Algorithm research report · October 2026

Zero-click search in South Africa

What 16 months of Google Search Console data from 110 South African websites tells us about clicks, AI Overviews and organic search.

Read the findingsHow we did it
Every 100 appearances in Google

For every 100 times these websites appeared in Google for a South African searcher, about 5 people clicked through. That's 67.3 million clicks from 1.43 billion appearances.

110
websites
1.43bn
appearances in Google
67.3m
clicks
9.0m
distinct search terms
01 · Why we ran this

Why we ran this study

Most of what gets written about zero-click search comes from the US and Europe, built on panels of browser data. South African marketers get those numbers second hand and have to guess how much of it applies here.

We look after Google Search Console for more than 100 South African websites, from banks and retailers to manufacturers and schools. That gives us a first-party way to ask the question for this market: when a page shows up in Google for a South African searcher, how often does that person click, and is that changing?

So we pulled every day of data Google still holds for every one of those sites, 19 May 2025 to 28 September 2026, and compared like with like.

What this data can and can't tell you

Search Console shows how often our clients' pages appeared in Google and how often they were clicked. It doesn't show what a searcher did instead, whether they clicked a competitor, an ad or nothing at all. So this report measures clicks per appearance for the sites in the study, which is the part of zero-click search a business can see in its own data and act on.

Every figure is anonymised. No client, website or search term is named, a sector is only reported when at least 5 separate businesses sit in it, and the headline figures describe the typical business rather than a total the biggest sites would dominate.

Appearance
one time a page showed in Google's results for a searcher (Search Console calls it an impression)
Clicks per 100 appearances
the click rate, written as a count of people
Typical business
the median business in the group, with each business's websites combined first
02 · The data

The data behind the report

Every number in this report comes from one archive: daily Search Console data for South African searchers, for 110 websites, for every day Google still holds.

110
websites
run by 71 businesses in 8 sectors
498
days of daily data
19 May 2025 to 28 September 2026, every day Google still holds
1.43bn
appearances in Google
for South African searchers
67.3m
clicks
from those appearances
9.0m
distinct search terms
behind 153 million rows of daily data
54 780
daily downloads
one per website per day, each stored separately
11 811
search terms checked for AI Overviews
in South African Google results, September 2026
3
breaks in Google's own data
found, dated and kept out of every comparison

How we built it

01
Pull

Daily Search Console data for South African searchers, for every website, one day at a time.

02
Sort

Every search term labelled branded or non-branded, and by type: question, comparison, buying or navigational.

03
Clean

3 breaks in Google's own counting dated and kept out of the comparisons.

04
Compare

The same weeks a year apart for the typical business, with mobile and desktop read separately.

05
Check

Each business's main page-one search terms checked for an AI Overview in South African results.

06
Anonymise

No names or search terms published, and a sector only appears with 5 or more businesses in it.

03 · Key findings

What we found

These are the 6 numbers that sum up the study, and each one is explained further down with the detail behind it.

−21%
clicks per appearance on mobile

19 May to 30 June 2026 against the same weeks in 2025, for the typical business. 82% of businesses fell.

+22% / −8%
appearances against clicks on mobile

Over the same weeks the typical business appeared 22% more often in Google and got 8% fewer clicks.

−16%
clicks per appearance on branded searches

People searching for a business by name click through less. Branded appearances held level and branded clicks fell 14%.

70%
of non-branded page-one search terms show an AI Overview

4 100 of the 5 850 terms we checked with a South African results page captured from June 2026.

−22% vs −9%
clicks per appearance on search terms with and without an AI Overview

19 May to 30 June 2026 against 2025, for search terms on page one both years. Search terms that show an AI Overview today lost clicks faster for 66% of businesses.

−37%
clicks per appearance in financial services

The sector that relies most on branded search, 19 May to 30 June against the same weeks in 2025, with every business in the sector down.

04 · What we tested

What we set out to test

We went in with 5 working hypotheses, the things most people in the market assume about zero-click search. This is how each one held up against the data.

H1
Pages get fewer clicks per appearance than a year ago.

Down 29% across all devices and 21% on mobile for the typical business, with 91% of businesses down.

Confirmed
H2
AI Overviews are behind the fall.

Search terms that show an AI Overview today lost 22% of their clicks per appearance in a year, against 9% for terms without one. But branded searches fell 16% too, so AI Overviews explain part of the fall and not all of it.

Partly
H3
Informational searches are hit hardest.

Question searches get the fewest clicks today, 1.8 per 100 appearances in the top 3. But the biggest fall in a year was in comparison searches, −34%, against −24% for informational ones.

Not as expected
H4
Branded searches are safe.

Branded clicks per appearance fell 16% for the typical business, from 19.0 to 15.6 per 100, and 74% of businesses were down.

Not supported
H5
Every sector is affected.

Clicks per appearance fell in all 7 sectors we can report on, by between 15% and 50% for the typical business.

Confirmed
05 · Cleaning the data

3 breaks in Google's data

Search Console isn't a stable measuring tool. Google changed how it counted at least 3 times in these 16 months, and any one of those changes would make clicks look as if they had collapsed or recovered.

