The article highlights how the rise of AI is reshaping traditional advertising measurement frameworks. Historically, marketers relied on a model that tracked impressions, web visits, and conversions. However, AI is causing a notable decline in web visits stemming from search queries. Between May and July 2025, EDO found a 21% drop in link clicks from consumer search queries, coinciding with the launch of Google’s AI Mode. While some fear that this trend threatens the middle of their measurement frameworks, the right data and AI models can still provide valuable insights into consumer behavior. Despite a decrease in link clicks, organic branded search signals remain strong indicators of consumer intent. EDO’s research indicates that total Google search queries actually increased during the same period when click likelihood decreased. The study noted a 3.5x rise in traffic to AI tools like ChatGPT, but this growth hasn't negatively impacted Google searches. Instead, consumers are using AI for more complex inquiries, while Google continues to serve simpler brand and product searches. This means that even without clicks, search queries can still provide meaningful insights into consumer intent. Marketers need to be cautious in how they interpret search data. Many mistakenly equate paid search data with organic search signals, both of which are affected by AI-driven behavior changes. The article criticizes “verticalized search” data, which only considers searches on specific publisher or commerce sites, as it neglects the majority of queries occurring on Google and AI platforms. EDO emphasizes that understanding consumer behavior requires clear differentiation between ad-driven actions and baseline behavior. Without proper incrementality modeling, there's a risk of misattributing normal consumer actions to advertising efforts. EDO stresses the importance of adapting measurement models to keep pace with these changes.