Search engines have always worked like a mall directory. They showed you where all seven sneaker stores were and how to get there.
Today’s answer engines are more like genies. You need sneakers? They just hand you the sneakers. No listings. No browsing. No shopping. No visits. No clicks.
This is worse news for publishers than it is for marketers and commerce sites. If you’re a car company or pest-control service, the answer agent shortcuts the shopping process, but they still send you a customer who’s ready to buy.
But if you’re a publisher? Your content is the product. How do you make money when the answer engine shortcuts the whole reading journey?
Last week, I talked with Brian Boyle at The Daily Upside about zero-click, GEO, crawler controls, and the strange new job of making bots love your brand.
We also talked about the publishing industry being in a decline.
Brian Alvey 