Challenge & research goals
For years, the search marketing industry relied on clickstream data, metrics that show where people click on their mouse and keyboard.
However, with the introduction of Google’s AI Overviews, clickstream data hit a wall. It couldn’t explain how users make decisions or why (or if) they stay within the AI-generated interface.
Eric Van Buskirk, Research Director at Clickstream Solutions, working alongside Growth and SEO thought leader Kevin Indig identified a critical blind spot:
What we use in the world of search and marketing is called clickstream data. It's just data based on clicks. But no one really knew actual behaviors, how people are using platforms.
To solve this, the team needed more than just numbers. They needed a way to observe people on both mobile and desktop devices as they completed tasks, capturing every hesitation, scroll, and verbalized thought to understand the “why” behind the new search experience.
The solution: Unmoderated research with screen, and audio recording
After evaluating multiple platforms, Eric chose UXtweak for its combination of affordability, ease of use, and robust features allowing him to test the third party platform on both mobile and desktop devices.
The ease of setting things up, and the user experience was just so good when I trialed with UXtweak.
Together, Eric and Kevin designed and executed a study with participants completing 250+ tasks, tracking user interactions with Google AI Overviews and AI Mode.
This wasn’t traditional user research to find usability problems.
Instead, they were researching a third-party platform (Google) to help marketers, SEOs, and website owners understand:
- How users read and process AI-generated content
- When they trust AI enough to stop searching
- What triggers them to click out to websites
- How their behavior differs across demographics and devices
Setting up tasks
Eric’s research required participants to complete different search tasks in Google, each designed to reveal specific behavioral patterns. The tasks ranged from product comparisons to reputation checks to transactional searches.
Using UXtweak’s Website Usability Testing tool they set up a remote unmoderated testing, where Eric was able to:
- Recruit participants from an external panel
- Capture screen and audio recordings from 250+ valid tasks
- Implement think-aloud protocols where participants verbalized their thought processes
- Desktop and mobile device captures
UXtweak was critical for capturing the complex data they needed.
Data analysis process
Three trained analysts reviewed the screen recordings provided by UXtweak and reviewed every video frame-by-frame, logging 23 captured variables, including:
- Scroll depth within AI Overviews (0/25/50/75/100%)
- Dwell time per search engine result page element (minimum 5 seconds)
- Internal vs. external clicks
- Reading patterns (skim vs. deep read)
- Spoken reactions (hesitation, confusion, trust statements)
- Emotional responses
- Final answer selection reasoning
The result: 13,500 words of annotations that provided both quantitative metrics and qualitative insights impossible to capture through clickstream data alone.
Outcomes: Revolutionary industry insights
The research Eric and Kevin conducted using UXtweak fundamentally changed how the marketers understand AI search behavior, now explored further by other reports and their following study on AI mode.
Key behavioral patterns in Google AI Mode revealed:
- 88% of users’ first interaction was with AI-generated text, not organic results
- Users spent 52-77 seconds reading in AI Mode but rarely clicked out
- Shopping tasks drove exits; comparison and informatioDiscover how Clickstream Solutions used UXtweak to capture 250+ screen recordings and uncover hidden behavioral patterns in Google’s AI search experience that traditional clickstream data couldn’t reveal.nal tasks kept users inside AI
- Trust levels exceeded expectations, even during a period of negative press about AI hallucinations, users expressed high confidence in AI-provided information
- In their first study, on Google Search, Mobile users scrolled deeper (54% average) vs. desktop (29%)
- High-stakes queries (health, finance) triggered more verification behavior
Industry impact & recognition
The study generated international coverage and redefined approaches to search marketing strategies.
Reflecting on the study in 2025, Kevin Indig noted:
That study set the Growth Memo on a whole new trajectory with international press clips and a new positioning around original research. (👏A big shout-out to Eric Van Buskirk and his research team.) I had published unique insights before, but this study lifted Growth Memo to a whole new level.
By using UXtweak to capture data that traditional tools couldn’t reach, Clickstream Solutions provided patterns the industry had never seen.
There were these patterns that surfaced that no one was taking into account.
