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March 10, 2025
As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly evolves, it’s transforming how people search for information and interact with digital content.
The introduction of AI overviews has sent waves through search behavior, directly impacting how businesses get discovered online.
Though this shift is recent and has created a feeling of uncertainty for some marketers, we shouldn’t think of AI as the enemy.
With the right SEO strategies, businesses can navigate these changes and ensure their content ranks where it matters most.
How AI overviews are changing search behavior
AI is now embedded in nearly every major search engine, fundamentally changing the way search results are presented to the user.
To understand how this can affect your brand’s visibility online, you should first know what AI-powered search is designed to do.
For years, ranking high on Google has been a top priority for businesses to help attract new customers.
Even with the introduction of AI-powered search engines, Google still dominates search, accounting for nearly 90% of the market share.
But now, like other search engines, Google is training its AI to crawl websites and generate summarized overviews of search topics.
These AI-powered summaries appear at the top of search results for nearly half of all queries.
The goal of AI overviews is to improve the user experience by providing quick, straightforward answers – reducing the need for users to click through multiple pages.
This has led to a rise in zero-click searches, where users get what they need from the search results page alone.
With more than 60% of searches now ending without a click, businesses tracking their organic web traffic may see a dip.
However, this shift isn’t entirely negative.
Despite the changing search landscape, your brand’s SEO strategy remains crucial in driving measurable impact.
Google and other AI-driven search engines prioritize content created with experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness (EEAT) in mind.
Though AI-generated overviews aim to take the work off the user when it comes to identifying accurate and reliable sources, inaccuracies in the AI overview can occur, eroding user trust.
This can motivate some searchers to continue clicking through for deeper, more accurate information.
Additionally, AI-generated overviews often provide only high-level summaries.
Your target audience – those with specific needs and pain points – will seek in-depth content that AI overviews can’t fully address.
So, even though organic search traffic may fluctuate, a strong SEO strategy ensures that quality leads will continue to engage with your content.
How to rank in AI search overviews
Rather than viewing AI overviews as a challenge, businesses should view them as an opportunity.
Businesses can adjust their approach to not only rank high in search results but also increase the chances of being cited in AI overviews.
That means more eyes on your content compared to your competitors.
Ranking at the top of the search results page – whether in traditional search or an AI-generated overview – requires a solid SEO foundation.
Fortunately, many traditional SEO tactics can still help you get there.
For businesses to improve their visibility, their content should continue to follow EEAT principles.
In other words, it’s important that their content be authored by recognized experts in their industry, is cited by reliable sources and includes relevant internal links for context.
Additionally, businesses should aim to earn backlinks from reputable sources to build credibility, continually update their content to ensure it stays accurate and ensure they’re speaking directly to their target audience.
These tried-and-true SEO strategies remain critical, but if businesses are serious about ranking in AI searches, they should also include concise, well-structured content that aligns with user search intent.
AI is more likely to pull from content that delivers straightforward, easy-to-understand answers to common queries.
That said, don’t give up on long-form content.
Though answering specific questions concisely can improve a business’s chances of appearing in AI overviews, comprehensive content ensures users can also find deeper insights when they need them.
A balanced approach that offers quick takeaways alongside in-depth analysis will best position a business’s brand as an authority in both AI-driven and traditional searches.
A smart content strategy
As AI overviews occupy prime real estate in search results, businesses need to add to their SEO approach to remain competitive.
Instead of competing against AI overviews in that top spot, a business’s marketing team should work to leverage AI overviews to their advantage.
Decide what’s important – do you want to track mentions in AI overviews or focus on conversion rates from organic traffic?
We say – why not aim for both?
By auditing AI-generated results for key search queries a business wants to rank for, its marketing team can help determine how to position its content for inclusion in AI overviews – outpacing competitors and ensuring visibility where it makes the biggest impact.
At the same time, a business can refine its overall SEO strategy to maintain high rankings in traditional search results, hitting all bases and helping its brand come out on top of the search results.
