Google’s AI Overviews Changed Search, Did They Kill SEO Too?

I was doing an SEO check-in recently and from the first five minutes I could tell it was going to be a tense one.

Now, this was not the person I worked with throughout the project, but someone I hadn’t spoken to. We had already gone a few rounds about ‘how people search’.

I would say, “well, most people don’t search that way” (i.e. how many times do you physically time ‘near me?). To which she would say, “well, I do.”

Until I got out of defensive mode and gave the honest SEO answer: we all search differently. We’re all using the same internet in slightly different ways.

But then I got to the part I was really excited about. They were sitting in position 3 on page 1 for a keyword that they hadn’t even been indexed for 6 months ago when we started.

It’s not a close-up-the-books-we’re-done-here moment but it is a yay-what-we’re-doing-is-working-so-do-more-of-that moment.

But she immediately cut me off.

Her – “I looked that keyword up yesterday and had to scroll forever to find us. Why are we so low if we’re in position 3?”

Me – “… are you talking about the AI overview at the top? And then the sponsored posts below that? And then organic below that?”

Her – “yeah”

Me – “Well, that’s just how Google is laid out. I can’t change the order. You’re still in position 3 on page 1 which is good.”

Her – “Well, no one is even going to scroll down that far so what’s the point?”

Me – “I think they will. Organic results are still important, organic traffic is still the highest quality. Most people know a sponsored post means it’s paid so they skip it. And if they don’t get what they need in the AIO, they’ll scroll down.”

Her – “I’d click a sponsored post.”

Me – “Okay, well I wouldn’t”

Her – “Well I would.”

Fortunately someone on her team interrupted at that point to say that they thought these were good results.

And while that was certainly an aggressive conversation, I get it. She chose to invest in organic SEO over paid SEO and they don’t move at the same speed. They actually kind of move in opposite speeds.

Putting in all the work and feeling like you still have to scroll forever (or wait) is not the cadence we’re used to in our fast-paced tech world.

But this is exactly why I think understanding what’s actually happening in the search results right now matters. So you can drown out the fear mongering, but also so you know the difference between “this isn’t working” and “this is working, it’s going to take time but we’re headed in the right direction”

So let’s talk about if AI overviews have killed SEO and what’s actually changed when it comes to content.

So What Have Google AI Overviews (AIO) Changed In Search?

AI Overviews are the auto result at the top of Google when you do a search. These AI-generated answers use Google’s Gemini to give the searcher a quick answer via a quick sentence or a full breakdown.

It’s kind of like a mini page 1 within page 1 results.

The summary results then contain links or mentions that the someone can click through or investigate further.

I think it’s important to remember that Google was never for businesses. Google may seem to us like a Chaotically Neutral party but the algorithms and rules have always been for the searcher.

So if this gives searchers a faster, accurate result that doesn’t require a searcher to sift through pages of results, that’s a win for Google.

Here’s what’s actually changed:

• Zero clicks —> If someone gets their answer from the AI overview now, they’re not clicking through to a web page.
• Cited sources —> It usually tells you what page it pulled the answer from with a link back to it.
• It pulls from beyond page one —> This is a newer development (and not always true) but the AIOs aren’t just summarizing the organic results you were about to scroll through. It can sometimes surface content that wouldn’t have ranked high enough to be seen immediately.
• It gives brand mentions and citations —> While brand mentions aren’t a completely new thing to SEO, how they’re functioning in AI Overviews has changed things. More on that in a minute.

So Why Do These Changes Matter For Your SEO

The down-in-the-dumps-hopeless question I know you want answered is, if this is taking away clicks, does any of it even matter?

Yes.

Change is changing and it’s doing so quickly. And it’s a lot. But it’s not game over.

People are still searching the traditional way, it’s just changing.

Zero clicks are changing SEO attribution and they’re changing how people search, but it’s not stopping people from getting to your website. Instead, by the time people get to your site they’ve likely already been in 6+ other places researching.

The more you show up in those other places, the better for you. And once someone does land on your site, they’re already well-informed. Now they’re looking for something different: confirmation.

Proof you’re trustworthy, proof you are who you say you are, and whatever’s left to finish making up their mind.

So in a way this changes nothing while low-key changing everything. Welcome to SEO!!

11 Things You Can Do To Optimize Content For Google AI Overviews

Let me start by saying these are not rules, they’re guidelines.