Average position of the typical website, by day
All searches. A higher number means deeper in the results.
Break 1 and 201530Jul 25Oct 25Jan 26Apr 26Jul 26
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
DateAverage positionClicks per 100
19 May 20256.74.67
26 May 20256.74.79
2 Jun 20256.85.25
9 Jun 20257.65.32
16 Jun 20257.64.46
23 Jun 20257.44.62
30 Jun 20257.44.59
7 Jul 202518.33.27
14 Jul 202516.83.20
21 Jul 202518.93.08
28 Jul 202517.33.66
4 Aug 202515.33.47
11 Aug 202517.53.14
18 Aug 202515.13.15
25 Aug 202516.13.59
1 Sep 202514.13.63
8 Sep 202516.33.60
15 Sep 20258.04.24
22 Sep 20257.54.47
29 Sep 20257.54.79
6 Oct 20257.34.41
13 Oct 20257.64.22
20 Oct 20257.24.29
27 Oct 20257.54.84
3 Nov 20257.04.51
10 Nov 20257.24.17
17 Nov 20257.14.22
24 Nov 20257.74.16
1 Dec 20258.23.94
8 Dec 20258.13.78
15 Dec 20257.93.24
22 Dec 202511.72.11
29 Dec 20257.82.98
5 Jan 20267.83.54
12 Jan 20268.23.44
19 Jan 20267.93.25
26 Jan 20268.43.00
2 Feb 20267.93.40
9 Feb 20267.83.45
16 Feb 20267.02.81
23 Feb 20267.53.06
2 Mar 20267.43.22
9 Mar 20266.13.27
16 Mar 20266.42.79
23 Mar 20265.93.05
30 Mar 20266.23.31
6 Apr 20266.33.08
13 Apr 20266.53.17
20 Apr 20266.93.53
27 Apr 20267.73.14
4 May 20267.53.61
11 May 20267.83.81
18 May 20267.03.33
25 May 20266.83.29
1 Jun 20266.83.47
8 Jun 20266.53.44
15 Jun 20266.73.26
22 Jun 20267.33.55
29 Jun 20267.63.57
6 Jul 20267.43.34
13 Jul 20267.43.59
20 Jul 20266.53.73
27 Jul 20267.03.74
3 Aug 20267.73.33
10 Aug 20269.42.79
17 Aug 20267.72.51
24 Aug 20267.23.91
31 Aug 20267.94.23
7 Sep 20266.83.57
14 Sep 20266.83.38
21 Sep 20266.73.43
28 Sep 20266.13.65
Share of non-branded appearances reported at position 1, by day
All websites combined.
Break 30%15%30%Jul 25Oct 25Jan 26Apr 26Jul 26
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
DateShare at position 1
19 May 20259.8%
26 May 20259.6%
2 Jun 20259.7%
9 Jun 20259.8%
16 Jun 20259.7%
23 Jun 202510.0%
30 Jun 20259.8%
7 Jul 20258.7%
14 Jul 20258.5%
21 Jul 20258.3%
28 Jul 20257.8%
4 Aug 20258.3%
11 Aug 20258.4%
18 Aug 20258.7%
25 Aug 20258.1%
1 Sep 20258.3%
8 Sep 20259.5%
15 Sep 202510.3%
22 Sep 202510.0%
29 Sep 20259.3%
6 Oct 20259.6%
13 Oct 20259.5%
20 Oct 20259.7%
27 Oct 20259.8%
3 Nov 202511.0%
10 Nov 202510.4%
17 Nov 202510.0%
24 Nov 20259.5%
1 Dec 202510.3%
8 Dec 202511.1%
15 Dec 202512.4%
22 Dec 202511.9%
29 Dec 202514.2%
5 Jan 202614.4%
12 Jan 202614.4%
19 Jan 202617.4%
26 Jan 202619.7%
2 Feb 202620.4%
9 Feb 202620.2%
16 Feb 202622.8%
23 Feb 202622.7%
2 Mar 202622.4%
9 Mar 202623.4%
16 Mar 202622.5%
23 Mar 202620.7%
30 Mar 202623.4%
6 Apr 202627.6%
13 Apr 202623.5%
20 Apr 202618.8%
27 Apr 202610.1%
4 May 202611.7%
11 May 202611.5%
18 May 20267.6%
25 May 20268.0%
1 Jun 20267.0%
8 Jun 20267.5%
15 Jun 20267.4%
22 Jun 20267.8%
29 Jun 20268.2%
6 Jul 20268.0%
13 Jul 20269.0%
20 Jul 20268.3%
27 Jul 202611.6%
3 Aug 202611.5%
10 Aug 20269.2%
17 Aug 202611.6%
24 Aug 20269.1%
31 Aug 20268.2%
7 Sep 20268.0%
14 Sep 20266.9%
21 Sep 20266.5%
28 Sep 20267.3%
Break 1
1 to 2 July 2025

Overnight, the typical site's average position moved from about 7.5 to about 20, and its click rate fell from about 4.6 to about 3 clicks per 100 appearances. The extra appearances sit deep in the results and bring no clicks, which points to automated tools loading results pages.

Break 2
10 to 15 September 2025

It reversed when Google stopped serving 100 results a page to rank-tracking tools. Average position went back to about 7 to 8 and has stayed there.

Break 3
Mid-December 2025 to late April 2026

Google reported a growing share of non-branded appearances at position 1, from about 10% to 24%, taken from positions 3 to 10 while total appearances stayed flat. It unwound between 16 and 28 April 2026. We don't know the cause.

How we handled it
Every year-on-year comparison uses the same weeks a year apart with both sides clean: 19 May to 30 June, and 15 to 28 September. Anything that depends on position uses June to August 2026, after the third break unwound. Figures that don't depend on position come from site totals, which the third break doesn't touch.
06 · Appearances and clicks

Appearances are up and clicks are down

We index every business to its own daily average for 19 May to 30 June 2025, then take the typical business each month. A large website and a small one count the same, so the lines show direction rather than size.

