LLMs like ChatGPT, Google’s SGE, and Perplexity are reshaping how users interact with online content. They often answer questions directly within the interface, meaning users don’t need to click through to a website. This leads to fewer traditional organic visits, especially for simple, fact-based queries. But it’s not all bad news. These tools also create new visibility channels for brands that adapt their content to be LLM-friendly.
The shift from clicks to citations
Large Language Models are trained to understand, summarise, and reference high-quality content across the web. Instead of returning a list of links (like a search engine), they return answers. Your content may still be used, just without the user ever visiting your site.
Some key changes in behaviour:
- Zero-click searches are becoming more common
- Conversational queries are replacing short-tail keywords
- Users trust AI answers more than scrolling through 10 search results
- Content gets summarised, not just indexed
This means a site’s value isn’t just in ranking well — it’s in being used by the models as a source.