Measuring What You Can't Click - Metrics for AI Visibility

Destination marketing organizations are facing a measurement problem nobody prepared them for. AI-driven search is reshaping how travelers discover destinations, and the clicks that once validated your content strategy are disappearing, and not because your destination isn't showing up, but because the answer never leaves the AI result.

This session walks DMO marketers through a six-dimension assessment framework for understanding where their destination stands in the AI discovery ecosystem -- from information accuracy and brand representation to stakeholder communication and measurement evolution. The goal isn't perfect answers. It's knowing where to focus.
Presented at One West Martech Summit. Developed by Jason Dodge and BlackTruck Media + Marketing https://blacktruckmedia.com

Transcript

1. Measuring What You Can't Click Analytics for AI-Driven Discovery Jason Dodge BlackTruck Media + Marketing Resources: https://bit.ly/metrics26
2. How many of you pulled up your analytics dashboard before this conference…
3. …and felt good about what you saw?
4. The problem might not be your marketing. The problem might be your dashboard.
5. 01 What Actually Changed
6. Search didn't die.
8. 20%+ search volume growth in 2024. −20% searches per user by Q4 2025. People aren't searching less. They're resolving questions faster.
9. 80% Americans use traditional search Datos, March 2026
10. <1% US desktop activity goes to AI tools. SparkToro, August 2025
11. But.
12. 44% of searches generate a click. 56% end in zero clicks. Desktop only. Mobile is even higher.
13. People didn’t stop searching for what it is you and I do… the platforms have changed
14. You're measuring a shrinking slice of a growing pie.
15. 02 The Measurement Problem
16. $100M+ spent annually on AI tracking tools.
17. If you ask ChatGPT for a list of recommendations 100 times, how many different answers will you get? Gumshoe/Sparktoro, Jan 2026
18. <1 in 100 chance of the same list twice. <1 in 1,000 chance of the same list in the same order. 0.081 semantic similarity across same-intent prompts. SparkToro AI Consistency Research, Jan 2026 600 volunteers 2,961 runs. ChatGPT, Claude, Google AI.
19. <1 in 100 chance of the same list twice. <1 in 1,000 chance of the same list in the same order. 0.081 semantic similarity across same-intent prompts. Stay Skeptical
20. So is tracking completely useless?
21. No.
22. Visibility Percentage How often a brand appears across many runs of a query is a statistically meaningful signal.
23. "Our destination appears in X% of relevant AI travel queries." That's the metric.
25. 03 Region vs. Source
26. The destination almost always shows up.
27. M E A S U R I N G W H A T Y O U C A N ' T C L I C K blacktruck
28. The question is: who gets credit?
30. Visibility Your region is mentioned. ✓ The destination wins ≠ Authority AI cites you as the source. ✗ The DMO doesn't
31. Four Questions to Ask 1 Is my destination showing up? 2 Is my content being cited? 3 Is the information accurate? 4 Are you shaping the narrative?
32. 04 The Assessment
33. Score yourself honestly. Most land between 0 and 1. That's the point. 0 Not on our radar 1 Aware but not acting 2 Early steps 3 Active and building
34. 1 Discovery Awareness Do you know how travelers are finding your destination in AI results? YOUR SCORE: 0 1 2 3
35. 2 Information Accuracy Is what AI says about your destination actually correct? YOUR SCORE: 0 1 2 3
36. 3 Brand Representation Does the AI version of your destination match your positioning? YOUR SCORE: 0 1 2 3
37. 4 Technical Readiness Is your website set up to be the source AI pulls from? YOUR SCORE: 0 1 2 3
38. 5 Measurement Evolution Are you tracking signals beyond website sessions? YOUR SCORE: 0 1 2 3
39. 6 Stakeholder Communication Can you explain what's happening to your board? YOUR SCORE: 0 1 2 3
40. 05 The Click That Does Happen
41. If the total pool of clicks is shrinking, the clicks that still arrive are higher intent.
42. Measure differently Signals you already have GSC impressions Branded search volume trends Direct visit growth Segments to build AI platform referral traffic Branded vs. non-branded organic Engagement depth, not volume
44. Tutorial via KP Playbook bit.ly/metrics26
45. Three Layers. One Story. AI Visibility Before the click On-Site Behavior What arriving traffic does Real-World Impact People visiting. Spending money. → →
46. "Our website traffic is down 15%." vs. "Our destination appeared in 78% of AI travel queries this quarter, up from 55% last quarter — and branded search grew 12%." Same data. Different story.
47. 06 What to Do This Week
48. Your Score 0–5 Starting Line 6–10 Building Awareness 11–14 Gaining Ground 15–18 Leading the Shift
49. 1 Run the audit. 15 queries. Three platforms. One hour.
50. 2 Start a baseline Even a spreadsheet. Do it quarterly. You'll have trend data in two cycles.
51. 3 Have the conversation Don't wait until someone asks why traffic is down.
52. That's not just better measurement. That's better marketing.
55. Let's Connect Jason Dodge Founder & CEO jason@blacktruckmedia.com blacktruckmedia.com @dodgejd Slides & Resources: bit.ly/metrics26 Good marketing starts with the right conversation. Serious about the visibility of your brand online? We’d love to hear what you’re working on.