By Shannon Hughes, VP of Digital and Media Strategy, Lessing-Flynn --
When an equipment buyer sits down to search, they’re not always just browsing. They’re often close to a decision. The brand that shows up with the right message first wins the deal. Paid search — the sponsored placements that show up at the top of search engine results — can help.
Even as artificial intelligence (AI) changes how and where users find information, paid search is still one of the most effective ways to connect with buyers. Unfortunately, too many campaigns are built to generate clicks when they should focus on closing deals. But when you consider that paid search is also called pay-per-click advertising, the disconnect makes sense.
Below, you'll find a practical framework that clears things up. It’s designed to help you meet ready-to-buy equipment buyers exactly where they are, converting intent into qualified leads for your dealer network.
Why Paid Search Still Wins
AI Overviews, Google's AI-generated summaries displayed within search results, are changing search behavior and reducing organic click-through rates for many queries. According to Search Engine Land, nearly 70% of Google searches now end without a single click. AI Overviews likely contribute to this shift, although the study did not isolate how much of the increase in zero-click behavior they caused.
Even so, paid search remains highly effective for driving users to action. Google can display ads above, below, and within AI Overviews when its systems identify a relevant advertising opportunity. This makes it increasingly important to evaluate paid clicks based on lead quality and business outcomes.
This distinction is especially important for equipment brands, where searches often use highly technical, product-specific language. AI Overviews are more likely to appear for longer, informational queries, summarizing content from product pages, spec sheets, and how-to resources that previously earned clicks. Because they remain less common on transactional searches than commercial research queries, paid search budgets should prioritize these high-intent opportunities.
Building Your Search Strategy: Six Moves That Matter Most
1. Protect high-intent transactional queries with continuous paid media.
Queries with clear purchase or contact intent — those that include terms such as request a quote, equipment financing, or dealer near me — should be evaluated against conversion and lead-quality data. Maintaining consistent coverage can help protect high-intent demand, provided performance and seasonality support the investment.
To really level up efforts, you can offer paid search solutions to dealers via an opt-in program to remove the OEM-to-dealer barriers to purchase.
2. Monitor AI Overview presence on your target keywords.
You can track which of your paid keywords are generating AI Overviews above your ads with tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs or by running manual searches. This matters because AI Overview presence suppresses click volume on both organic and paid results, not just organic. Instead of raising bids to chase a shift that isn't happening, prioritize getting your brand cited within the AI Overview itself, since citation may be linked to significantly stronger paid performance on that keyword.
3. Lock down brand keyword protection.
Some research has associated AI Overview citations with higher engagement. Brand search campaigns can help maintain prominent visibility when competitors bid on brand-related terms and capture the buyer at the exact moment of intent. This reduces the risk of competitors capitalizing on demand generated by your broader brand-building efforts.
4. Deploy Performance Max campaigns with strong intent-based audience signals.
Google's Performance Max (PMax) campaigns simultaneously distribute ads across all Google tools, including Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail and Discover. Paired with audience signals and equipment buyer search behavior, PMax can help capture prospects at multiple touchpoints across a long research journey.
5. Measure incrementality, not just the last click.
A multi-touch buying journey means a prospect might see your brand cited in an AI Overview, then encounter a display ad, then complete a Google search for your brand — all before ever filling out a form. In this scenario, it’s important to understand which touchpoint actually drove the sale, not just where the last click happened. Equipment brands running significant paid media budgets should invest in testing to understand the true contribution of every channel in the mix.
Where Landing Pages And Dealer Network Support Come In
None of this works if a click lands on a page that doesn’t match the buyer's intent. A prospect who clicks a "request a quote" ad expecting a fast path to a dealer conversation should never land on a generic product overview page. Landing pages tied to high-intent campaigns need to mirror the query. The page should include model-specific equipment details, financing information and dealer contact options at the top with an easy conversion path forward.
Local and dealer-level queries deserve particular attention. AI Overviews have generally been less prevalent on local and high-intent transactional searches, although prevalence varies by query and changes over time. For equipment manufacturers that sell through a dealer network, this is a significant strategic advantage. Paid search campaigns should be structured to route qualified leads efficiently into that dealer network rather than treating every conversion as a direct-to-manufacturer transaction.
The Bottom Line
Paid search has not lost its power in the AI-search era. It’s simply more concentrated. The clicks that remain are worth more than they used to be, particularly on transactional, branded, and local queries. Equipment brands that build campaigns around keyword strategy, intent-based bidding and conversion-ready landing pages will consistently out-convert competitors who still run generic, awareness-style campaigns.
Shannon Hughes is VP of Digital and Media Strategy at AEM member company Lessing-Flynn, the longest-standing independently owned advertising agency in America. Committed to innovation, she ensures clients stay ahead in the ever-evolving digital, media, and sales channel marketing landscapes.
