If you’ve noticed your branded traffic diminishing over the past 12 to 18 months, you’re not alone. It’s natural to question performance when you notice a consistent decline, but it may not be solely down to your business, and instead a wider organic trend.
Why is branded traffic declining?
Several reasons can contribute to websites losing branded search traffic, most of which are changes to the organic search landscape, impacting how users interact and search.
1. Changing SERP features
With the rise of Google SGE, SERPs are more diverse than ever, integrating AI overviews, FAQ’s, featured snippets, image carousels, local packs, product listings, discussions and knowledge panels.
These additional features have enabled new ways for users to find what they’re searching for without ever having to enter your site. Leading to inflated impression figures and declining click through rates as you compete against Google directly alongside the standard competition against other sites.
These changes to the SERP have been summarised on mobile devices as the “mobile fold” problem. Due to the amount of a mobile screen AI overviews and ads take up, pushing the first traditional organic result below the fold and sometimes multiple scrolls before it is visible.
Zero-click search
With more ways to engage and interact within SERPs, zero click search habits are on the rise with 80% of search users relying on an AI overview to provide the answer 40% of the time. Whilst this largely impacts informational and navigational searches, branded search variations that include additional context can result in a SERP that provides all the necessary value.
Initial brand research is now commonly carried out without the need to enter the site of the brand being considered. Increasing the importance of capitalising on all SERP features available to the site and building AI visibility.
As Google continues to refine their delivery of information directly in the SERP there has been expected fluctuations in organic CTR. Across 2025 there was a continuous decline in CTR for searches including an AIO before beginning to recover in 2026. This doesn’t spell the end of zero click search, but it does provide an indication of more stable CTR in the future and will allow for more accurate predictions of the volume of branded clicks you are likely to receive.
Alt Text: Man sat in front of a laptop with floating icons displayed. The icons demonstrate various aspects of brand visibility across search and social media.
2. Rise of LLMs
Alongside the rise of AI powered features within SERPs, standalone large language models have gained popularity as an alternative to traditional search engines.
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Copilot are among the most prevalent models currently capturing traffic. Allowing users to search conversationally and expand upon search themes within a single search thread.
H4: Are LLM platforms replacing Google?
With an abundance of such platforms gaining popularity, it would be easy to be drawn into the idea that the days of traditional search engines are numbered. This is not the case, despite explosive growth across ChatGPT and other platforms, Google retains 93.57% of the current search market.
Even with Google’s continued dominance, LLMs are proving more suited to tasks users would previously utilise search engines for. Deep research and comparisons between brands are now commonplace within LLMs where dedicated blog articles used to reign. 40% of LLM users now utilise the platform to compare options, finding value in the unbiased comparison compared to brand generated articles.
3. Brand authority
With the shift to SERPs and search habits, there has been an enhanced requirement for brands to develop trust signals across multiple platforms, not just on-site signals.
Expanding the sphere of influence that a brand holds is crucial to gaining visibility across the new search environments. Forums, review platforms, social media, industry awards, and any online format that holds relevance to your industry all contribute to brand authority, sentiment, and how likely platforms are to recommend your business.
As both search engines and chatbots become increasingly sophisticated, the trust signals necessary to succeed in the organic environment will continue to grow. Building a brand narrative is essential to AI visibility and digital PR is a powerful tool in shaping how your brand is perceived by search engines, chatbots and customers alike.
4. Algorithm updates
Google algorithm updates continue to shift the organic landscape every time they land. Three core updates have been rolled out this year in February, March, and May, all of which updated how Google ranks and values content from a wider perspective.
Although uncertainty always follows a core Google update, the fundamentals of how to gain and maintain visibility remain.
- Write content with the user in mind: Follow E-E-A-T guidelines to demonstrate your brands expertise within your industry and provide value to the user reading it.
- Build an authentic backlink profile: When building backlinks, consider how authentic the topic is to your core offering. Semantic understanding by search engines increases their understanding of how topics interrelate. If the linking page is irrelevant to your brand, it’s value will be diminished.
- Technical Foundations: Ensure you are not creating barriers for search engines and LLMs to crawl your site. Streamline site architecture, connect related topics through internal linking, and deliver information in the most accessible format (e.g. relevant schema markup types).
5. PPC strategy and competitor activity
It’s always worth considering PPC activity when observing a drop in branded traffic. A common cause is simply that competitors have begun bidding on your branded terms through Google ads or your own activity is cannibalising organic clicks.
Whilst users searching for your brand specifically are unlikely to be taken by competitors, this is always a key consideration to inform your future strategy.
If your competitors are bidding on your brand terms, it may be worthwhile creating a brand campaign of your own, bringing attention back to your brand at the very top of SERPs. Alternatively, if there is no competition for your brand terms, you should consider reducing spend in this area and allow your organic positioning to do the heavy lifting in this area.
Is brand visibility losing value?
As the organic landscape continues to shift, brand traffic volumes will change with it. Although this can mean lower volumes of branded clicks through to your site, it doesn’t mean your visibility has disappeared.
Brand visibility has taken on a new form with AIO and LLM chatbots surfacing your brand in new ways. Brand success across organic requires a wider view of authority in 2026, providing new opportunities to succeed in modern search.
To learn more about the differences between SEO and GEO, check out our blog here: SEO vs GEO: What’s the difference?
Get in touch to learn more about what’s causing your downturn in branded traffic specifically and how Embryo can help your business grow.
