2026 Update: 60% of Searches Become 'Zero-Click'—Industries Hardest Hit by AI Search Adoption

5 Major Industries Facing Direct Impact

COOD Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Naomasa Torihama) has published a comprehensive report titled "Transformation of Search Interfaces and Industry Impact: Analyzing Visibility and Profitability in the 'Zero-Click Era' Driven by AI Search."

Between 2024 and 2026, the most disruptive change in digital marketing and consumer behavior has been the transition from traditional 'link-based' search engines to LLM-based 'Answer Engines.' The deployment of Google's AI Overviews (AIO) alongside platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude has fundamentally overturned the paradigm of information discovery by providing direct summaries to user queries.

In the current digital space, a phenomenon industry analysts call 'The Great Decoupling' is underway. This refers to a state where, despite an increase in total search volume (estimated at 9.1 to 13.6 billion daily Google searches), click-throughs to websites are drastically decreasing.

According to the latest 2026 data, 60% of Google searches end without a website click—a 'zero-click search'—rising to 77% in mobile environments.

This report comprehensively analyzes how AI-driven branded search and information summarization are having blatant impacts on specific sectors (Hotel/Travel, F&B, Legal/Professional Services, Niche B2B Tech, Luxury Retail, etc.), primarily in overseas markets, based on latest traffic data and consumer behavior models.

### Changes in Consumer Behavior: Dependency on AI and the Birth of the 'Multi-verification Loop'

While AI platforms are rapidly gaining popularity, consumers have not completely abandoned traditional search engines. According to a 2025 Sparktoro survey, 95% of Americans still use traditional search engines monthly. Even heavy users of AI tools tend to maintain or even increase their use of traditional search.

This seemingly contradictory data stems from consumers utilizing two distinct behaviors in their information search process: 'Discovery Compression' and 'Trust Verification.'

#### Discovery Compression and Hyper-personalization 51% of consumers use AI during the initial product research phase to narrow down options. In AI search, 43% of users start with broad queries, while 52% incorporate constraints like budget or specific features directly into their prompts. This allows consumers to bypass browsing countless websites, understanding brands quickly through AI-synthesized answers (87% report faster brand understanding).

#### The Trust Paradox and the Multi-verification Loop However, unconditional trust in AI has not yet formed. A 2026 Yext survey reveals that while 47% of consumers used AI to find local businesses in the past month, 57% still prefer traditional search engines for personal, medical, or financial topics (YMYL areas).

Furthermore, while 75% of respondents place moderate to high trust in AI recommendations, 86% 'verify' these recommendations at least occasionally, with 20% always doing so. The primary verification channels are Google Search (68%), followed by official brand websites (48%), external review sites (35%), and YouTube (35%).

This 'Multi-verification Loop' creates a critical screening process for brand visibility: if a brand is not included as a 'citation' within the AI answer, the branded search in the verification phase never occurs.

### Crisis for OTAs in the Travel and Hospitality Industry Travel and hotels are among the sectors where consumer behavior changes due to AI search are appearing earliest and most destructively. Travelers are rapidly moving away from browsing multiple Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) toward using AI-generated itineraries and price summaries as their primary reference point.