Appearances and clicks per day, typical business
Index, 19 May to 30 June 2025 = 100. 53 businesses with enough data in every month. July to mid-September 2025 is left out because of a break in Google's data.
AppearancesClicks
6080100120140160180gapMay 25Oct 25Dec 25Feb 26Apr 26Jun 26Sep 26Appearances 118Clicks 87
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
MonthAppearancesClicksClicks per 100
May 20251021044.92
Jun 202599985.11
Sep 20251261034.25
Oct 20251231064.34
Nov 20251381033.70
Dec 2025134793.06
Jan 20261571003.35
Feb 20261681073.20
Mar 20261541022.70
Apr 20261341013.24
May 2026132982.90
Jun 2026128893.29
Jul 2026125983.52
Aug 2026132903.36
Sep 2026118873.62
Mobile, 19 May to 30 June 2026 against 2025
+22%
appearances
for the typical business
−8%
clicks
60% of businesses got fewer clicks
−21%
clicks per appearance
82% of businesses fell

From November 2025 appearances climbed, reaching about 1.7 times the starting level by February 2026 before settling at about 1.3 times through the winter of 2026. Clicks stayed close to where they started for most of the year and drifted down to about 0.9 times by August and September 2026.

On mobile the climb was smaller and has mostly unwound. By September 2026 mobile appearances were back near the starting level and mobile clicks were about 8% below it.

What this means
A falling click rate can mean fewer clicks or more appearances, and for most of these businesses it meant both. That's why every rate in this report sits next to the clicks and appearances behind it.
07 · The same weeks, a year apart

Clicks per appearance fell for 9 in 10 businesses

The cleanest test we have is the same 6 weeks a year apart, 19 May to 30 June, with both years clear of Google's counting changes.

Clicks per 100 appearances, typical business, 19 May to 30 June
Each year is the median business that year. The change on the right is the typical change within each business.
20252026
0246All searches, all devices3.04.8−29%Mobile3.14.0−21%Desktoplikely inflated, see below3.36.3−49%Non-branded, page one1.32.0−31%
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
20252026Typical change
All devices4.773.03−29%
Mobile3.983.1−21%
Desktop6.333.27−49%
Non-branded, page one1.961.27−31%
Branded19.0415.59−16%
Appearances and clicks, same weeks
AppearancesClicks
All devices+38%−9%
Mobile+22%−8%
Desktop+62%−18%
Branded0%−14%

Typical business. Desktop appearances have run high since September 2025 in a way that looks like automated traffic, which never clicks.

Desktop shows the steepest fall, but desktop appearances have run high since September 2025 and the extra appearances don't bring clicks with them. About 4 in 5 appearances in this study are on mobile, so we lead with mobile.

The second window, 15 to 28 September, tells the same story on mobile: appearances −6%, clicks −17% and clicks per appearance −13% for the typical business.

Branded searches, where someone types the business's own name, still get far more clicks than anything else, 15.6 per 100 appearances in 2026. They are also falling: down 16% for the typical business, with 74% of businesses down.

08 · What a ranking is worth

What a page-one ranking is worth today

Clicks per 100 appearances on non-branded searches, June to August 2026, after Google's position reporting settled.

Clicks per 100 appearances by position, non-branded searches
Typical business, June to August 2026.
0243.5Position 13.122.031.54 to 50.76 to 100.411 to 20
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
PositionTypical businessMiddle half of businessesAll websites combinedBusinesses
Position 13.542.21 to 6.308.2044
23.062.16 to 4.345.2539
31.971.54 to 3.113.1841
4 to 51.460.85 to 1.932.0850
6 to 100.680.35 to 0.970.9257
11 to 200.390.20 to 0.620.7056
3.5
clicks for every 100 times the typical business shows at position 1 on a non-branded search
0.7
clicks per 100 at positions 6 to 10
Below position 3 the drop is steep.
Branded searches: share of appearances against share of clicks
Typical business, June to August 2026. 60 businesses.
BrandedNon-branded
Share of appearances
13%
87%
Share of clicks
75%
25%
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm. Based on the search terms Search Console names.
Top-three clicks per 100 appearances, by type of search
Non-branded searches, typical business, June to August 2026.
0241.8Questions3.4Comparison and buying3.4Other non-branded
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm. Questions start with how, what, why and similar words. Comparison and buying searches include price, best, buy, near me and similar words.
View the data
Type of searchClicks per 100Businesses
Questions1.7731
Comparison and buying3.4131
Other non-branded3.3549

Branded searches are 13% of appearances and 75% of clicks for the typical business. Search Console only names the search terms enough people use, and branded terms are more often among them, so the real branded share of clicks is probably a little lower than this.

Question searches get about half the clicks of comparison and buying searches in the top 3, 1.8 against 3.4 per 100. Longer searches of 5 words or more get 2.5 per 100, against 3.1 for 1 or 2 words.

09 · AI Overviews

How often AI Overviews show

We took each business's main non-branded search terms where it ranked on page one between June and September 2026, up to 300 per business, and checked each one against a South African Google results page captured from June 2026 onwards.

70%
of the non-branded page-one search terms we checked showed an AI Overview
4 100 of the 5 850 terms with a South African results page captured from June 2026. 11 811 terms checked in all.

AI Overviews show on buying and comparison searches about as often as on informational ones, 75% and 77% against 75%. Navigational searches, where someone is looking for a particular site, show one far less often, 35%.

