White Paper: Evolving Search Strategy for Multi-Location Brands in the AI & Zero-Click Era

Between August and October 2025, Google’s evolution of AI Mode, enhanced by Gemini 2.5, and the rollout of AI Max for Search accelerated a fundamental shift in how people discover, evaluate, and act on information. The search results page has become an interactive destination, not just a pathway to websites. Simultaneously, more than 60% of all searches now end without a click, ushering in the “zero-click era.”

Drawing on more than two decades of experience helping enterprise and franchise brands navigate every major digital inflection point, our Location3 team published an extensive white paper on the fast-moving changes in search marketing in July 2025, which can be downloaded here. This latest white paper is intended to further assist multi-unit brands in continuing to build an enhanced framework for thriving in the AI-driven, “zero-click” era, where context replaces keywords, visibility begins inside AI answers, and local data integrity determines whether your brand is found, trusted, and chosen.

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