Forget AI Overviews.
Google itself is stealing your clicks.
When AI Overviews appear, many users find the direct answer satisfactory and leave without clicking anything.
The zero-click trend has been discussed extensively here and across marketing publications.
But there’s another trend that should concern marketers even more.
Users do click.
They just don’t click on your website.
They go to other Google-owned properties.
Google Images, Google Maps, Flights, Hotels, YouTube, even AI Mode.
Despite all the recent EU regulation, Google is keeping an increasingly large share of searches within its own ecosystem.
In the EU/UK, the shift has accelerated sharply over the past 8–10 months.
In January 2024, 11% of desktop searches led users to remain on Google or visit another Google-owned property.
By June 2026, that share had reached 20.4%.
Nearly double.
Meanwhile, zero-click searches declined.
And that’s the concerning part.
Users are still clicking, engaging and researching.
They’re just increasingly doing it inside Google’s ecosystem, without ever reaching external websites.
My chart covers desktop only, where users are generally more likely to perform longer research sessions and click to external websites.
I don’t have equivalent mobile data, but I suspect the trend there is even stronger.
What to do then?
I’m open to suggestions in the comments!
Source: Datos, A Semrush Company, The State of Search reports
