ChatGPT Search and Perplexity Are Eating Top-of-Funnel SEO

What the data is actually showing

Across multiple industry datasets in 2025–2026, click-through rates on the top organic position for informational queries have declined as AI Overviews, ChatGPT Search, and Perplexity citations absorb the answer. Commercial and decision-stage queries are far less affected because users still need to evaluate, compare, and choose.

The brands losing the most traffic are publishers and SaaS companies that built their organic engine on 'what is X' and 'how do I Y' content. The brands gaining are those producing recommendation, comparison, and POV content the answer engines like to cite.

Content types growing in 2026

• ●'Best X for Y' with genuine first-hand recommendations and clear criteria.
• ●Head-to-head comparisons with original tests and screenshots.
• ●Pricing pages and pricing analysis with current numbers.
• ●Original research, surveys, and data the rest of the internet has to cite.
• ●Strong-POV essays that take a clear position the answer engines surface as 'one view'.

How to be cited in AI answers

AI answer engines prefer sources that are structured, attributable, and quotable. Practical implementations: lead with a clear one-paragraph answer, use descriptive H2s that mirror likely follow-up questions, include data tables and structured lists, attribute claims to specific sources, and make author credentials visible.

Schema markup helps, but the bigger lever is being the page that gives the cleanest, most extractable answer to the underlying question.

The new editorial calendar

Cut your output of 101-level informational content by roughly half. Reinvest that capacity into fewer, deeper pieces at the decision stage and into original research you can pitch to other publications.

Add 'AEO' (answer engine optimization) to your editorial checklist: TL;DR at the top, structured headings, FAQ section, clear authorship, citable data points.