I cannot (in good faith) sit here and tell you 20 things to do without getting to know you first. Buy me a coffee first, girl.

So think about this (and SEO in general) like doing your taxes.

This is my favorite analogy: Like the government, Google already has an idea of what they want, but they’re going to make you do all the work and come with all of the receipts. I’m just the accountant piecing it all together.

By the way, Google’s official recommendation for optimizing for AI features like AI Overviews is to “apply the same foundational SEO best practices for AI features as you do for Google Search overall.”

1. Add FAQs

• But please exercise restraint. You don’t need 25 on every page. They’re meant to answer things your audience is actually answering in a clear format.

2. Add schema if you can

• Schema is just a little bit of code that goes on the back end of your site that helps search engines and AI tools read that page better. Some platforms like Shopify do it automatically.

3. Make sure you’re indexed & crawlable

• Submit your sitemap to Google, make sure your key pages aren’t hidden from Google in your website builder, none of your core pages are broken, internal links are set up (and also not broken).

4. Build content around E-E-A-T

• i.e. experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness. The simplified version: create accurate, original content that explains you’ve actually done the thing (experience), you know the subject well (expertise), others recognize you as credible (authority), and what you’re saying is accurate (trust).

5. Format your content

• Long gone are the days when people will read 1,000 words to get to the point. You don’t have to spoon feed them the answer but help them. Here’s where you can start.
  • Tag your headers properly so Google understands what’s most important.
  • Break out the content so the skimmers can find what they need to find.
  • Format it with bullet points and numbers and anything else it needs so the people reading stick around.
    • And a little rant if I may – I don’t think that’s because people are lazy. It comes down to what it always does: time. If you read every single helpful article word for word, took the time to digest it thoroughly, and for them to get to the point at the end you wouldn’t have time to do anything else. Additionally, how many times have you been burned? You thought it was going to be helpful, you read the 1,000 words, got to the end and….?? nothing.

6. Organize blog content into categories

• Category pages can be optimized for SEO but the organization is important to help search engines & AI tools understand where you fit.

7. Use the hub and spoke model to help you achieve topical authority

• This essentially means you have one blog that covers a topic (kind of generally) but then each main point you make breaks out into a new blog that covers that specific topic more thoroughly.
  • Note that I’ve seen advice and Reddit threads say “gone are the days of making one long blog post. It’s better to make multiple short posts.” That’s half correct. Hub & Spoke (also called pillar and cluster) has always been the gold standard for blogging. Secondly, those shorter posts still need to be good and valuable. Think about it like getting specific to show your authority and help customers understand, not shortening your posts to have more content.

8. Depth over frequency

• Along those same lines, there’s no magic number of blogs you should be posting per month. What matters is picking a pace you can actually sustain and sticking to it. Posting less with good, valuable content beats posting often with garbage content

9. Keep old content updated

• Keep your old content reasonably updated. Don’t get obsessive and also don’t open it, change a word and update the publish date.
  • A good IRL example of this. I was working with a client in the event/party industry. They had a blog with tons of posts and really good advice, but almost all of the blogs were last updated in 2023. If you were planning a party and came across a blog or advice, what are you going to dive into? The one that was written in 2023? Or the one that was written 6 months ago?

10. Build your off-page presence

• What happens off your site also impacts your online presence. Build up backlinks, unlinked mentions, guest blog posts, podcast appearances, events links happening IRL, etc.

11. Do a quick technical gut-check

• Does your site work on both desktop and mobile, are your pages actually linked to each other, and are there any broken links or dead-end pages hanging around. None of this is glamorous, but AI (and Google) can’t recommend a page it can’t properly load or find.

Where Do You Need To Spend Your Time

That was a lot. And probably not that helpful on its own, because where do you actually start? Don’t worry, I’ve got you.

If you’re just starting out, a solopreneur, or you don’t have a marketing team or content calendar:

Pick your 5 most important pages, go through them first, then do the same for 5 of your best blog posts.

Check the basics:

• Clear headers?
• Good formatting?
• Reader-friendly?
• Informational —> if someone landed here who didn’t know who you were or what you did, will they understand?
• Does it need FAQs?
• Have you filled out your SEO: seo title, meta description, tagged your H1s, clear and custom URL slug (redirect if you changed it)?

Once you’ve gone through that list, pick one existing page to update rather than jumping straight to creating something new.

