Winning the Zero-Click Result: Featured Snippets & AI Overviews for Local Businesses
More than two-thirds of people who search Google never click a single website — they read the answer right on the results page and move on. That sounds like bad news for local businesses, until you realise the answer box and the AI summary are simply new places to be seen. And they are absolutely winnable.
What is a “zero-click” search — and why should you care?
A zero-click search is one where the person gets everything they need right on the Google results page and never visits a website. In the first four months of 2026, 68% of Google searches ended this way, according to a study from Rand Fishkin’s SparkToro published in June 2026 — up from about 60% in 2024. Only around a third of searches now send a visitor to a site that isn’t owned by Google.
Two features drive most of that: the featured snippet — the boxed answer that sits at the very top of results — and the AI Overview, the AI-written summary Google now stitches together from several sources. If your business isn’t inside those answers, a competitor is. The goal has shifted from “rank on page one” to “be the answer.”
Do AI Overviews really show up for local searches?
Yes — and more often than most owners expect, though it depends entirely on what the customer is asking. A 2025 Whitespark study by Miriam Ellis analysed 540 local queries across three cities and six industries and found AI Overviews appeared in 68% of local business searches on average, ranging from 57% to 80% by industry.
The twist is intent. The same study found an almost perfect trade-off between AI Overviews and the local map pack:
Clear buying intent (“auto body shop Regina,” “oil change near me”): an AI Overview showed up only 15% of the time, while the local map pack appeared 93% of the time.
Informational questions (“how much does a wheel alignment cost?”): an AI Overview appeared 92% of the time.
Hybrid questions that mix information and buying intent triggered an AI Overview a stunning 97% of the time.
For a Saskatoon shop, that means your Google Business Profile still wins the ready-to-book searches. But the moment a Moose Jaw driver asks a question — “do I really need winter tires in Saskatchewan?” — you’re competing inside the AI answer instead of on the map.
How featured snippets and AI Overviews are connected
Here’s the encouraging part: the content that wins a featured snippet is the same content AI Overviews pull from. Both reward clear, direct answers, headings that match real questions, and clean structured data. Optimise a page once and you become eligible for both surfaces — and they can appear together on the same results page.
The stakes are real. Ahrefs found click-through rates drop about 34.5% on average when an AI Overview appears, and SparkToro’s 2026 data shows AI Overviews — present on roughly one in five searches — cut click-through by nearly 60% for those queries. You can’t opt out of that shift. You can decide to be the source that gets quoted.
How do you actually win the answer box?
You win it by answering the question faster and more clearly than anyone else on the page. A few moves do most of the work.
Answer in 40–60 words, right under the question
Paragraph featured snippets are typically 40 to 60 words. Put the exact question as a heading, then answer it in the very first sentence — no throat-clearing, no “in today’s fast-paced world.” Google, and the AI, grab the tight, self-contained answer, not the one buried in paragraph six.
Use your customers’ real words as headings
Write headings the way people actually search: “How much does a windshield replacement cost in Saskatoon?” beats “Windshield Services.” Match the phrasing and you match the query — which is exactly what both featured snippets and AI Overviews are looking for.
Format for the type of question
Use a numbered or bulleted list for how-to and step queries, keeping each item under about ten words. Use a table for comparisons — “winter tires vs. all-seasons,” say — with plain headers that echo the search. The right format is often what tips a page into the answer box.
Back it up with schema and reviews
FAQ and LocalBusiness schema markup tells Google and AI assistants exactly what your page says and who you are, which makes your content easier to trust and quote. Pair that with a steady stream of genuine Google reviews and a complete Business Profile, and you give the algorithms every reason to feature you.
The Futura Services take
The zero-click shift genuinely rattles a lot of business owners — it can feel like Google is keeping the traffic it used to send you. We’d reframe it. There are fewer clicks, but far more of the people who do click are ready to act, and appearing inside the answer builds trust before anyone even reaches your site. For a Saskatchewan dealership or trades business, the winning play is simple to say and worth doing well: own the map pack for the “near me” searches that are ready to buy, and own the answer box for the questions your customers ask on the way there. Stop measuring visibility by clicks alone, and start asking a better question — when someone in Regina, Moose Jaw or Saskatoon searches, whose answer do they see?
Want to know which answers you’re already winning — and which ones your competitors own? Reach us at [email protected] or visit futuraservices.ca for a free digital visibility audit.
Sources: SparkToro — 2026 Zero-Click Search Study | Search Engine Land — Google zero-click searches reach 68% in early 2026 | Whitespark — The Prevalence of AI Overviews in Local Search | Stackmatix — Featured Snippet Optimization in 2026
Frequently asked questions
What is a zero-click search?
A zero-click search is a Google search where the person finds their answer directly on the results page — in a featured snippet, an AI Overview, the map pack or a knowledge panel — and never clicks through to a website. In early 2026, about 68% of Google searches ended without a click.
Are AI Overviews hurting my website traffic?
They can reduce clicks — studies show click-through rates fall roughly 35% to 60% when an AI Overview appears. But if your content is the source the AI quotes, you still earn visibility and trust, and the visitors who do click tend to be closer to buying. The businesses that lose out are the ones absent from the answer entirely.
Can a small local business actually win a featured snippet?
Absolutely. Featured snippets reward the clearest answer, not the biggest brand. A well-structured page from a single-location Saskatoon shop can win the snippet over a national chain simply by answering a specific local question directly and concisely.
Do featured snippets still matter now that AI Overviews exist?
Yes. Featured snippets and AI Overviews often appear on the same page, and they rely on the same signals — direct answers, clear headings and structured data. Optimising for the snippet naturally improves your odds of being cited in the AI Overview, so it’s the same effort for two payoffs.
How do I get my business into AI Overviews for my town?
Publish pages that answer the real questions local customers ask, using their wording in your headings and a tight answer up top. Add LocalBusiness and FAQ schema, keep your Google Business Profile complete and your reviews current, and cite accurate, specific information. That combination makes your site both quotable and trustworthy to AI tools.
