Summary
- Google's new AI Overviews now provide AI-generated summaries at the top of search results.
- AI Overviews include links to relevant articles. This offers new opportunities for increased visibility if businesses can adapt their content so that Google is likely to link to it for relevant queries.
- Enhance content quality, use structured data, and focus on user intent to align with Google’s Search API. Emphasizing rich data markup and diverse content types can also improve chances of being featured in search summaries.
- Continuously monitor the impact of AI Overviews on SEO strategies, and use analytics to stay ahead of trends during and after the rollout.
Google’s AI Overviews Explained in 60 Seconds or Less
What It Is
Google’s AI Overviews use advanced machine learning algorithms to generate summaries of relevant content at the top of search results. The aim is to streamline search by providing quick answers to user queries without the need to click through to a website.
Think of it as ChatGPT on the search results page.
How It’s Different
In addition to listing web pages containing search keywords, Google now provides its own summary that synthesizes information from multiple sources.
This delivers instant information but also challenges the conventional click-through rate driven model. Since AI Overviews include a small number of links to relevant websites, you must now maximize your chances of being seen in this high-visibility area when users search for queries related to your brand.
Why It’s Useful
AI Overviews are most useful for users seeking quick answers, especially on mobile devices. But for businesses and content creators, they bring challenges as well as opportunities.
What Google’s AI Overviews Mean for Your Business
Bad news first: businesses have experienced a drop in organic traffic in areas where AI Overviews have gone live. The degree to which a given business gets impacted is difficult to predict, but conservative estimates seem to start at around 25%.
That’s scary—but it’s not all doom and gloom. AI Overviews also offer a new avenue for visibility—if they link to your content, your authority and relevance in your niche can significantly increase. The question is, how do you position your content so that AI Overviews are likely to link to it?
Some Things to Keep in Mind about AI Overviews
Creating a playbook to get content included in AI Overviews is tricky for one major reason: Google generates different summaries for every user, and every query. That means what gets you into the summary results for one person might not do it for another—even if they search for the same thing.
This makes market research more important than ever. The better you know your audience, the more specifically you can target them—and in theory, the more predictable you can make your efforts to show up in the summaries Google generates for them when they search for specific things.
Google also displays product listings and comparisons for commercial queries. If you’re an ecomm brand, that means AI Overviews can help you be seen more by potential customers. But because these listings differ depending on user information, it will be vital to include as much data on your product pages as possible so that Google can match them with the people looking for them.
How to Adapt Proactively to AI Overviews
With the above in mind, here’s a list of tips for making sure your content has the best possible chance to rank in the era of AI Overviews.
- Prioritize Quality and Expertise: High-quality content is more likely to be linked to in AI Overviews. Elevate your content's credibility by continuing to focus on Google’s key EEAT criteria: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
See Also: Mass Publishing Blogs Doesn’t Work for SEO Like It Used To
- Earn backlinks pointing toward strategic content: Google is still heavily reliant on backlinks and brand mentions as authority signals. If you want Google to pay close attention to your content, send links to it so that Googlebot has reasons to come crawling back.
- Leverage Rich Data Markup: Utilize schema markup to help Google understand and display your content in an enriched format, increasing the likelihood of featuring in AI Overviews.
- Optimize for User Intent: Tailor your content to answer the precise queries your audience is likely to ask, with a specific focus on long-tail keywords (which are prime candidates for displaying AI Overviews).
- Embrace Multimedia Content: Expand beyond text. Incorporate videos, infographics, and interactive media to increase engagement and signify to Google that your content has value for users.
- Enhance Mobile Experience: Ensure your site is optimized for mobile users to benefit from the mobile-first indexing strategy of Google, which continues with AI Overviews.
- Strengthen Local SEO Initiatives: For businesses with a local footprint, refining local SEO efforts can help capture more targeted, location-based summaries.
- Monitor Algorithm Shifts: The landscape is continuing to adapt to AI Overviews—and given the way they’ve been received so far, future updates are more than likely. Continue to research how AI Overviews are affecting search visibility and adjust your content strategy accordingly.
Invest in Growth Support: Use analytics to track how AI Overviews are impacting your site traffic and user behavior, then use these insights to drive future marketing decisions. You may also want to focus on CRO to ensure that users who do make it to your pages are more likely to follow through with purchases. There is increasing anecdotal evidence—both ours and from chatter among the SEO world—that higher converting pages that satisfy user intent rank better.
Make AI Overviews Work For & Not Against You
Businesses and brands who optimize for AI Overviews will benefit from them—while those that don’t will have to get used to lower traffic. Create strategic, data-rich content that’s optimized for user experience and you’ll be more likely to gain visibility. Stick to old SEO tactics and you’ll find yourself buried down below, where fewer users will find you.
Creating high-value content at a consistent volume and cadence takes time and expertise, so consider working with growth partners who can streamline the process and get it right the first time. Contact Apex Growth to speak with us about how we can put together a plan to help you thrive.
Frequently Asked Questions about Google’s AI Overviews
How do AI Overviews analyze user intent?
AI Overviews use several LLMs (Large Language Models) to analyze user intent by interpreting the contextual and semantic nuances of search queries.
LLMs like MUM, PaLM2, and BERT process different aspects of each user’s query, factoring in prior interactions and demographic data so that Google can predict the most relevant information for them. This allows AI Overviews to be both accurate and specifically tailored to the user’s immediate needs.
How will users find their way to my pages through AI Overviews?
AI Overviews provide immediate answers to certain queries—but also include links to related articles when users need more in-depth information. Positioning your content to be linked to in this way can still drive traffic to your pages. Google itself claims that content linked to in AI Overviews receives more clicks than it would have previously (as a traditional search result).
What impact do AI Overviews have on long-tail keyword strategies?
With Google’s ability to generate personalized content summaries, long-tail keyword strategies are now more important. The more specific and contextually-rich a piece of content is, the easier it will be for Google to match it with appropriate queries from users who will benefit from it.