We’re not at Google Zero quite yet. But, as we near this point where Google search results provide direct answers and reduce outbound links, publishers face a critical imperative: They must build direct connections, maintain the loyalty of existing readers, and deeply engage audiences.

Since Google introduced AI Overviews 14 months ago, the AI-generated summaries have hurt publishers’ bottom lines, scuttled search traffic, and impacted ad revenue and subscriptions. This has resulted “zero-click” searches and a sharp decline in traffic, which some have dubbed “Google Zero”. News searches resulting in no click-throughs to news websites grew from 56% to nearly 69% as of May 2025, according to report from digital market intelligence company Similarweb.

About 40% of The Atlantic’s traffic comes from search, CEO Nicholas Thompson told Azeem Azhar, founder of Exponential View. “We’re seeing a significant decline, maybe a 20% decline,” he said. This translates to an 8% drop in overall website visitors, impacting ad revenue, subscriptions, and brand awareness.

AI Overviews appear in 39% of Google queries, according to Website Planet. An estimated 5.6% of U.S. search traffic on desktop browsers last month went to AI-powered large language models, according to market intelligence firm Datos, The Wall Street Journal reported. And analytics company Authoritas found that a site previously ranked first in a search result lost 79% of its traffic if results were delivered below an AI overview.

Whether publishers like it or not, that traffic isn’t coming back. Google Zero looms large on the horizon. Pew Research found that for searches with AI summaries, Google users clicked on a traditional search result link in only 8% of visits, compared to 15% without AI summaries.

And plenty of publishers aren’t happy about things. A legal complaint was submitted to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority over the impact of Google AI Overviews on news publishers, arguing that Google is abusing its market dominance by using publisher content in AI-generated responses without fair compensation, while simultaneously reducing traffic to news websites. Additionally, The Independant Publishers Alliance filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission in June, alleging that Google abuses its market power in online search.

Meanwhile, as publishers adapt to this new reality, DCN spoke to some industry experts to reveal what’s working.

Direct relationships important, valuable

Some publishers aren’t waiting for Google Zero, they’re already building the direct audience relationships and cultivating reader loyalty that will matter even more when search traffic disappears.

Hearst Connecticut Media Group strategically builds direct audience relationships as part of its long-term audience strategy. Their GameTime CT high school sports vertical, which serves high school parents, athletes and coaches, drives subscriptions according to Mandy Hofmockel, managing editor of audience at Hearst Media Connecticut.

“It goes above and beyond game coverage and is a formula for success in serving local audiences,” Hofmockel says. “Our high school sports coverage is evolving to be less about the sport itself and more about athletes, their stories around the game. We are building depth, experiences and connections.”

To deepen engagement, the company launched it’s first texting campaign for UConn basketball during March Madness this year, she says. “That platform allowed that small but engaged pool of UConn fans to message us directly with questions on everything from player injuries to coach strategies, to just like where they could watch the game,” she says.  

Hearst Media Connecticut is also deepening its reporting in key local areas, including weather, education and real estate, even adding a meteorologist to its team and developing weather tools and trackers. Hearst’s hyperlocal approach, covering school closures, local weather patterns, and community-specific issues, provides indispensable information creating direct traffic that survives the death of search.

Being a local publisher provides advantage. “We know what it’s like to live in, go to school in and eat across the state. That’s reflected in our coverage and the key coverage areas for the newsroom,” Hofmockel says. “Our readers don’t hesitate to share us with us what they think of our coverage because they feel that connection to us.” This means when readers need to know what’s really happening in their town or city, they come straight to Hearst instead of searching for answers.

Direct engagement, across multiple platforms

BBC Studios has “embraced all manner of platforms to reach audiences wherever they are, from a thriving BBC News WhatsApp channel to Instagram clubs for our Culture super-fans.” However,  their primary focus on building stronger, direct relationships through product innovation and editorial strategy, says Ben Goldberger, GM and executive director of editorial content. “Central to this is the relaunch of our BBC.com site and app, which offers a premium, more streamlined user experience that encouraged repeat visits and deeper engagement,” Goldberger says.

