In our latest webinar, Europe Digital Index: aiming high or failing fast?, Richard Dixon, Chief Digital Officer at Black Sun Global, explored how corporate websites are evolving in the age of AI.
Drawing on findings from our analysis of a sample of Euronext-listed companies, the session examined how organisations are responding to changing audience behaviours, the growing influence of AI and emerging good practice across corporate digital communications.
AI is reshaping how stakeholders discover, access and interpret corporate information.
Institutional and retail investors are increasingly using AI search and internal algorithms as part of their research and decision-making, while ESG raters and rankers are scraping and analysing corporate content. However, audiences continue to use corporate websites to understand and verify information, viewing them as the source of truth.
One of the most significant shifts is the rise of clickless search, where users increasingly consume answers directly from AI-powered search experiences rather than visiting websites. Today, 60% of searches are clickless, altering how stakeholders engage with corporate content.
This behaviour is already reshaping website performance. Our analysis shows a 25% decline in sessions and total page views, yet the users who do visit corporate websites are more engaged. Average session duration has increased by 20% and page views per session have risen by 26%, suggesting visitors are consuming more content and exploring further once they arrive.
At the same time, AI consumption of website content continues to accelerate. A typical corporate website can receive around 200,000 AI scrapes or crawls per month, compared with approximately 40,000 user sessions. This means websites increasingly serve two audiences:
As a result, organisations need to look beyond traditional web analytics and consider how their content is being scraped, cited and represented across AI channels.
The Europe Digital Index assesses corporate websites using a “Triple A” framework:
The analysis considers content for investors, society and sustainability audiences, job seekers, media stakeholders and the overarching corporate narrative.
The findings highlight several areas where Euronext companies are strengthening their digital communications, alongside opportunities to improve how content is structured, connected and made accessible to both people and AI systems.
Purpose-led narratives continue to be a particular strength among the Euronext companies assessed. 63% communicate strategic objectives and 88% provide at-a-glance summaries to help audiences quickly understand key information.
The growth of summary content may also reflect the increasing influence of AI, as organisations seek to make key messages easier for both stakeholders and AI systems to discover and interpret.
Leading organisations are going further by clearly articulating their competitive advantage and connecting purpose, strategy, value creation and investment propositions into a cohesive corporate narrative. Innovation, including the role of AI, is also becoming more prominent within corporate storytelling.
TotalEnergies was highlighted as a strong example, connecting its organisational overview with content around innovation, the energy transition and sustainability ambitions to create a joined-up narrative with clear points of difference.
Presenting a clear investment proposition is becoming increasingly important as analysts cover more companies and investors make greater use of AI and digital channels for research and decision-making.
Globally, 59% of organisations share an investment case online, compared with only 30% of the Euronext sample. The gap is even more pronounced for online reporting, where 57% of global organisations publish an online report, compared with just 10% of Euronext companies assessed.
As AI continues to influence investment decision-making, the corporate website remains a critical source of truth. Organisations that clearly communicate their strategy, business model, value creation approach and sustainability credentials are better positioned to ensure their narrative is accurately represented.
Schneider Electric demonstrates this approach by clearly articulating its investment case and supporting it with performance highlights and interactive data. Its online annual report also provides layered content that enables users to scan key messages or explore information in greater depth.
Sustainability communications continue to move beyond policy and intent towards measurable outcomes and transparent performance reporting.
Across the Euronext companies assessed, 75% provide targets for their sustainability focus areas, reflecting a growing emphasis on accountability and evidence-based communications.
Leading organisations are providing greater clarity around their sustainability strategy, focus areas and governance, while increasingly sharing performance data, supporting case studies and impact-driven storytelling.
Companies are also using their websites to explain material issues and priorities in a more accessible format, supported by detailed information within annual reporting.
L'Oréal was highlighted for bringing together its sustainability approach, policies, reports and key statistics within a clear content hierarchy. Hermès provides transparency through performance data and interactive charts that demonstrate progress over time.
