Austin – November 10, 2026 -- Users clicked traditional search results in 8% of visits that included a Google AI summary, versus 15% of visits without one, according to Pew Research Center data cited by B2B email platform Breaker. Links inside the AI summaries drew clicks in just 1% of visits.
AI Answers Can Mention Companies Without Sending Visits
Breaker founder and CEO Ben Billups argues that a company can appear in an AI-generated answer without receiving a visit. Even when a click occurs, it often reveals little about the visitor's identity or fit as a buyer. The Interactive Advertising Bureau found that 95% of surveyed publishers reported moderate or significant effects from large language model (LLM)-driven discovery.
Billups said businesses still need to be discoverable to AI systems, but a mention does not equal a recommendation. An AI response may compare pricing or social proof, or surface a competitor's advantage, and marketers cannot see the chat that led to a visit. He added that AI reach is less deterministic than traditional search, because what AI deems relevant to one user may not be relevant to another.
Bots Generated 53% of Global Web Traffic in 2025
Statista reported that bots produced 53% of global web traffic in 2025. A visit therefore carries limited value unless marketers can determine who or what generated it.
Newsletter subscriptions, resource downloads, forms and demo requests help separate potential buyers from bots. They also let marketers test whether a contact matches the company's ideal customer profile (ICP).
Billups offered a hypothetical: if 50% of traffic is bots, 50% is human and 20% of the human share fits the ICP, a newsletter list instead lets a company know in advance that all subscribers are human and in its ICP.
Breaker Urges Marketers to Prioritize Post-Click Identification
Billups said clicks still matter, but in B2B the messaging tells visitors whether they fit the product. Once someone subscribes, the company can identify them, communicate over time and nurture them if they match its ICP. That continuity matters where a purchase decision may be months away. "Relationships are built on time, trust, and communication," Billups said.