AI is killing the click. OOH brings back the brand.

You open ChatGPT and type: “Which hotels in Dallas are best for a weekend with friends?” Within seconds, you get a clean chart of options, pulled from across the web. Answer found. No scrolling. No clicking through endless review sites like years past. Out of habit, you double-check on Google — but the first thing you see is an AI overview with the same results. The top organic listings sit untouched, below the fold.

The click is gone. 

Not entirely, but it is less reliable. Marketers are entering a new era where visibility doesn’t guarantee traffic. Google users who see AI summaries at the top of results are far less likely to click links. SEO, once the engine of digital discovery, is losing its grip. 

So what comes next?

Digital behavior is changing dramatically, from how people search to how they scroll. But the real world hasn’t changed: people still commute, shop and gather in ways that are stable and predictable. That consistency is why OOH thrives. In fact, even as 18% of generative AI users say it’s their top tool for purchase recommendations, physical stores still outrank every digital option: proof that the real world remains the anchor point for consumer behavior.

The structural shift in search

The last thing consumers want is to spend time researching, and zero-click search makes that easier than ever. If an answer appears at the top of the page, why bother visiting a site? AI-driven search traffic is projected to surpass organic search by 2028, and despite direct brand domains often being prioritized, even top-performing websites on Google aren’t guaranteed visibility anymore. Brands that don’t adapt to this shift risk losing not just clicks, but high-intent consumers.

Search isn’t disappearing — if anything, AI is expanding it — but discovery is happening in new, less visible ways. AI is reshaping user behavior, and it's hitting the top of the funnel the hardest. The challenge for marketers is clear: how do you capture attention when early discovery moments are disappearing?

The funnel fallout: AI hits awareness the hardest

Broad discovery and early consideration — the moments where brands once made first impressions — are being squeezed out. AI-generated overviews now dominate informational queries, making zero-click behavior the new normal. Awareness searches, category exploration and general-intent queries are increasingly intercepted before consumers ever reach a site.

This shift compresses the funnel: much of the information-gathering now happens within AI results, not across multiple brand websites. The visitors who do come through are more qualified — 4.4x more valuable than traditional organic traffic — but far fewer in number. 

Early consideration opportunities are shrinking, making it more important than ever to diversify how and where you reach audiences. And the key to solving this challenge lies outside the home.

Predictability drives performance

There is less certainty in the digital space now than ever before. Search and discovery are shifting under marketers’ feet, and even the brands that win page-one placement can’t count on being seen. In a landscape this volatile, the most reliable place to meet consumers is the physical world.

The offline world doesn’t bend to algorithms. People’s routines create stable patterns that OOH is uniquely built to tap into. That consistency translates to impact: OOH is now outperforming digital channels in both ad awareness and purchase intent. And unlike digital, where attention is optional, OOH captures it. A 2025 study found OOH delivers the highest ad recall at the lowest CPMs of any format. You can’t scroll past a billboard. You see it, and you remember it.

If digital is volatile and OOH is both reliable and cognitively powerful, the challenge — and opportunity — for marketers is clear: build a media mix that uses OOH to stabilize and amplify digital.

Building a smarter media mix

OOH is powerful on its own, but its real strength lies in how it supercharges everything around it. Improved AI and shifting search structures will continue to reshape digital, but marketers who balance the two worlds — online and offline — create a media mix that’s far greater than the sum of its parts.

The data is clear: when OOH runs alongside other channels, every one of them performs better. Search sees a +54% lift, social a +20% lift, TV and radio each +17%, and even print gains +7%. That’s not coincidence; it’s proof that OOH is the spark plug that ignites other media. 

As awareness-based search erodes, high-quality physical touchpoints are essential. They guarantee impressions in a way search may not, and they give digital campaigns the stable foundation they need to actually break through.

Planning for what's next — not what came before

This isn’t a passing trend. It’s a structural reset of how people discover, consider and connect with brands.

The marketers who win won’t be the ones clinging to yesterday’s playbooks or obsessing over performance norms that no longer exist. They’ll be the ones who recognize the shift and adapt their media mix to match the world as it actually works today.

And the reality is clear: online journeys are more fragmented, more volatile and more uncertain than ever. But offline behavior remains stable. Commutes, routines and real-world movement patterns continue to create consistent opportunities for connection.

The future of marketing isn’t about choosing between digital or physical. It’s about balancing both in a way that reflects consumer reality.

Clicks or no clicks, OOH gives your brand the foundation digital can't.