Paid Search in the AI Age: Navigating the Zero Click Frontier

It’s been over a year since the introduction of AI Overviews (initially coined as Search Generative Experiences) during the 2024 Google Marketing Live webinar. A now staple in the Google Search experience, these AI generated summaries appeared at the top of 13% of searches in 2025, ahead of Search Ads and organic links to websites. Bing also launched “Generative Search”, their own version of AI-powered conversational search experiences, which officially rolled out to US users in October of last year.

Couple these pivotal Search engine shifts towards a more conversational experience with the widespread adoption of emerging technologies like ChatGPT, Meta AI, and Grok, the paid search landscape is undergoing a significant transformation. Now more than ever, users can find answers to their questions on the results pages of search engines or within the chat log of conversational AI platforms without the need of clicking through to another website. This occurrence commonly referred to as “zero click content” is revolutionizing SEM optimization strategies.

To ensure our clients are not left behind in this evolving landscape, we at Converge implement the following practices to bridge the gap between new AI powered search engine inquiries and the lower funnel conversions that drive ROI for your business:

• Prioritizing High Quality Auction Signals It’s now known Google ads can serve above, below, and even within AI Overviews. Prioritizing Ad Rank, Quality Score and other notable auction insights ensures our clients are best situated to serve within these highly prized spots via sponsored placements
• Adoption of Google’s AI Tools We at Converge have built long lasting relationships with our Google representatives and are always pushing the boundaries by testing newly accessible AI features. By being early adopters into Smart bidding campaigns such as Performance Max and AI Max, we continue to embrace the newest AI strategies available within the Google Ads platform
• Reinventing Longtail Keywords Longtail keywords have been a staple of our Paid Search strategy due to their clear user intent and proximity to point of sale/action. With the recent abundance of conversational search queries, we’ve refined this approach to ensure we target complex search inquiries that frequently trigger AI Overviews placements.

The current state of Search is unprecedented. Traditional SEO and paid search strategies have seemingly gone out the window as the emergence of AI has taken the industry by storm. At Converge, we believe the true magic happens when unrivaled human expertise elevates AI's power, delivering results that machines alone simply can't achieve. Our team's deep insights ensure your strategy isn't just smart, it's brilliant and action driven

If you're ready to elevate your business’s performance with an agency well equipped for today’s ever-changing marketing industry, schedule an introductory performance meeting today!