How AI Overviews are Changing the Search Landscape

AI Overviews are new feature on Google search engine results. Google uses it’s own generative engine to scrape website content and provide an AI generated answer to a search query. This answer is placed above the standard search results and has citations which link out to websites that the information was taken from.

AI Overviews are long form content generated by Google to answer a user’s questions. Because the answer is given within the search results, this has led to there being little to no reason for the user to click through to websites if they are looking for information.

AI Overviews vs Featured Snippets

AI Overviews seem to be replacing featured snippets for many search queries. A featured snippet is a short exert, maybe one or two sentences, that are taken directly from a website and presented at the top of search results. This is to give the user a quick and answer without them clicking through to a website. When these were first launched, many websites who were previously ranking in position one, found their website traffic took a hit, and this is similar to the launch of AI Overviews.

But the main differences between these two search revolutions are:

AI Overviews are longer and more in-depth – Because Google is generating a full answer, with further information and deeper explanations in their AI Overviews, users have even less reason to click through to find out more.

AI Overviews provide more opportunities to feature – a Featured Snippet was information taken directly from one source. An AI Overview uses multiple sources to produce an in-depth answer. There are up to five sources referenced in an AI Overview with links to each website.

Over the last few months we have seen Featured Snippets decrease and AI Overviews increase.

What Traffic Changes You Can Expect from AI Overviews and the Impact This Might Have on Your Website

You may have already noticed a decrease in your website clicks to pages that were previously getting lots of traffic. This is likely down to users taking the information they need from the AI Overview. This can be frustrating, but unfortunately, this is how the search landscape is changing.

Although we can expect traffic to websites to decrease it’s important to remember that these are informational searches. If the user is getting what they need from the AI Overview, and there was no need for them to click on your website, then this decrease in traffic shouldn’t affect your bottom line.

Understanding Search Intent

To understand this reduction in traffic better, it’s useful to think about Search Intent. When a user is operating Google, their search will have a reason. We call this Search Intent. When it comes to creating content that you want Google to consider for an AI Overview you should make sure you are fulfilling the informational or investigational searches. These are people who are actively searching for information, for example “How can coaching benefit my team” or “what is the best mobile phone for children”.

There are several sources that will explain different search intents but these are the most important ones and how AI Overviews will affect the traffic they generate.

🧭 Navigational – User is looking for a specific brand or website. This is where a user might search your brand name or your specific product. AI Overviews will not affect this traffic.

👉 Transitional – User is searching for something to purchase something online. They might type a specific product or service into Google. AI Overviews will not affect this traffic.

ℹ️ Informational – User wants to know something, they have questions about a topic, and they want to know more. They aren’t ready to purchase, they may have no intention of purchasing at all. AI Overviews will affect this traffic.

🧐 Investigational – User is investigating. This usually happens when they are looking to make a purchase but haven’t decided what they want yet. They are searching for the best, most popular, cheapest or most suitable solution for them. They are digesting information and trying to decide. AI Overviews will affect this traffic.

So, the searches that AI Overviews will affect are most probably for users that were not ready, or had no intention of converting on your website at that time anyway. It’s important to remember this when you are analysing your website traffic.

Other Stats to Focus On

With potentially less traffic coming to your website, it is important we still monitor the on-page and off-page performance to measure the success of marketing efforts. We would recommend you focus on…

On-Page Stats and Measurements

🤝 Conversion Rate – tracking your conversions on your website is more important than ever. Ensuring you know how many of your users are converting and what channel they are coming from will give you a huge insight into your marketing efforts.

✋ Engagement Rate – with less informational searches landing on your website, you’re engagement rate should increase. This is because the users landing on your site are more likely to want to interact with your brand.

Off-Page Stats and Measurements

👀 Impressions – this will give you an idea of how often your website is shown. If you are being shown in an AI Overview, your impressions should spike. Although AI Overviews don’t lead to clicks, they are still great for brand awareness, and they indicate the type of content you should be creating.

📈 Rankings – Rankings on search engines are still important for both website clicks and brand awareness. Make sure you are still tracking these to measure your success.

Getting Your Website Noticed

It’s not uncommon at times like these when things are changing so rapidly, to think that your efforts don’t matter. But right now is the time to take action!

AI Overviews are here to stay. So we need to ensure we are giving Google everything they need to index, analyse and scrape our website to show us in there AI Overviews. This will lead to an improvement in rankings and an increase in brand awareness.

There are several factors that have been a part of SEO for many years now but carry even more weight when it comes to AI Search and Generative Engine Optimisation. You can increase you’re chances of being shown by having an effective strategy for;

• On-page optimisation
• Off-page optimisation
• Content creation
• Social media integration
• Customer reviews
• PR Outreach
• Quality link building

And so many other factors.

It’s not enough to invest in one platform at a time. You need a digital marketing strategy that covers all basis and builds your brand.

If you would like more information, or want to discuss how Bubble can help you build a content and digital marketing strategy, contact our team today.