Usually for one of three reasons: they couldn't find the answer, they found it but couldn't tell whether it applied to them, or they read a different answer first, from Google or an AI tool. The page exists. It just isn't reaching them in a form they can act on.
The good news is that data your agency already has points to which of the three it is. It gives you hypotheses to test, not proof: some people phone because the task is hard, because they need reassurance, because the page doesn't work for them with assistive technology, or simply because they prefer to talk to someone.
1. They couldn't find it
People search in their own words, not yours. They type "how long can I stay", not "visitor visa conditions"; "bond back", not "bond refund application". If your page titles and headings use the organisation's name for the thing, the page can be right and still not come up.
Google's own advice is to "think about the words that a user might search for" (SEO Starter Guide), and to give every page a descriptive, concise title, because the title is usually what shows in the results (title links).
Your own site search has the same problem, and often a worse one. Older site search engines often match words, not meaning, so a question phrased slightly differently from the page returns nothing useful.
Where to look: the search terms in Google Search Console, and the top terms and zero-result searches in your site search reports. Compare those words with the titles of the pages that answer them.
2. They found it, but couldn't act on it
Some calls come from people who read the right page and still weren't sure. The answer was there, but wrapped in conditions they couldn't apply to their own situation, or spread across three pages that didn't quite agree.
The patterns are familiar: a number in one sentence and the condition that limits it in the next; a fee with no date, so nobody knows if it's current; the same rule explained twice, slightly differently. People ring to check. So would I.
Where to look: pages with plenty of visits that are followed by contact, and feedback comments that say "it doesn't say whether…". Ask your contact centre which pages callers say they've already read.
3. They read a different answer first
For many questions, Google now shows its own AI answer above your page, and more people ask ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot directly. If that answer is wrong or out of date, people either act on it or ring you to check which version is right.
When I checked Google's AI answers on immigration questions at MBIE, official pages that were correct but easy to misread were a common thread in the errors. More in why AI gives wrong answers about your agency.
Where to look: put your contact centre's most common questions to Google and an AI assistant, the way callers phrase them, and read what comes back.
Old links send people to dead ends
A fourth cause sits under all three. After a migration or a merge of websites, old links on other sites, in emails and on Wikipedia often land on an error page or your home page. People who were one click from the answer may give up and phone. See keeping content findable through a migration.
Put the two lists side by side
The quickest test needs no tools. Ask your contact centre for the top reasons people call, and put them next to your top search terms. Where the same topic is high on both lists, people are looking and not finding. Where a topic is high in calls and missing from search, people may have given up on the website, never tried it, or prefer to ask a person for that question. Ask a few callers which it is before you decide.
Top seven site searches and call reasons for the same month. Highlighted: on both lists
| Site searches | Searches |
|---|---|
| rubbish collection day | 4,812 |
| rates due dates | 3,140 |
| library hours | 2,205 |
| dog registration | 1,960 |
| building consent status | 1,488 |
| swimming pool timetable | 1,301 |
| water outage | 1,145 |
| Call reasons | Calls |
|---|---|
| Bin day or missed collection | 1,236 |
| Rates: when and how to pay | 1,004 |
| Consent: where is my application | 871 |
| Noise complaint | 640 |
| Dog registration | 598 |
| Water outage in my street | 455 |
| Parking fine | 402 |
ReadFive of the top seven call reasons are also top searches. People looked first, didn't get an answer, then phoned.
Then for each of the top few, find the page that should answer it and ask three questions:
- Does it come up when you search the way callers ask?
- Could someone tell from the page alone whether the answer applies to them?
- What do Google, ChatGPT and Claude say when asked the same thing?
Fixing the first is usually titles, headings and search tuning. The second is content design. The third is both, plus making sure AI search tools can read your site.
A findability audit runs these checks across a whole site and gives you a fix list that names who acts. I also work alongside teams on findability, AI search and AI implementation: see AI project consulting.