Today I’m bringing you a more technical post, but one I think will be very useful for those who blog these days. Why? Because Google’s AI Overviews are changing the user search experience. Where you used to see a list of paid and organic links or a featured snippet, you’ll now see answers from Google’s AI. This doesn’t mean that organic traffic is “dead,” as you often hear… that’s why implementing SEO strategies for AI Overviews can help you succeed in today’s search results.
And to help you with this goal, I want to share with you some SEO strategies that I’m implementing in my projects for working on AI Overviews, and that I believe can be effective.
What are AI Overviews and how do they work?
Google’s AI Overviews ( AIO ) are a new feature that appears above organic results for some search queries and offers an immediate, expanded, AI-generated answer to the user’s query.
AI Overviews are powered by Gemini, a suite of large language models (LLMs) developed by Google DeepMind. They are designed to handle complex search queries and gather information from the web to support their answers. Using generative AI, Google learns patterns and structures from its training data to create new, informative content.
In short, AIOs generate text based on multiple web sources and provide links to those sources .
SEO Strategies for AI Overviews
Although this technology is still under development and will evolve over time, you can start applying strategies based on its current state.
Here are five key aspects you should consider to improve your SEO strategy, based on current data on the state of AI Overviews.
1- Monitor the AI Overviews
Tailor your SEO strategy specifically for AI Overviews and track your keywords within their responses . Here are some data points you should monitor:
- Which keywords from your list trigger AIOs?
- What responses do AIOs generate?
- What sites does it link to?
With this data, you can understand how to optimize your content for AI Overviews.
After identifying which keywords trigger AI Overviews, analyze the cited websites. To do this, observe:
- its structure
- the topics they cover
- the length of the text and other details.
Google’s AI prioritizes well-structured content that is highly relevant to the user’s query and offers truthful and reliable information. If a website’s content is frequently cited, it likely meets these criteria better than other available pages.
2- Prioritize keywords strategically
The SEO strategy for AI Overviews affects certain types of keywords more than others, so it’s important to adjust your approach accordingly. You have two options:
The first is to focus more on the keywords in the middle and lower part of the funnel.
- Focus your SEO efforts on optimizing keywords that are most likely to generate conversions and that barely trigger an AI Overview. These are commercial and transactional keywords.
- The downside is that you’ll face stiff competition , as they are highly competitive and will likely become even more so as other marketing professionals seek to adapt to them.
The second step is to work with top-of-funnel keywords, taking AI Overviews into account. To achieve this, you will need:
- Understanding the user’s intent behind that search , analyzing the response offered by the AI Overview, and creating better content for users that invites them to read it instead of settling for the AI-generated answer.
- Analyze the list of linked sources and discover how to get your page mentioned.
For more in-depth research, use a keyword search engine.A professional who offers data-driven keyword lists: similar in meaning, related to your niche, question-based, and with low search volume. Pay attention to metrics such as:
- search volume
- the difficulty
- the competition
- and search intent .
Ask yourself how your potential users might search based on their current point in the conversion funnel.
3- Create better content
Creating quality content is key to SEO . If you want top-of-funnel keywords to generate a large portion of your organic traffic and increase sales, you need to put in a little more effort.
To increase your content’s chances of outranking an AI Overview, it’s crucial that it be more informative . Try to understand search intent by analyzing top-ranking content and AIO responses. Then, improve your content.
- Addressing more aspects
- Addressing the key points in greater depth
- Offering truthful data
- Providing a unique perspective
- Demonstrating the author’s authority on the subject
- Sharing first-hand experience
- Illustrating the content
- Incorporating tools
- Adding interactive elements
You can enhance your content by using AI tools to generate ideas, streamline research, and optimize text for SEO, saving you time and boosting productivity. But it’s also crucial to humanize that content (especially in this age of AI) by adding personal perspectives, emotional depth, and your own tone to connect with your readers and build trust.
4- Optimize on-page SEO
To improve your chances of appearing in sources linked to AIO, audit and improve your on-page optimization.
Work on the basics:
- Include your target keyword in the title , meta description , headings , and subheadings.
- Improve your internal linking strategy to make it easier for users and search engines to navigate your website.
- Optimize article images with descriptive file names and alternative text .
- Keep your website information up to date.
- Improves Core Web Vitals metrics.
This alone is not a decisive factor in getting mentioned in an AIO, but it will certainly help.
Another key point is optimizing your products (if you have them). AI Overviews sometimes display purchase results in the search results, and ensuring you handle basic optimization, such as keyword usage and up-to-date availability information, will increase your chances of appearing.
5- Structure the content for featured fragments
Optimizing your page to appear in the featured snippet is key to SEO for AI Overviews. Even if a specific keyword associated with an AI-generated view doesn’t currently have a featured snippet, it’s worth optimizing it in case it appears in the future or if Google uses similar algorithms to feature your link in AI Overviews.
To increase the chances of your page appearing in the featured snippet, you should:
- Organize your content with clear and descriptive headings and subheadings . This helps search engines and readers easily understand the main ideas of your article.
- Provide direct answers to frequently asked questions within your content . Use bullet points, numbered lists, and concise paragraphs to make the information easy to read.
- Incorporate multimedia elements such as videos, images (infographics) and graphics to enhance your content.
- Implement structured dataApply relevant outline types, such as Article, FAQ, Instructions, Product, etc., to help Google display your content in improved formats.
There are more strategies that can be implemented in SEO for AI Overviews, but I think that if you implement these, you’ll already give your blog a good boost.
How Google’s AI Overviews influence users
For regular Google Search users, AI Overviews are a mixed bag. Many search queries are made with the intention of getting a quick answer, not reading full articles. Google has been working on this by introducing featured snippets and knowledge graphs.
AI Overviews function as an advanced version of this system, presenting a summary of the answer based on the organic search results. This is quite practical, as users don’t have to sift through half a dozen articles to get a quick answer.
The downside is that all generative AI is notoriously deficient with objective information. And while AI Overviews no longer suggest “absurd things” as they did initially, the data from AI-generated responses cannot be fully trusted.
For those seeking a reliable opinion on a topic, the AI Overviews are simply another section worth checking. Especially considering that AI results cannot be disabled.
How can AI Overviews affect digital projects?
Businesses that rely heavily on organic traffic will need to rethink their marketing strategies. AI Overviews are likely to cause a drop in organic traffic from informational queries, so you’ll need to work on SEO optimization strategies, content, and AI Overviews.
Another challenge is that the information about your company will be provided by AI and could contain errors. This means you’ll need to work on brand awareness and digital public relations to maintain control of your online reputation.
Conclusion
SEO for AI Overviews is currently a field full of uncertainty and constant testing. Therefore, it’s crucial to experiment and implement new strategies to increase your chances of ranking and avoid falling behind.
I believe that if you start implementing these strategies, you’ll see changes and results in your Google AI Overviews rankings. Don’t forget, adjusting your content strategy as soon as possible will be key to staying competitive in this rapidly changing environment.