Share of search terms with an AI Overview, by stage of the funnel
All businesses combined. Stages use DataForSEO's search intent labels.
Learn (informational)75%Buy (transactional)75%Compare (commercial)77%Navigate (navigational)35%
Source: Google Search Console and DataForSEO Labs (South Africa, English, September 2026 snapshot). Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
StageWith an AI OverviewTerms
Learn (informational)75.4%2034
Buy (transactional)74.5%2781
Compare (commercial)77.0%871
Navigate (navigational)34.9%627
Share of search terms with an AI Overview, by sector
Typical business in each sector. Automotive, leisure, education & property and telecoms have too few businesses with checked terms to report.
FMCG & beauty97%Financial services78%Industrial & B2B services69%Retail: fashion, health & general63%Retail: home, DIY & furniture62%
Source: Google Search Console and DataForSEO Labs (South Africa, English, September 2026 snapshot). Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
SectorWith an AI OverviewBusinesses
Financial services78.3%9
FMCG & beauty97.0%5
Retail: home, DIY & furniture61.8%6
Retail: fashion, health & general63.0%6
Industrial & B2B services69.4%9
Automotivenot reported
Leisure, education & propertynot reported
10 · AI Overviews and clicks

Search terms with an AI Overview lost clicks faster

We compared the same search terms a year apart, 19 May to 30 June, for terms on page one in both years, split by whether they show an AI Overview today.

Clicks per 100 appearances, 19 May to 30 June, terms on page one both years
Typical business. 32 businesses. The change on the right is the typical change within each business.
20252026
012AI Overview today1.41.6−22%No AI Overview today1.31.4−9%
Source: Google Search Console and DataForSEO Labs (South Africa, English, September 2026 snapshot). Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
20252026Typical changeAverage position 2025Average position 2026
AI Overview today1.561.35−22%6.25.6
No AI Overview today1.41.33−9%5.95.8
−22%
clicks per appearance, terms with an AI Overview today
−9%
clicks per appearance, terms without one
66%
of businesses saw their AI Overview terms fall further
Average positions barely moved: 6.2 to 5.6 with an AI Overview, 5.9 to 5.8 without.
With an AI Overview
AI Overview
Position 1
6.5clicks per 100 appearances at position 1, all businesses combined, June to September 2026
Without an AI Overview
Position 1
20.4clicks per 100 appearances at position 1, all businesses combined, June to September 2026
Clicks per 100 appearances today, with and without an AI Overview
Non-branded page-one search terms, typical business, June to September 2026.
With an AI OverviewWithout
02.551.04.2Position 12.83.4Positions 2 to 30.70.8Positions 4 to 10
Source: Google Search Console and DataForSEO Labs (South Africa, English, September 2026 snapshot). Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
PositionWith (typical)Without (typical)Within-business ratioWith (all combined)Without (all combined)Businesses
Position 10.964.170.736.4820.4312
Positions 2 to 32.783.361.063.143.4427
Positions 4 to 100.730.760.851.140.9246

At position 1 the gap is large however we measure it. With all businesses combined it's 6.5 clicks per 100 with an AI Overview against 20.4 without, about two thirds fewer. Within the typical business it's about a quarter fewer, a ratio of 0.73. Only 12 businesses rank first often enough on both kinds of term to compare, so read the size of the gap as a range.

At positions 2 to 10 we see no consistent gap. Terms with and without an AI Overview get about the same clicks there.

What this means
Search terms that carry an AI Overview are losing clicks faster than the ones that don't, and position 1 under an AI Overview gets fewer clicks than position 1 without one. We track whether our clients are cited inside AI answers alongside their rankings for this reason, and we report the two together.
11 · The funnel

Clicks per appearance fell at every stage of the funnel

We grouped the search terms we checked into 4 stages using DataForSEO's search intent labels, and added branded searches from the full archive as a fifth.

Learn
Informational
Looking for an answer or an explanation
Search terms with an AI Overview
75%
Top-3 clicks per 100 today
2.1
Change in clicks per appearance
−24%
Change in appearances
+13%
Change in clicks
−18%
Compare
Commercial
Weighing up options, brands and prices
Search terms with an AI Overview
77%
Top-3 clicks per 100 today
3.1
Change in clicks per appearance
−34%
Change in appearances
+39%
Change in clicks
+5%
Buy
Transactional
Ready to buy, book, apply or get a quote
Search terms with an AI Overview
75%
Top-3 clicks per 100 today
2.9
Change in clicks per appearance
−23%
Change in appearances
+29%
Change in clicks
−9%
Navigate
Navigational
Looking for a particular site or page
Search terms with an AI Overview
35%
Top-3 clicks per 100 today
4.0
Change in clicks per appearance
−12%
Change in appearances
+3%
Change in clicks
−18%
Brand
Branded searches
Searching for the business by name
Search terms with an AI Overview
n/a
Top-3 clicks per 100 today
15.6*
Change in clicks per appearance
−16%
Change in appearances
0%
Change in clicks
−14%

Changes are 19 May to 30 June 2026 against the same weeks in 2025, for the typical business, on search terms that were on page one both years. *Branded searches: clicks per 100 across all positions in 2026, from the full archive. AI Overview share isn't measured for branded searches.

Change in clicks per appearance, by stage of the funnel
Typical business, 19 May to 30 June 2026 against 2025.
Learn (informational)−24%Compare (commercial)−34%Buy (transactional)−23%Navigate (navigational)−12%Brand (branded searches)−16%
Source: Google Search Console and DataForSEO Labs. Analysis by Algorithm.

Comparison searches had the biggest fall in clicks per appearance, −34%. Their clicks held up (+5%) because they appeared 39% more often, so the extra appearances brought very few extra clicks.

