From Clicks to Citations: Barry Schwartz on Visibility in AI Search

Barry Schwartz has watched search evolve from ten blue links to AI-generated answers. Ahead of SERP Conf. Vienna 2026, he breaks down what declining clicks really mean, why citations and brand visibility are becoming more important, and how businesses can prepare for where Google is heading next. He talks with our brand ambassador, Christian Kunz, the owner of SEO Südwest, and this is an interview everyone in the industry has to hear. 

“Your only savior is the brand that shows up as often as possible.”

Few people have watched Google change as closely – or as consistently – as Barry Schwartz. The founder of Search Engine Roundtable, News Editor at Search Engine Land and CEO of RustyBrick has covered search for more than two decades, often publishing several updates every day.

That perspective matters at a moment when search is becoming more volatile. Ahead of SERP Conf. Vienna 2026, Barry discussed declining publisher traffic, AI citations, missing performance data and why disappearing from the systems reshaping discovery is unlikely to be the answer.

Search Is Sending Less Traffic  –  But It Still Needs Content

Barry is direct about the current reality: publishers are receiving less traffic from Google than they did a few years ago, and AI-generated answers have increased that pressure.

Google and AI platforms still need the content publishers create. What has changed is the exchange. Instead of consistently sending a click back to the source, AI systems may answer the question directly.

“Nobody really clicks from AI answers,” Barry says. “They read it, they trust it, they move on.”

For businesses built around pageviews and advertising impressions, that creates a serious monetisation problem. But Barry also sees the SEO community’s ability to test, adapt and find new models as one of its biggest strengths.

Brand Visibility May Matter More Than the Click

If fewer users reach the website, appearing inside the answer becomes more important.

Barry argues that brands still want to be visible when AI systems discuss topics in which they have expertise. That visibility can influence a user before a direct website visit ever happens.

When people do arrive, brands therefore need to turn that moment into a lasting relationship – through a newsletter, social channel, YouTube subscription, or another direct connection.

The difficult question is how to turn AI-era brand visibility into measurable business value. Barry does not pretend the industry has solved it yet.

Blocking AI Is Probably Not the Answer

Some publishers have responded by blocking AI crawlers as concerns around compensation and content usage grow.

Barry understands the frustration, but his own position is clear: “I would never block.”

A company that wants to be recognised as an expert also wants to appear where people increasingly search for answers. Blocking may prevent some AI usage, but it can also remove opportunities to be mentioned or cited.

His position is pragmatic rather than absolute. Smaller crawlers that provide no meaningful return may be different, but cutting off major search and AI platforms comes with a visibility cost.

AI Measurement Is Still Frustratingly Incomplete

SEO has been losing data for years, and AI search makes attribution even harder.

Third-party tools can estimate prompt visibility and brand mentions, while Microsoft provides some AI-related information. What Barry wants most from Google is much simpler: click-and-query data.

“I want to know how many clicks I’m getting from AI Mode versus AI Overviews versus core search,” he explains.

Until then, brands have to work with imperfect signals such as mentions, social engagement, email sign-ups and other actions that indicate whether visibility is creating a relationship.

Look Where Google Is Going, Not Where It Has Been

For Barry, the direction is increasingly clear: AI Mode is becoming central to the Google search experience.

His advice is to spend time there. Run the queries that matter to your business, see how your website and brand appear and watch what changes.

What he does not recommend is reviving old manipulation tactics simply because they happen to work in AI search today. As quality systems improve, cheap shortcuts are likely to disappear.

The more durable strategy remains familiar: create content good enough that Google, ChatGPT, Anthropic, Bing and other systems genuinely want to surface it.

See Barry Schwartz at SERP Conf. Vienna 2026

Barry Schwartz will join the speakers at SERP Conf. Vienna 2026, taking place on November 3-4 at Tech Gate Vienna.

If you want to understand where search is going from someone who has documented its changes for more than 22 years, join us in Vienna for the conversation around AI, SEO, content and the future of visibility.