The adoption trend
I look at adoption first because it usually predicts behavior changes a few months later. In 2024 McKinsey found 65 percent of organizations using generative AI in at least one function. Their 2025 report moved that to 78 percent. That is fast. It tells me AI is not a side project anymore. It is creeping into everyday work.
Adoption by industry
Adoption is not even across the board. Finance and professional services tend to move faster, with retail and healthcare close behind. Manufacturing is steady as companies modernize plants and supply chains.
How search behavior is changing
People still use Google. The market share is about nine out of ten searches worldwide. What is different is the interface on top. More answers now appear inside the results or inside an AI app. When an AI summary shows up, people click less. Pew measured this in 2025. Users who saw a summary clicked traditional results about eight percent of visits. Users without a summary clicked closer to fifteen percent. That gap is real.
Two other notes. First, Google’s AI Overviews and new AI Mode are widely used now, and that pushes more answers into the results. Second, alternative AI search tools like Perplexity are growing. I do not chase every new app. I watch where my customers actually ask questions and I publish answers in the places those tools can read.
What it means for traffic and growth
Publishers and brands are seeing fewer clicks from some queries. Industry groups reported one to twenty five percent drops after AI answers expanded. Google says overall quality is up, which may be true. Either way, the shape of demand is changing. If your helpful answer shows up inside a summary, you may win the trust without the visit. That feels strange at first. It is still worth it.
Old funnel vs AI era
| Classic search funnel | AI search funnel | What to optimize |
|---|---|---|
| Query → 10 blue links → click → read | Query → AI summary → cited sources → optional click | Be quotable: short answer first, then detail; add FAQPage and HowTo schema. |
| Rankings fight for position | Mentions and citations fight for inclusion | Publish datasets, definitions, and methods that are easy to reference. |
| CTR is the main KPI | Visibility inside summaries + assisted conversions | Track AI mentions, branded queries, and assisted conversions in analytics. |
Where AI is helping right now
Customer experience
Contact centers and support teams are using AI to route questions and draft responses. The market is growing fast through the decade. The play is simple. Build a clean help center. Mark it up with FAQ and HowTo schema. Let both Google and AI systems read it clearly.
Operations and engineering
Heavy industry and finance use agentic systems to watch equipment, predict issues, and speed decisions. It is not hype in those settings. It is cost and uptime.
Marketing and sales
Personalized content still moves the needle. The trick is guardrails. Feed the model the truth about your offers and keep it from promising what you do not sell.
How to prepare without overthinking it
- Answer like a human. Write a short, direct answer first. Then add the detail. Make a clean FAQ for every service you sell. Target 50–120 words for the first answer on page.
- Use schema. Add FAQPage, HowTo, and speakable markup on pages that deserve it. Validate with Google Rich Results test.
- Publish trustworthy data. Case studies, methods, definitions, and small datasets. Host the downloads. Link the proof. Add a simple /data page that lists them.
- Spread your surface area. Website, YouTube with transcripts, a couple of well-placed guest posts, and a GitHub repo if you have tools. These show up in training sets and live answers.
- Measure AI visibility. Track appearances in AI Overviews and chat answers along with Google impressions and clicks. Log which pages get cited. Add those findings to your content brief.
- Monthly: export queries where you appear in summaries
- Quarterly: refresh FAQs and definitions with clearer language
Short FAQ
Do I need to rewrite my whole site?
No. Start with your top three pages by revenue or lead volume. Add short answers, clarify definitions, and mark them up.
Will AI summaries replace my traffic?
Some queries will shift from clicks to mentions. Your goal is to be cited more often and convert later in the journey.
What counts as a dataset for a local business?
Simple is fine. A CSV of service areas with response times, a yearly price index, or a troubleshooting checklist can all be useful.
Methodology and sources
Key figures referenced above come from public research and industry reporting. I only use numbers that a business owner can verify.
- Organizational AI use 65% in 2024 and 78% in 2025, McKinsey State of AI.
- Pew Research 2025 study on lower click rates when AI summaries appear in Google results.
- StatCounter 2025 global search market share shows Google near 90% worldwide.
- Reporting on publisher referral declines after AI Overviews from Digiday and the Financial Times.
- Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode usage reported by TechCrunch summer 2025.
- Perplexity growth and usage reported by Similarweb and industry roundups.
If you want my checklist for adding schema and measuring AI visibility, send me a note. I am happy to share it.