The Influenceable Web is an ecosystem of browser-based, measurable surfaces where audiences are receptive to influence; AKA the portions of the internet that marketers can measure and shape.
The Influenceable Web started with one question: Is traditional search shrinking? Are people searching less? But, I quickly realized that answering this question required more than search data alone. I also needed to understand:
Are people switching to social media or niche communities instead of traditional search?
How big are AI-driven search and conversational tools?
Where else do people spend their time online?
How can marketers accurately measure these audiences?
So I built a custom dataset from scratch. I hand-pulled clickstream data from Similarweb’s new DataHub beta (after running out of Data credits). Then I analyzed the dataset of ~100 deliberately chosen websites that gave me a clearer picture of how many people visit browser-based sites each month, dating back to March 2022, and which parts of the web marketers can still effectively influence. I manually maintain this dataset on a monthly basis.
Why do I care?
Simple. If we're really heading toward a "zero-click" future, which all signs and data point to yes, we need to shift our influence from owned surfaces to earned and discovery surfaces. I wanted to map out all the places on the web where three things are true.
they're places where marketers can actually do marketing.
the audiences in those places are receptive to marketing and they're cool with being influenced.
these places are measurable; meaning they have browser-based audiences.
That's why I'm calling this ecosystem, "The Influenceable Web."
Here's what I found: The Influenceable Web is shrinking by around 3% in 2025 versus 2024. This doesn't mean audiences are disappearing. What I believe it means is that more audiences are migrating to in-app experiences; what we might call "dark."
Think about it. Someone's journey used to flow through surfaces we could track: search → owned properties → conversion. Today that same person might start in an iMessage, move through Reddit's app, validate in ChatGPT, then transact in a marketplace app. These are surfaces we can't really measure.
The Influenceable Web is an ecosystem of browser-based, measurable surfaces where audiences are receptive to influence. It is contracting. But the audiences aren't gone. They're just operating on surfaces we can't see with the tools that we're used to.
So let me show you what's actually happening to the web we can measure and influence.
This chart maps every major category of the Influenceable Web: the browser-based surfaces where marketers can actually reach receptive audiences. We tracked unique monthly visitors across nine primary categories from April 2022 through April 2025.
How will I use directional data?
If a metric needs three caveats to explain, shelve it and find one your CFO understands. Blend your sources. I'm buying a bundle: clickstream, platform data, and server logs.
Track relative movements. Month-over-month changes reveal far more insights than isolated snapshots.
Focus on category-level shifts. If Video/Streaming grows within your industry/audience, while Reference/Forums stagnate, align your content strategy accordingly.
My next steps
Audit my content rendering (server-side vs client-side) because most LLMs ignore client-rendered pages.
Log referrers at the edge to catch user agents.
Build entity-dense content to enhance visibility in AI Overviews, AI mode, and LLM citations.
Refresh measurement dashboards, clearly separating browser-based traffic from total digital reach.
I don't have the perfect answer yet, but this dataset is the starting line. It provides directional clarity, allowing you to overlay your own business metrics to drive strategic action. The Influenceable Web may be contracting, but ample opportunities exist for SEOs ready to meet audiences where they're measurable; and receptive.
The future belongs to marketers who understand this shift and adapt quickly.
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