Will the AI Search Snake Eat Itself?

What zero-click answers could mean for local businesses in Toowoomba.

If you’ve Googled anything lately, you’ve probably seen AI-powered tools offering instant summaries. The answers are right there on the search page; no click required. Great for users in a hurry. Not so great for the businesses behind those answers.

So, what does this mean for your local business in Toowoomba?

Instant Answers = Vanishing Traffic

When someone Googles “best plumber in Toowoomba” or “how to fix a leaky tap,” they might get a quick AI-generated summary at the top of the page. Helpful? Sure. But what happens when they don’t actually visit your website?

Fewer clicks mean fewer enquiries, fewer leads, and fewer reasons to keep publishing helpful content in the first place.

This is already affecting bloggers, publishers, service providers, and, yes, even local businesses trying to show up in searches.

Why It Matters for Toowoomba Businesses

A lot of Toowoomba businesses rely on local SEO and content marketing to attract new clients. If AI starts cutting off the click-through loop, that strategy takes a hit. And here’s the kicker: if fewer businesses create helpful, public content, there is less local information available online. AI tools then start pulling from a shallower, less accurate pool, often recycling outdated or irrelevant summaries. It becomes a loop. A loop where the internet gets dumber, and small businesses lose visibility.

So, What Can Be Done?

This is a challenge that needs to be tackled by platforms, policymakers, and, yes, local business owners too. Some ideas on the table:

Rewarding Creators: AI platforms could share revenue or credit with the businesses and websites that power their answers.
Encouraging Clicks: Designing AI summaries to link first. Sending users back to the source.
Protecting Local Content: Some businesses may choose to keep their best content for email subscribers or paying customers, but that could fragment access even more.
Smart Policy: Governments are exploring compensation models for publishers, but they’ll need to be careful not to restrict open access in the process.

Why Now?

Toowoomba is full of clever, hardworking small business owners who invest in their websites, write blogs, share tips, and put real effort into showing up online. If AI systems keep pulling from that work without giving back, we risk creating an online world where:

Local businesses can’t compete.
Customers get less accurate information.
And AI loses its edge entirely.

It’s a turning point that requires thoughtful solutions, not shortcuts.

Final Thought from Tony

At Working Websites, we’ve always believed in the power of the open web to connect people with the businesses that serve them best. But if we want that web to stay strong, especially here in Toowoomba, we need to rethink how AI and content can coexist.

Because when no one clicks anymore…

The whole system starts to eat itself.

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