Google Traffic Is Vanishing and Your Website Might Be Next
In an era where AI answers are replacing traditional search results, brands and communicators face a critical reckoning: What breaks when Google Search traffic disappears?
For years, SEO has been the backbone of brand discoverability. But as search engines increasingly serve answers directly—often without sending users to websites—the rules are changing fast. According to Megan Hueter, executive vice president and head of digital at MikeWorldWide, “The web’s business model is being rewritten.”
“For 15+ years, search drove discovery,” said Hueter, who also leads Everywhere, MikeWorldWide’s in-house influencer marketing and content agency. “But today, 75% of queries on Google, ChatGPT, Anthropic, and others are answered without a single click. That means users get what they need without visiting the original source.” The result, she notes, is the elimination of “traditional paths to content, and with it—creator monetization, SEO value, and web traffic.”
Hueter believes it’s time to stop thinking in terms of searchability and start thinking about visibility: “Ask: How is your content being surfaced (or summarized) on AI platforms? Can you influence what these models show? Are you prioritizing platforms where audiences actually consume—like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube?”
Carey Madsen, vice president at The Fletcher Group, sees the same shifts—and emphasizes the need for a multichannel strategy that embraces both earned and owned media. “As organic search declines, brands need a multichannel strategy—one that includes multiple sources of information and new ways to drive web traffic, including earned media—because traffic isn’t vanishing; it’s shifting,” Madsen said.
Rather than abandoning content efforts, Madsen urges communicators to modernize them. “Write like you talk,” she advised. “Re‑shape cornerstone pages and blog posts into crisp, conversational answers to the exact questions buyers ask LLMs.”
Madsen also suggests exposing more content by removing paywalls and reformatting documents so search engines and AI models can find and understand them. “Thought‑leadership on high‑authority news sites carries heavy weight in LLM responses, giving you visibility even if Google links dry up.”
Ultimately, both marketers agree: What breaks first is the idea of SEO as a standalone strategy. And what emerges in its place is a more holistic, AI-aware, and audience-driven approach. “Brands that engage their whole content ecosystem—owned, paid, shared and earned—to adopt LLM‑friendly strategies won’t just survive the shift,” said Madsen. “They will be the answer to their buyers’ next questions.”