And here’s one you can do right now, for free: ask an AI tool a question about your industry, the kind your customer would actually ask. See who shows up – and if you do. Notice what story is being told and what page it’s pulling from. Do you have that information on your site?

If you’re a more established brand looking to grow:

You’re starting from a different place so your priorities are different.

1. Audit what you have —> use the following points as a baseline.
2. Fix the technical stuff —> pages that aren’t being indexed, broken links (!!), setting up internal links, ensure all buttons work, all the boring stuff.
3. Look for topic gaps and page gaps —> A page gap is a page your customer might need somewhere in their journey that doesn’t exist yet. Think a comparison page, a specific service page, etc. A topic gap is looking for in-depth coverage. You might have a page on a subject, but is it a single post, or the main hub post plus the follow-up angles someone would naturally ask next? (The second is better, and it’s usually the bigger opportunity for established brands.)
4. Build on what’s working —> Find your most-cited or most-linked content and double down there. Does it need to be updated? Can you add new data, a new angle? Can you break a sub-topic off it? Go deeper and more specific? Can you create adjacent content that links back to it?
5. Start tracking —> You probably don’t need a fancy tool yet. Google Search Console and whatever analytics you already have will cover the basics. Begin growing your off-page presence, and periodically ask AI tools the questions your customers would ask, noting whether you show up, and how.

If you get through that list and want a second set of eyes on it, that’s exactly what my SEO packages include.

Getting Specific On AI Citations & Mentions

There are two types of AI worth knowing the difference between: AI Overviews (in Google) and LLMs, tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity. Within both, your brand can show up in one of two ways.

• A mention is any time your brand is named in an AI-generated response. You can have an unlinked mention – a general reference to your brand with no link attached. A linked mention gives that same reference but links back to you, usually your homepage.

• A citation is different. That’s when the actual answer is pulled from a specific page on your site. At the end of the answer, that exact page gets linked.

The kind of search happening usually tells you which one you’ll get.

• A mention is more likely for informational, conversational questions: “I’m looking for the best e-readers,” or “what brands make cat food for senior cats?”
• While a citation is more likely when someone needs something specific: “Weruva makes grain-free senior cat food in a pate texture,” this info is something pulled from a specific page to answer a specific question.

Now here’s where it gets fun because brand mentions are not new

These have existed in SEO for a while, it’s what’s usually filed under off-page or PR-type SEO.

• Backlinks
• Guest posts
• Podcast appearances
• Being talked about in spaces you don’t own or control.

AI didn’t invent this, but it’s gotten a lot better at pulling all of it together into one spot.

And even if you’re not getting clicks, it’s still important

Showing up in an AI Overview, in any form, means you’re getting real estate at the very top of the results, before the reader even has to click into anything else.

If your specific page is being used in an answer, that’s proof to the reader that you know what you’re talking about, and it hands them a direct way to find you.

And this is all before anyone even lands on your site.

Because AI Overviews often appear before the rest of the organic results now, showing up there, mention or citation, is good for your overall visibility even if it doesn’t come with a click attached.

Tone also matters here, and this is the part that catches people off guard. The LLMs are pulling in whatever’s already being said about your brand out in the world and condensing it into one answer.

If nobody’s talking about you online, you’re less likely to be mentioned at all, and there’s nothing for the AI to pull from.

If the conversation happening about you in third-party spaces, reviews, forums, articles, is negative, that’s going to be reflected back in how you’re described.

The more people are talking about your brand, and the more that conversation is positive, the more that works in your favor.

So, SEO Isn’t Dead (again); It’s Still About Showing Up

A brand mention in AI Overviews is a billboard advertisement. A citation is the billboard with your address, highway exit, and exact turn by turn instructions on how to get there.

I grew up in the Midwest, which meant any holiday or birthday involved at least a two-hour drive. That’s a lot of Indiana ‘highway’. Which meant a lot of billboards: strip clubs, Jesus can save you, anti-abortion shame speech, rest stops in fourteen miles.

None of those billboards got a click. But you remembered them. You could probably still describe half of them right now. Enough repetition that when the moment comes, you already know the name.

I know for small brands, this can feel frustrating, because our starting line is already further back. But there is a path forward, and you can catch up. It starts the same way it always has: be the kind of brand worth talking about, and show up enough places that the talking has somewhere to go.