Learn and navigational searches lost the most clicks, −18% each. Navigational searches are also the only stage where AI Overviews are uncommon, at 35%.

Branded searches still turn appearances into clicks far better than any other stage, and they carry about three quarters of the clicks for the typical business, so the 16% fall there matters most.

What this means
The middle of the funnel, where people compare and choose, is where AI Overviews show on about 3 in 4 searches and where clicks per appearance fell most. Comparison content now needs to be measured on whether it's seen and cited, as well as on the clicks it brings.
12 · Sectors

Every sector we can report on lost clicks per appearance

7 sectors have at least 5 businesses in them. Telecoms has 2, so it counts towards the overall figures but isn't reported on its own.

SectorBusinessesWebsitesClicks per 100, clean yearChange in clicks per appearanceAppearancesClicksTerms with an AI Overview
Financial services9124.7−37%+44%−20%78%
FMCG & beauty6142.1−33%+60%+8%97%
Retail: home, DIY & furniture892.4−29%+47%+13%62%
Retail: fashion, health & general793.8−15%−8%+3%63%
Industrial & B2B services25332.9−29%+48%−10%69%
Automotive5191.8−15%+5%−18%not reported
Leisure, education & property9112.6−50%+47%−23%not reported

Typical business in each sector. Changes are 19 May to 30 June 2026 against the same weeks in 2025. Clean year is October 2025 to August 2026.

Change in clicks per appearance, by sector
Typical business, 19 May to 30 June 2026 against 2025.
Financial services−37%FMCG & beauty−33%Retail: home, DIY & furniture−29%Retail: fashion, health & general−15%Industrial & B2B services−29%Automotive−15%Leisure, education & property−50%
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.

The falls run from 15% in fashion, health and general retail and in automotive to 50% in leisure, education and property. Financial services, the sector that relies most on branded search, fell 37%.

Each sector has a page below with its own monthly trend, what a ranking is worth there, and what it means.

Sector 01 of 07

Financial services: clicks per appearance down 37% in a year

9 / 12
businesses / websites
4.7
clicks per 100 appearances
clean year, typical business
−37%
change in clicks per appearance
19 May to 30 June, 2026 against 2025
+44%
appearances
same weeks
−20%
clicks
same weeks
78%
terms with an AI Overview
non-branded, page one

Financial services websites get more clicks per appearance than any other sector in the study, 4.7 per 100 across the clean year, and most of those clicks come from people searching for the brand by name. Branded searches bring 88% of clicks for the typical business, the highest share of any sector.

Over 19 May to 30 June the typical business appeared 44% more often in Google and got 20% fewer clicks, and every business in the sector lost clicks per appearance. Branded search took the biggest hit: branded clicks fell 28% while branded appearances rose 6%.

Non-branded searches fell too: clicks per appearance on page one dropped 34%. In the top 3, question searches bring 1.5 clicks per 100 against 2.5 for comparison and buying searches, and AI Overviews show on 78% of the non-branded page-one terms we checked.

What this means
With close to 9 in 10 clicks coming from branded searches, what Google shows for the brand name matters as much as any non-branded ranking. That means checking the AI Overview, ads and other listings that sit above the website for its own name, and reporting branded clicks on their own.
Financial services: appearances and clicks per day, typical business
Index, 19 May to 30 June 2025 = 100. 9 businesses with enough data in every month. July to mid-September 2025 is left out because of a break in Google's data.
AppearancesClicks
406080100120140160180200220gapMay 25Oct 25Dec 25Feb 26Apr 26Jun 26Sep 26Appearances 118Clicks 60
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
MonthAppearancesClicksClicks per 100
May 20251031028.55
Jun 202599998.69
Sep 20251631035.43
Oct 20251651075.16
Nov 2025198954.17
Dec 2025182653.22
Jan 2026209943.88
Feb 20262141054.15
Mar 20262121084.50
Apr 2026175974.40
May 2026162794.92
Jun 2026140775.70
Jul 2026140765.11
Aug 2026137645.50
Sep 2026118603.97
Clicks per 100 appearances by position, non-branded
Typical business, June to August 2026.
Financial servicesAll businesses
02.554.012.921.631.44 to 50.46 to 100.411 to 20
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
PositionFinancial servicesAll businesses
14.023.54
22.933.06
31.631.97
4 to 51.391.46
6 to 100.400.68
11 to 200.370.39
Sector 02 of 07

FMCG & beauty: AI Overviews on almost every search we checked

6 / 14
businesses / websites
2.1
clicks per 100 appearances
clean year, typical business
−33%
change in clicks per appearance
19 May to 30 June, 2026 against 2025
+60%
appearances
same weeks
+8%
clicks
same weeks
97%
terms with an AI Overview
non-branded, page one

AI Overviews show on 97% of the non-branded page-one search terms we checked for the typical business, the highest share of any sector.

It's also the sector where appearances grew fastest. Over 19 May to 30 June the typical business appeared 60% more often and got 8% more clicks, so clicks per appearance fell 33%, with every business in the sector down. By September 2026 appearances were about twice their level of a year earlier.

Position 1 on a non-branded search brings 2.2 clicks per 100 appearances for the typical business, the lowest of any sector we can report on, and positions 6 to 10 bring 0.3. Branded clicks fell 17% while branded appearances rose 8%.

