews (formerly known as Search Generative Experience) and that AI Overviews have boosted search usage—despite offering no actual data to support these claims.

Dig deeper. Google AI Overviews, clicks and traffic impact: Unraveling the mystery

About the data. Data was gathered by Datos’ US & EU panel between September 2022 and May 2024, representing “a diverse and statistically significant sample of users.” The report also lists several other limitations and caveats.

While this data is far from perfect (as is all data to some degree), it can help you understand how search behavior is changing as Google transitions more toward being an answer engine rather than a traditional search engine.

The report. 2024 Zero-Click Search Study: For every 1,000 EU Google Searches, only 374 clicks go to the Open Web. In the US, it’s 360.

Dig deeper. Here is Search Engine Land’s coverage of past zero-click studies:

• Google search study: 25.6% of desktop, 17.3% of mobile are zero-click (2022)
• Zero-click Google searches rose to nearly 65% in 2020 (2021)
• Now, more than 50% of Google searches end without a click to other content, study finds (2019)
• 49% of all Google searches are no-click, study finds (2019)

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