The company rolled out a new pay model on BBC.com in the US, which Goldberger called an important step in strengthening the connection with their most passionate users. The launch of the new pay model will help them gain greater insight into their audiences’ preferences and behaviors, and to strengthen those connections.

“One constant has been our commitment to our owned-and-operated channels,” he says. “We have seen meaningful success driving engagement on our platforms as we reduce reliance on those of others.”

BBC Studios operates 11 regular newsletters for global audiences, spanning topics from US politics to personal health. Goldberger says the response to these has been incredibly encouraging. “Our newsletters subscribers are deeply engaged with our work, regularly visiting BBC.com from newsletter links and taking the time to send thoughtful, considered feedback,” he says. “Indeed, the outpouring of notes from readers of our In History newsletter led us to create a recurring section featuring reader memories that is among the most popular.”

BBC Studios aren’t just creating an email list, they’re creating a feedback loop where engaged newsletter readers become content contributors and reliable traffic drivers. It’s a two-way relationship that generates both audience loyalty and editorial material. BBC Studios owns every touchpoint in the reader journey, making them insulated from external platform disruptions like Google Zero.

Building stories AI can’t replicate

David Skok built The Logic, a Canadian business publication focused on technology and innovation, as a subscription-first publication from launch in 2019. “Our business model necessitated us having a direct relationship with our readers from the start,” the CEO and editor-in-chief says.

In a recent column about AI’s impact on journalism, Skok delved into the existential question facing publishers as AI upends traditional web discovery. He believes in creating stories that no AI platform can summarize accurately.

“If you’re writing stuff that is yours, exclusively yours, you cannot get anywhere else and isn’t answered in just one pithy response from a chat engine, that’s how you’re going to win,” he continues. “The thing that’s really still going to differentiate you is what stories are you assigning and what stories are your reporters pitching? Are they things that you cannot get anywhere else?”

Beyond content strategy, The Logic is intentional about their audience engagement. “I think intimate events are really working,” Skok explains, describing some of The Logic’s recent events. “We’ll go to a place like Calgary or Vancouver and have 30 people for breakfast and just talk about the issues of the day, bring in one of our columnists, and those kinds of things are extreme value for a smaller group of people. And they feel it.”

The Logic also has a Slack channel for direct engagement with reporters, and hosts virtual events based on breaking news. “We try to make sure that our readers understand that what they’re getting with The Logic subscription is way more than just access to ungated content behind a paywall,” he says.

Beyond the (zero) click

“Publishers will have to shift their expectation expectations from some of the primary referral sources we’ve relied on in the past,” Hofmockel says. “It doesn’t mean we completely give up on search and social. But we have to adjust our strategies and find additional ways to connect with our communities.”

As one publisher noted in the Tow Center’s May 2025 report Journalism Zero: How Platforms and Publishers are Navigating AI, “there’s no way around the platforms” because “the platforms are … where the audiences are.”

As publishers focus on direct relationships, they continue to make sure they’re “maximized for visibility,” on Google because “it’s still an important channel for distributing our work,” Hofmockel from Hearst says. However, it is important to take a strategic, rather than dependant, approach. In other words: never be solely dependent on platforms for your core business model.

Hofmockel believes it’s an opportunity to reevaluate not just audience strategies, but publishers’ content approach. “We can build new, distinctive products (that) are rooted in data, go deep in the categories that matter… and make sure we’re giving readers reasons to come and subscribe. Building around these needs with expert reporting will make us essential with or without platforms,” she says.

Building direct relationships, on whatever platforms you own, whether it’s newsletters, events podcasts, or content verticals, publishers must be conscious and intentional about owning their audiences, according to The Logic’s Skok.

“I think that’s the most important relationship you can have, and it’s the one that will allow you to withstand this change. The thing with a subscription business, like a paywall business like we have is, it’s so much harder to build it up. It’s slower, it’s more methodical. There’s no quick hack, growth hack to make it happen. But once you’ve built it up, it’s really hard to tear it down because these readers are invested in your success.”

As AI reshapes digital discovery, publishers who cultivate direct, meaningful relationships with engaged audiences, position themselves to survive and thrive in the post-Google Zero landscape.