AI Search Behavior Study Highlights the Ongoing Value of SEO

AI User Behavior Study

Google hasn’t shared how people use its new AI-generated search results, but this independent study helps fill that gap. SEO and growth marketing expert, Kevin Indig, teamed up with Researchers from Clickstream Solutions to complete a study that observed 37 users across seven task types to understand how they interact with AI Mode. While none of the tasks involved legal services, the behavior patterns are still relevant for law firms.

The main takeaways are that:

1. Users almost always read the AI summaries.
2. They stay inside the AI Mode panel, and rarely click away.
3. When they do click, it’s usually to take action.

That might seem like a problem for organic search, but it’s not. The pages being cited in AI Mode are those with strong content and clear optimization. In other words, traditional SEO still works and is being carried over.

This study confirms that firms focused on quality content and technical SEO are still getting in front of searchers. It just looks different now.

Read the full study here, or continue to review our summary.

Fewer People Are Leaving the Search Page

The most consistent behavior across all sessions in the study was this: users stayed put. Once Google’s AI Mode provided a response, most participants didn’t look any further.

In over 75% of sessions, users never left the AI panel. Nearly 90% of the time, the first thing they interacted with was the AI-generated summary. That’s a massive share of attention staying in one place.

This behavior shows that the key to search is becoming the source that informs users’ next move, even if they never click. That means your legal content needs to do more than rank; It needs to get picked up by Google’s AI and presented as part of the answer.

Below shows the median dwell time by type of AI Answer.

This is where many law firms still have an edge. Google favors sources that are accurate, specific, and easy to digest. Pages that are clean, well-structured, and written for real people are more likely to get referenced.

If your firm is producing helpful pages that answer legal questions clearly and completely, you’re still in the conversation. You just might not see the visit in your analytics. But make no mistake, the influence is still there.

Clicks Are Now a Signal of Intent

The study recorded 250 unique search tasks. In most of them, users clicked nothing at all. The median number of external clicks per task was zero. That’s not a typo. In nearly 78% of sessions, users never visited another site.

But when they did click, it wasn’t random. The behavior was clear. People only left the AI panel when they had made a decision and were ready to act.

This matters for law firms because it changes the value of each visit. Traffic may decline, but the quality of those who reach your site is going up. These users already feel informed.

To earn that kind of visit, your site needs to give them something they can’t get from the summary alone. That could be a consultation prompt, a detailed service explanation, or a specific answer that makes taking the next step feel easy.

High-intent visits are still on the table. The difference is that you have fewer chances to win them. Make sure your content does the work before the visitor even arrives.

AI Mode Is Choosing the Right Type of Site

One of the most overlooked details in the study was how often AI Mode returned results from sites that matched the user’s goal. The content came from the kind of site that made sense for the task.

The study assessed what types of sites AI Mode shows for seven separate tasks below.

If the user was comparing products, AI pulled from review sites. If they were looking to book something, it leaned toward marketplaces. The source categories matched the nature of the search.

For attorneys, this matters more than it might seem. Your site needs to clearly present itself as the kind of resource a potential client would expect to find in a legal search. That means the structure, clarity, and authority of your content need to align with what AI Mode seems to favor.

Pages that look and feel like trusted legal resources are more likely to be cited. That includes clear practice area pages, detailed FAQs, and content that explains legal options in a way real people understand.

Why SEO Still Delivers in the Age of AI Search

Some have claimed that AI search could make traditional SEO irrelevant. This study proves the opposite. The firms earning visibility inside AI Mode are not doing anything new. They are doing the basics well. Clean site structure. Clear answers. Trusted content.

This is exactly what strong SEO has always required.

The difference now is in how results are presented. AI summaries are pulling directly from pages that already rank well. If your firm is publishing helpful, well-optimized content, you are not losing ground. You are still being found, only inside the AI interface instead of the standard list of links.

TSEG helps firms show up in these moments. We build SEO strategies that prioritize visibility, authority, and accuracy. That means creating content that answers real legal questions, earns citations from AI systems, and drives high-quality leads to your firm. Reach out today if you want to start seeing a difference in your SEO.