The state of AI search & demand

AI search is moving fast, and the precise numbers — adoption rates, citation shares, click-through declines — shift from month to month. Rather than anchor to figures that age, this page lays out the durable trends shaping demand. Treat the trends as stable and the specific data as something to keep fresh.

The clearest trend: a growing share of buyers — in both B2C and B2B — use AI assistants to research, compare, and shortlist, often early and before contacting vendors. The direction is unambiguous even as the exact adoption figures climb.

A rising share of searches and questions are answered directly — by AI answers and AI overviews — without a click to any website. This shifts the goal from earning the click to being the answer, and erodes traditional click-based traffic.

As AI influence grows, more of it hides in analytics — AI-influenced visitors mislabeled as “direct,” and buyers steered to competitors leaving no trace. The invisibility of AI’s impact is itself a defining trend of the moment.

In response, AI visibility, AEO, and GEO are emerging as a distinct marketing discipline, with growing tooling, budgets, and roles dedicated to it. What began as a curiosity is becoming a standard part of the marketing function.