Visibility instead of clicks or How AI-powered search is changing the way conversions are measured
Fabrice Canel and Krishna Madhavan, chief product managers at Microsoft Bing, ponder:

Instead of flipping through lists of blue links, people are now learning information through conversations [with AI], asking clarifying questions, and building trust long before they get to the site. This new path to conversion means brands and content owners will have to stop chasing clicks and focus on signals that actually impact results.

It's not that people don't click anymore. They just click at later stages of the journey and with much stronger intent.

This shift applies not only to commercial sites, but also to news and information publishers, where visibility in AI responses can shape deeper forms of engagement such as in-depth reading, recirculation or repeat visits rather than instant clicks.

For marketers, visibility itself becomes a kind of currency. If your content is presented in reviews or comparisons, you're shaping preferences before a user even clicks on it.