Diversify your revenue streams to survive the zero-click era

Jack says: “Create and monetise content to survive the upcoming zero-click era of search.”

Will we be in an all-encompassing zero-click non-traffic era at some point in the future?

“It certainly feels like we're heading that way. With a lot of what Google has been talking about recently – particularly with AI Mode, this is the looming topic in SEO right now.

Obviously, we've seen a massive drop-off in clicks, due to AI overviews being presented in a lot of SERPs. Early this year, when they announced AI Mode, I predicted that we would need to embrace that as the main feature in Google by the end of 2026.

Sundar Pichai from Google has talked about how they're trialling a lot of elements in AI Mode that pull through to a lot of traditional search features. I have a feeling they're moving towards a more fully integrated version of search that combines AI Mode and some of the more traditional stuff, which implies there will be an even more significant drop-off in clicks as fewer people use that traditional search method.”

Are you personally fully embracing AI Mode?

“Fully embracing is a strong term for it. Testing, poking around, and having some fun with it, sure, but I'm not fully embraced just yet. I have found some interesting uses and some interesting results but, much like with AI overviews, Gemini, and Search Live, it all feels a little bit early for me to be fully integrating it.

A lot of us are having some fun with query fan-out, and I'm sure plenty of people are talking about interesting things like that as well. I'm just poking, prodding, and testing a little bit.”

How do you determine whether something is actually worthwhile doing?

“We often start our careers with a lot of experimentation and testing, and that's a really healthy thing to keep doing. However, there does become a point where you have to turn around and realise that you need to be working on either your client’s or your own websites, and actually start making money from this.

You do need to be aware of what is happening, so you can be future-planning and having those conversations with your clients or your team in-house. For me, it's still in the awareness and testing stages at the moment. However, a lot of us are preparing for a fully integrated LLM version of search that may well be coming soon.

There is a lot of discussion about how that will affect the shopping results, how personalisation affects search intent, and how conversational search affects search intent as well.

There is this idea that AI search traffic is higher quality. People are doing their research in the LLM interface before clicking through, leading to fewer clicks on websites. For me, that potentially helps customers find better things, and that can affect how we're then strategising, creating content, and building websites that satisfy those customer needs.”

What specific technologies are clients most interested in at the moment?

“Mostly, ChatGPT has the brand recognition at the moment. However, more and more people are noticing AI Mode and AI overviews over the last year or so. People are becoming more aware of it because Google is talking about it more. Obviously, people who aren't in SEO aren't following it as closely as you and me.

A lot of people think of ChatGPT as one thing and then Google as a separate thing, and are not necessarily aware of how they are competing in a search sense. I know a lot of SEOs who absolutely love things like Perplexity and Claude, but ChatGPT and AI Mode are what we've been having conversations with clients about recently.

We've started doing a little video series on what's happening. It's going to require a bit of extra client communication to prepare them for a drop-off in clicks and other changes they might see. You can then say to them, ‘Don't worry, this is normal. This is why it's happening.’ We’re also comparing visibility and the other metrics you should be using for success in AI search with what you would use in traditional search.”

How does the change in clicks and revenue impact what you should be doing from a content publishing strategy perspective?

“Where we're publishing and how users are interacting with that content has changed a lot. Going back a few years, a lot of people refer to the September 2023 Helpful Content Update that literally put a lot of publishers out of business. There was obviously a huge backlash against Google, with lots of people complaining about no longer getting traffic and not being able to survive.

That ties into what we're going to see on a much wider scale. Core updates and helpful content updates are a part of that, but if AI Mode becomes integrated as the main search feature, that is a massive, astronomical change to the way people interact with search.

For me, we're having these kinds of conversations, particularly about diversifying content, and not relying solely on Google as a source of traffic. Think about creating video content and publishing on YouTube, about social media, about cross-posting on different platforms and ensuring you're still getting that visibility and brand recognition in those different places.

You don’t want to have all of your eggs in the one basket that is Google. Strategically, the content we’re talking about with clients is still informational, but the way that we’re presenting that, answering questions, and targeting and being aware of user intent has shifted from what we were doing a couple of years ago.

We talk a lot about People Also Ask data here. The team here at Candour built AlsoAsked.com as a way to research that, and we're still using that data: those customer questions, and those user questions.

However, the way we're approaching informational content has shifted slightly. We’re no longer just expecting people to get a direct answer, click through, see a bunch of internal links, and then happily go on a user journey throughout the rest of your site to purchase something. I don't think that user journey is as simple as it was a few years ago.

More people are doing research on an AI interface, so that final click needs to be a high-quality converting page where you actually get something to purchase, subscribe to, sign up to, or whatever your conversion is. That needs to be a big focus as well.”

Are visibility and brand recognition the new metrics for measuring SEO success in 2026?

