articleZenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)Apr 14, 2026GREEN OA

The Click Collapse: How AI Retrieval Layers Replaced Search Discovery

RFRex FractionLSLee Sharks
Indexed indatacite

Abstract

EA-CORP-01 — Market analysis documenting the replacement of search-engine discovery by AI retrieval layers. Data: 58% CTR decline (Ahrefs), 69% zero-click (Similarweb), 1% AI Overview click-through (Pew), ~5 citations per overview, $2B annual revenue lost (IAB Tech Lab). Three structural diagnoses: R1 Commoditization, R2 Capital Erasure, R3 Semantic Sovereignty. Why SEO and GEO do not solve this.

Citation impact

16
total citations
FWCI
1108.28
Percentile
100%
References
12
Too recent for citation history.

Authors

2

Topics & keywords

Topics
Keywords
  • Revenue
  • Knowledge extraction
  • Document retrieval
  • Semantic Web
No related works found for this paper.