Careers sections remain among the most visited areas of corporate websites, and job seekers increasingly want to understand more than just available vacancies.
Research found that 8 in 10 employees look for organisations whose values align with their own, reinforcing the importance of purpose, culture and employee experience.
Across the Euronext sample, 70% of organisations communicate why someone should work for the company, with many also providing more tailored content for graduates, apprentices and specific talent groups.
Leading organisations connect their employee narrative to the wider corporate purpose and provide information on career progression, learning and development opportunities, culture and employee stories.
ASML was highlighted as a strong example, combining a clear careers narrative with targeted content for key talent groups, information about culture and locations, and tailored content for students and graduates. The company has also integrated job search and application functionality into its website, helping reduce application drop-off and create a more connected user journey.
Corporate websites have only a short window to capture attention. Research referenced during the webinar found that users may leave within five seconds if they cannot immediately find what they need, while 76% lose interest in text-heavy content.
As audiences become increasingly visually fluent, the importance of engaging digital experiences continues to grow. Visual treatments can generate a 26% increase in emotional intensity, helping organisations create stronger engagement and recall.
Across the companies assessed, 60% use video throughout their websites, while 50% utilise dynamic content loading to create more responsive and engaging experiences.
Leading organisations are continuing to invest in video, interactive features, micro-interactions and contextual navigation to encourage deeper engagement and content discovery. Site search is also evolving, with leading websites ensuring PDFs are indexed and easily discoverable alongside traditional webpages.
L'Oréal was highlighted for combining interactive content experiences with multiple content formats, allowing stakeholders to either read or listen to key leadership content while ensuring the information remains discoverable through AI search.
AI is rapidly becoming both a communication topic and a delivery channel.
Across the Euronext sample:
Publishing results in HTML is becoming increasingly important because it allows AI platforms to directly access, interpret and cite corporate content.
During the webinar, L'Oréal was highlighted as a leading example. By publishing results content in HTML, the company's own pages were cited directly by both ChatGPT and Google's AI search experiences, helping ensure company-controlled messages and information remain visible within AI-generated responses.
By contrast, organisations relying solely on PDF reporting risk allowing third-party sources to become the primary references used by AI platforms. The webinar demonstrated how organisations publishing only PDF-based results were often represented through external sources such as financial media and investment websites rather than their own content.
The webinar also highlighted the growing adoption of AI-powered website functionality, with AI chat experiences emerging as a key trend across corporate websites. These tools enable stakeholders to ask questions in natural language and access information conversationally, rather than navigating through multiple pages to find content.
One example highlighted was AIVIA, Black Sun's AI-powered web assistant, which can be deployed on any website. Designed to provide stakeholders with direct access to approved website content, AIVIA enables users to ask questions in natural language while providing organisations with valuable insight into audience interests, content gaps and emerging information needs.
As organisations look to improve both user experience and AI readiness, conversational assistants such as AIVIA demonstrate how websites can evolve from static information repositories into more interactive and personalised engagement channels.
We support organisations in strengthening their digital communications and understanding how their websites perform against leading practice.
This includes:
If you would like to learn more about your organisation's performance or explore how these insights apply to your digital communications, please contact:
Abbie Dixon, Relationship Marketing Executive
adixon@blacksun-global.com
About Black Sun
Black Sun Global is a stakeholder advisory and engagement agency that's been driving transformation and positive change for ambitious brands for more than 20 years. With deep expertise in disclosure and reporting, ESG, sustainability, and digital engagement, we reshape how organisations connect with customers, investors, employees, and the wider world.
We are trusted partners to some of the most influential global organisations, sparking innovation and sustainable performance through our strategic insights, partnerships, and proprietary technologies.
As founders of the Positive Change Group, we are on a mission to create a new kind of stakeholder relations partner. Our world-class specialists work closely with executive leadership teams to protect reputations, inspire trust, and promote responsible business practices - building resilience and long-term value in a rapidly changing world.
For more information, please visit: www.blacksun-global.com
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