White paper · Edition 1
Search visibility in the age of AI assistants
Search visibility now means being found in search results and being described accurately by AI assistants. This white paper sets out what public research says about falling clicks, what our own data shows, and a four-gate framework (Reach, Read, Trust, Convert) that any business can check and fix.
What is inside
- Five findings in one page, with sources
- What Pew Research and Ahrefs data say about clicks when an AI summary appears
- Our own 12 months of Search Console data, including an 82% fall in monthly impressions
- The Four Gates framework with a checklist for each gate
- What you can measure and what you cannot
- A 90-day plan and a ten-question readiness scorecard
Who it is for
Marketing managers, founders and owners of South African businesses that depend on search for enquiries.
Method and limits
Every figure is sourced in the paper. Our own data comes from a Google Search Console export for 1stcontent.co covering 12 months to 4 November 2026. It describes one website, so treat it as a method, not a benchmark for yours.
Related reading
- How AI search chooses which businesses to recommend
- How to optimise your website for AI search
- Free Search & AI Visibility Check
Want this applied to your own site?
Talk to us about a review of your search visibility, with a clear scope and price.