“It feels like it. In 2025, brand was the big buzzword.

Visibility and the value of clicks versus impressions have shifted. We have fewer clicks, but those links theoretically have higher value and a higher conversion rate.

Impressions are also a bigger part of that now, and simply being noticed and referenced: things like brand mentions in LLM search and citations that don't necessarily lead to a click, but are still classic marketing touchpoints.

It used to be 8-9 different touchpoints before you actually purchased something from a brand. The last number I heard was more like 30, 40, or even 50. You will see ads on social media, you'll see them on Google search, you'll see them in ChatGPT, you'll see a bus ad, a billboard – all of this kind of stuff. We need to be everywhere, building that brand awareness, and that comes through online visibility.

When it comes to traffic, it's going to look bad for a lot of clients, to put it bluntly. You're going to have year-on-year decreases in clicks. However, there's a phrase my colleague and our SEO director, Mark Williams-Cook, always says: ‘The same amount of money is being spent on the Internet.’ People aren't shopping on the web less, so the money's got to go somewhere. It just feels like it's spread a bit thinner.

More and more people are finding other places to purchase from, rather than just focusing on whatever's ranking number one on Google.”

Do you need to be everywhere now, or can you just focus on the places where most of your audience interacts?

“It's easier to be everywhere now. There are ways to cross-publish stuff. There are a lot of social media publishing tools you can use where you can just post something to five different sites, schedule it all at once, and it'll do it all for you. You couldn't do that 10 or 15 years ago.

A few years ago, the advice was that you should find your audience, find that connection, and be human. I think that still applies. It's still very relevant to be in those kinds of places.

A lot of the visibility last year was in Reddit, forums, and even places outside of the open web, like Slack groups and Discord. There are places where you can't necessarily measure how much traffic you are getting, but you can look at your referral traffic. You can see what people are reacting to in a Reddit thread or in an industry-specific forum.

At the moment, it’s a bit of both. It's easier to be everywhere now, but you still need to be aware of where you're publishing. Don't just go crazy and publish on everything, but it's worth testing, poking, prodding, and experimenting. Maybe you did really well on TikTok, but nobody cares about you on Instagram. Maybe Discord is really relevant to your audience, but you don’t need to bother with Slack. There are so many different options.

Most people would just think about Reddit and Quora, but there are hundreds of thousands of forums for any incredibly niche industry. Most SEOs have worked with a client who produces an unbelievably specific B2B product, like the valves in the underwater pipes that connect oil rigs. Is there an audience for that? The answer is always yes. There will be monthly magazines, websites, podcasts – there's content for everything these days.

There's always a place to publish, join a conversation, and be part of a community as well.”

What does the diversification of publishing opportunities mean for monetisation strategies like subscriptions, sponsorships, and digital products?

“A lot of publishers have relied entirely on display ads. If you're running a news site or a review site, you would rely on those display ads and getting that traffic, those clicks, and those connections through Google Ads, or another ad platform.

When it comes to content creation, for my own podcasts, I've used subscription services like Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, or Ko-fi. There are dozens of those platforms these days, and there are even industry-specific versions of those things as well.

When it comes to making money from that sort of stuff, you can do it through premium and exclusive content. That's a really big driver of subscriptions for those platforms. I've found that to be very true with the film podcast that I do outside of work. When we publish bonus episodes, exclusive extras, and things like that, that is by far the most popular content that we create, and it has by far driven the most revenue for us.

The same could be true for sponsorships and partnerships. Again, this is a tale as old as time with influencers, content creators, podcasters, etc. For those who don't know, I was a podcaster before I was an SEO, so that’s the perspective I am coming from.

You have so much more control over your revenue streams when you have a direct partnership, where you don't necessarily rely on Google deciding whether or not you get the money. Instead, you are having conversations directly with your sponsors or your partners. You're not relying on a middleman to do the work for you. You can have direct contact and build long-term relationships, which can lead to long-term growth and long-term revenue.

You can work with the same partner for six months, a year, or five years. I've worked with podcast sponsors who started with a six-month package, and then the relationship grew and grew. We ended up doing exclusive shows, publishing stuff for them, and working with them on all kinds of stuff. That kind of direct interaction makes such a big difference for building relationships.

That human side of things helps build those relationships much more than, ‘Can I put a Google Ad on your website?’ or ‘I would like to bid on this keyword.’ It's much more of a human interaction, and you're far more in control of the money that you're making and who you're working with, in terms of brand reputation and things like that.”

Jack, what's the key takeaway from the tip you shared today?

“If you're creating online content in 2026, you can't just rely on Google Ads.

You need to be diversifying your content and diversifying your revenue streams. It's as simple as that.”

Jack Chambers-Ward is Marketing and Partnerships Manager at Candour. Find out more over at WithCandour.co.uk.