Fabrice Canel, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft Bing, has sparked a fresh conversation in the SEO community about the impact of AI-driven search on conversions. His main point? Search engines — even Bing — have limited visibility into what happens after a click, and it’s up to SEOs and marketers to measure and analyze those results.
AI Search May Deliver Higher-Value Clicks
In a LinkedIn discussion, Canel noted that as search and AI technologies evolve, the quality of clicks may improve. AI-powered search can filter out irrelevant results, reducing “wasted” clicks and delivering users who are more likely to take meaningful actions on a site.
“As search and AI technologies improve, the value of clicks increases. Higher-quality results reduce unnecessary clicks, leading to more effective clicks. From clicks to conversions study, the shift marketers and SEOs must make.” — Fabrice Canel
However, Canel emphasized that search engines can’t fully track whether those higher-quality visits lead to sales, signups, or other goals.
“Search engines have limited visibility on what happens after the click.”
A Call for SEO-Led Research
Canel’s advice is clear: the SEO community needs to take ownership of conversion research, running studies that compare AI search traffic with traditional search traffic.
This is not the first time he’s addressed the topic — earlier this year, Canel urged SEOs to put more emphasis on conversion metrics when analyzing AI search performance.
Bing vs. Google: A Contrast in Approach
Microsoft’s openness contrasts with Google’s stance. Google has said that AI Overviews haven’t reduced overall clicks, claiming average click quality has improved. But their definition of “quality” is different: they measure it by whether users don’t bounce back to the search results, not by actual conversions.
Google has also dismissed independent studies measuring AI search click impact, calling them flawed. Bing, by comparison, is encouraging the SEO community to dig deeper, even if that means challenging assumptions.
What’s Next?
While no large-scale, publicly available studies have been released yet, it’s safe to assume some SEO teams are already tracking and comparing conversion data from AI search vs. traditional search. The results could help answer one of the most important questions in today’s search landscape:
Are AI-powered search clicks really worth more?