What this means
Visibility in this sector is growing much faster than clicks, and nearly all of its non-branded page-one searches now show an AI Overview. Reporting appearances and AI Overview citations next to clicks gives a truer picture of how a brand is doing in search than clicks alone.
FMCG & beauty: appearances and clicks per day, typical business
Index, 19 May to 30 June 2025 = 100. 5 businesses with enough data in every month. July to mid-September 2025 is left out because of a break in Google's data.
AppearancesClicks
6080100120140160180200220240gapMay 25Oct 25Dec 25Feb 26Apr 26Jun 26Sep 26Appearances 207Clicks 127
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
MonthAppearancesClicksClicks per 100
May 20251051052.90
Jun 202598982.76
Sep 20251111194.21
Oct 20251231133.10
Nov 20251361053.36
Dec 2025142972.41
Jan 2026168992.03
Feb 2026168851.80
Mar 20262181021.35
Apr 20261781041.73
May 20261431102.43
Jun 20261601082.15
Jul 20261741252.02
Aug 20261851131.71
Sep 20262071271.72
Clicks per 100 appearances by position, non-branded
Typical business, June to August 2026.
FMCG & beautyAll businesses
0242.21230.74 to 50.36 to 100.111 to 20
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
PositionFMCG & beautyAll businesses
12.233.54
2not reported3.06
3not reported1.97
4 to 50.691.46
6 to 100.260.68
11 to 200.150.39
Sector 03 of 07

Retail: home, DIY & furniture: more clicks, on far more appearances

8 / 9
businesses / websites
2.4
clicks per 100 appearances
clean year, typical business
−29%
change in clicks per appearance
19 May to 30 June, 2026 against 2025
+47%
appearances
same weeks
+13%
clicks
same weeks
62%
terms with an AI Overview
non-branded, page one

Home, DIY and furniture retail runs on non-branded search more than any other sector. Branded searches bring 31% of clicks for the typical business, against 75% across the whole study, so the click rate on product and category searches decides how this sector does.

Over 19 May to 30 June the typical business appeared 47% more often and got 13% more clicks, which still meant clicks per appearance fell 29%, with every business in the sector down. The September window shows the same direction, down 28%.

Comparison and buying searches are worth the most here, 4.1 clicks per 100 in the top 3 against 1.7 for question searches. AI Overviews show on 62% of the non-branded page-one terms we checked.

What this means
Growth in this sector is coming from being seen for more searches. The work is to keep that coverage growing on the product and category searches that still click well, and to judge question-led content on visibility as well as clicks.
Retail: home, DIY & furniture: appearances and clicks per day, typical business
Index, 19 May to 30 June 2025 = 100. 5 businesses with enough data in every month. July to mid-September 2025 is left out because of a break in Google's data.
AppearancesClicks
6080100120140160180200gapMay 25Oct 25Dec 25Feb 26Apr 26Jun 26Sep 26Appearances 118Clicks 87
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
MonthAppearancesClicksClicks per 100
May 20251011013.66
Jun 20251001003.67
Sep 20251261063.81
Oct 20251241103.60
Nov 20251421353.27
Dec 20251461073.04
Jan 20261921353.03
Feb 20261931292.80
Mar 20261801302.53
Apr 20261641212.71
May 20261571212.82
Jun 20261431122.73
Jul 20261471182.77
Aug 2026118862.73
Sep 2026118872.58
Clicks per 100 appearances by position, non-branded
Typical business, June to August 2026.
Retail: home, DIY & furnitureAll businesses
02.554.214.023.132.04 to 51.06 to 100.711 to 20
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
PositionRetail: home, DIY & furnitureAll businesses
14.193.54
23.983.06
33.101.97
4 to 52.001.46
6 to 100.970.68
11 to 200.710.39
Sector 04 of 07

Retail: fashion, health & general: the sector that held up best

7 / 9
businesses / websites
3.8
clicks per 100 appearances
clean year, typical business
−15%
change in clicks per appearance
19 May to 30 June, 2026 against 2025
−8%
appearances
same weeks
+3%
clicks
same weeks
63%
terms with an AI Overview
non-branded, page one

Over 19 May to 30 June the typical business appeared 8% less often and got 3% more clicks. Clicks per appearance fell 15%, the smallest fall in the study alongside automotive, and 3 in 5 businesses were down.

On mobile the fall was 7%, and the September window shows almost no change (down 1%). Branded clicks held level.

Position 1 on a non-branded search is worth more here than anywhere else in the study, 6.1 clicks per 100 appearances for the typical business. AI Overviews show on 63% of the non-branded page-one terms we checked.

What this means
Strong brands with product searches that still click well have held their ground so far. Non-branded clicks per appearance on page one are still down 13%, so this is a good time to start measuring AI Overview presence alongside rankings.
Retail: fashion, health & general: appearances and clicks per day, typical business
Index, 19 May to 30 June 2025 = 100. 5 businesses with enough data in every month. July to mid-September 2025 is left out because of a break in Google's data.
AppearancesClicks
6080100120140160180gapMay 25Oct 25Dec 25Feb 26Apr 26Jun 26Sep 26Appearances 89Clicks 169
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
MonthAppearancesClicksClicks per 100
May 20251021033.87
Jun 202599993.77
Sep 20251001264.86
Oct 20251031294.78
Nov 20251281754.07
Dec 20251121263.80
Jan 2026117983.78
Feb 20261081023.64
Mar 20261171083.38
Apr 20261081053.62
May 2026971083.78
Jun 2026901033.59
Jul 2026941203.67
Aug 2026981374.62
Sep 2026891695.79
Clicks per 100 appearances by position, non-branded
Typical business, June to August 2026.
Retail: fashion, health & generalAll businesses
03.576.112.821.931.34 to 50.86 to 100.611 to 20
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
PositionRetail: fashion, health & generalAll businesses
16.093.54
22.753.06
31.901.97
4 to 51.331.46
6 to 100.850.68
11 to 200.570.39
Sector 05 of 07

Industrial & B2B services: the biggest fall on non-branded page-one searches

25 / 33
businesses / websites
2.9
clicks per 100 appearances
clean year, typical business
−29%
change in clicks per appearance
19 May to 30 June, 2026 against 2025
+48%
appearances
same weeks
−10%
clicks
same weeks
69%
terms with an AI Overview
non-branded, page one

The biggest group in the study: 25 businesses across manufacturing, equipment, facilities, recruitment, software and professional services. Most of their search clicks are branded, 83% for the typical business.

AI Overviews show on 69% of the non-branded page-one terms we checked, and non-branded page one had the biggest fall in clicks per appearance of any sector, 39%. Over 19 May to 30 June the typical business appeared 48% more often and got 10% fewer clicks.

The September window is the exception: clicks per appearance were up 9% and only a third of businesses were down, so the trend in this sector has been uneven.

What this means
For B2B, the non-branded searches that do bring clicks are worth defending page by page, and branded search, at more than 4 in 5 clicks, is where most of the value sits.
Industrial & B2B services: appearances and clicks per day, typical business
Index, 19 May to 30 June 2025 = 100. 16 businesses with enough data in every month. July to mid-September 2025 is left out because of a break in Google's data.
AppearancesClicks
406080100120140160180gapMay 25Oct 25Dec 25Feb 26Apr 26Jun 26Sep 26Appearances 118Clicks 97
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
MonthAppearancesClicksClicks per 100
May 20251031086.92
Jun 202599966.18
Sep 2025130924.37
Oct 20251391044.68
Nov 2025136903.96
Dec 2025111612.92
Jan 2026155993.16
Feb 20261661173.61
Mar 20261551023.54
Apr 2026134913.64
May 2026127993.95
Jun 2026119884.25
Jul 20261541004.98
Aug 2026156904.25
Sep 2026118974.60
Clicks per 100 appearances by position, non-branded
Typical business, June to August 2026.
Industrial & B2B servicesAll businesses
03.575.713.421.530.94 to 50.46 to 100.311 to 20
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
PositionIndustrial & B2B servicesAll businesses
15.673.54
23.413.06
31.541.97
4 to 50.881.46
6 to 100.440.68
11 to 200.350.39
Sector 06 of 07

Automotive: the fewest clicks per appearance in the study

5 / 19
businesses / websites
1.8
clicks per 100 appearances
clean year, typical business
−15%
change in clicks per appearance
19 May to 30 June, 2026 against 2025
+5%
appearances
same weeks
−18%
clicks
same weeks
n/a
terms with an AI Overview
too few businesses to report

Across the clean year the typical automotive business got 1.8 clicks per 100 appearances, against 2.9 for the typical business in the whole study.

Over 19 May to 30 June the typical business appeared 5% more often and got 18% fewer clicks, and every business in the sector lost clicks per appearance. On mobile, appearances were level and clicks fell 14%.

Only 4 of the 5 businesses have enough data for the deeper tables, below our minimum of 5, so we leave AI Overview, branded and position figures out for this sector.

What this means
With appearances flat and clicks down, the sector is getting fewer clicks from the searches it already shows for, which suggests the results page itself is changing. AI Overview and listing coverage are worth tracking for every dealership and brand website.
Not enough businesses in this sector have data in every month for a monthly trend. The like-for-like figures above use the 5 businesses with data in both years.
Sector 07 of 07

Leisure, education & property: the biggest fall of any sector

9 / 11
businesses / websites
2.6
clicks per 100 appearances
clean year, typical business
−50%
change in clicks per appearance
19 May to 30 June, 2026 against 2025
+47%
appearances
same weeks
−23%
clicks
same weeks
n/a
terms with an AI Overview
too few businesses to report

A mixed group: entertainment, travel, education and property. Read it as a direction rather than a benchmark for any one business.

Clicks per appearance fell 50% for the typical business over 19 May to 30 June, with every business down. The typical business appeared 47% more often and got 23% fewer clicks, and the September window shows a similar fall, 45%.

Much of it is branded: branded appearances fell 45% and branded clicks 59% for the typical business. Too few businesses here had search terms checked for AI Overviews to report a figure.

What this means
When branded search falls this far, the first question is whether demand for the brand itself has changed, which organic search can't fix on its own. Read branded search next to the business's other demand signals before changing the SEO plan.
Leisure, education & property: appearances and clicks per day, typical business
Index, 19 May to 30 June 2025 = 100. 7 businesses with enough data in every month. July to mid-September 2025 is left out because of a break in Google's data.
AppearancesClicks
406080100120140160180200220240260gapMay 25Oct 25Dec 25Feb 26Apr 26Jun 26Sep 26Appearances 95Clicks 58
Source: Google Search Console, South African searchers, web search. Analysis by Algorithm.
View the data
MonthAppearancesClicksClicks per 100
May 20251021075.05
Jun 202599977.41
Sep 2025129912.90
Oct 2025121933.00
Nov 2025130902.52
Dec 2025128722.11
Jan 2026225932.32
Feb 2026237802.02
Mar 2026154682.25
Apr 2026141902.36
May 2026132902.67
Jun 2026136732.44
Jul 2026110781.91
Aug 2026127651.99
Sep 202695581.97
13 · What it means for organic

What this means for organic search

These are 6 things we're changing in how we plan and report organic search for our clients, and any business can apply them to its own data.

01
Report clicks and appearances side by side

A click rate on its own can't tell you whether you lost clicks or gained visibility. Most businesses in this study did both: over the same 6 weeks the typical business appeared 38% more often and got 9% fewer clicks.

02
Treat AI Overviews as part of the ranking

Search terms that show an AI Overview lost clicks per appearance faster than terms without one, −22% against −9%, and position 1 under an AI Overview gets fewer clicks than position 1 without one. We track whether our clients are cited inside AI answers next to their rankings, and report both.

03
Watch branded search as closely as non-branded

Branded searches bring about three quarters of clicks for the typical business, and branded clicks per appearance fell 16% in a year. What Google shows above the website for its own name is worth checking as often as any non-branded ranking.

04
Measure question content on more than clicks

Question searches bring 1.8 clicks per 100 appearances in the top 3, about half the rate of comparison and buying searches. Content that answers questions still earns visibility, so it needs to be judged on appearances and AI citations as well as clicks.

05
Build comparison content to be quoted

Comparison searches lost the most clicks per appearance, −34%, while appearing 39% more often, and 77% of them show an AI Overview. Comparison pages need clear, specific answers that an AI Overview can quote and link to.

06
Check Search Console trends against the 3 breaks

Any comparison that crosses 1 July to 14 September 2025 will mislead, and so will a comparison by position across December 2025 to May 2026. Compare the same weeks a year apart and read mobile on its own.

14 · Summary

What zero-click looks like in South Africa

Across 110 websites and 1.43 billion appearances, the pattern is consistent. South African businesses are showing up in Google more than they were a year ago and getting fewer clicks from it. On mobile, the typical business appeared 22% more often and got 8% fewer clicks over the same 6 weeks, and clicks per appearance fell for more than 8 in 10 businesses.

AI Overviews are a large part of it. They show on 70% of the non-branded page-one search terms we checked, and the terms that carry one lost clicks faster than the terms that don't.

Terms without an AI Overview lost clicks too, branded searches are losing clicks, and every sector we can report on is down, so AI Overviews explain part of the change and not all of it.

Organic search still delivered 67.3 million clicks to these websites over the 16 months. What has changed is how many appearances it takes to earn one, and that's what we now plan and report against.

15 · Method

How we did it, and the limits

Data source
Google Search Console Search Analytics for web search, filtered to searchers in South Africa, read through Algorithm's own Search Console access. One property per website: where a website had several, the one with the most South African appearances.
Websites
110 websites run by 71 businesses in 8 sectors, which is every website we could read with any South African data. Each business's websites are combined before any figure is worked out.
Window
19 May 2025 to 28 Sep 2026, 498 days. That's every day Google still held when we pulled the data on 1 October 2026; Google keeps 16 months.
Search terms
Search Console only names the search terms enough people use. For the typical business about 65% of appearances come with a named search term. Site totals include everything, so headline figures come from totals and search-term figures are used for the splits.
Branded searches
Matched against each business's brand and product names, including common misspellings, plus login and portal searches.
Types of search
Questions start with how, what, why and similar words. Comparison and buying searches contain words like price, best, buy, review or near me. Funnel stages use DataForSEO's search intent labels: informational, commercial, transactional and navigational.
Typical business
The median business. A business only counts towards a figure with at least 1 000 appearances in it (500 for the same-weeks comparisons and 300 per group for the AI Overview comparisons).
Same weeks a year apart
19 May to 30 June and 15 to 28 September, 2025 against 2026, worked out per day so the windows match.
Breaks in Google's data
3, described in section 05: 1 July to 14 September 2025 is left out of every comparison, and comparisons by position avoid December 2025 to May 2026.
AI Overviews
DataForSEO Labs Keyword Overview, location South Africa, language English, with results page data. Up to 300 non-branded page-one search terms per business, each with at least 30 appearances from June to September 2026. 11 811 terms checked, 9 419 in DataForSEO's database, 5 850 with a results page captured from June 2026 onwards; older captures are left out.
Anonymity
No business, website or search term is named. A sector is only reported with at least 5 businesses in it, headline figures are the typical business rather than totals, and sector figures are rates and changes, never volumes.

Limits

  • These are the websites we work on, not every South African search, and the mix leans towards the sectors we work in.
  • Appearances aren't searches. When 2 of these websites show on the same results page, that's 2 appearances from 1 search.
  • Search Console doesn't show what a searcher did instead of clicking, so this report can't say how many searches ended with no click at all.
  • Desktop appearances look inflated by automated traffic since September 2025, which is why we lead with mobile.
  • Sector groups are small, from 5 to 25 businesses, so sector figures show direction rather than precise benchmarks.
  • The AI Overview check is one results page per search term, not a history, and only covers terms in DataForSEO's database.
  • Google changed its counting at least 3 times in the window. We've kept comparisons clear of each change, but there may be smaller ones we haven't caught.

Sources

  • Google Search Console API, Search Analytics, web search, South Africa
  • DataForSEO Labs API, Keyword Overview, South Africa, English
  • Analysis by Algorithm, October 2026
About Algorithm

Want to see these numbers for your own website?

Algorithm is a South African performance marketing agency. We run organic search, GEO, paid media, conversion rate optimisation and data for businesses in South Africa and abroad. We can run the same analysis on your Search Console data and show you where your clicks are going.

Talk to Algorithmalgorithm.agency
The study in numbers
110
websites
1.43bn
appearances
67.3m
clicks
9.0m
search terms