Search, as we know it, is in a state of flux. In Australia, we wait with curiosity – and no release date for Google to roll out its new AI-generated search results module, AI Overviews, known as AIO. This is a new section of the search results page that will provide answers and suggestions generated by AI.

AI Overviews were available for public testing in the United States for a year before they began rolling out in the US in May 2024. Following a series of publicised flops, AIO has been appearing less and less over time.

But just because Google is rolling back the visibility of AIO in the US for now doesn’t mean it won’t increase prominence when results gain more trust – or roll out in more countries. At Google’s I/O Conference in May 2024, they announced that AI Overviews are just the first iteration of using generative AI to power the search experience with many new features in the works.

To help you prepare, this article aims to explain what AI Overviews are, the intended benefit to searchers, potential implications to your organic visibility and traffic and practical things you can do to evolve your SEO strategy.

What are AI Overviews (AIO)?

AI Overviews is a new section of Google’s search results page containing an AI-generated response using Gemini. It is intended to provide answers and helpful direction within the search results page, based on the data Gemini has accessed and what it ‘thinks’ the user is trying to achieve – the user’s intent.

Images attributed to The Verge.

Features of the AIO module

• Coloured background for differentiation 
• Citations of the sources it used to generate the result
• ‘Show More’ button to expand the module
• ‘Ask a Follow Up’ button to build upon your search
• May contain similar contents to a traditional search results page, such as snippets of text, links, images, videos, numbered and bulleted lists, product listings and map results

The AIO module may appear automatically in your search results, or you may have the option to opt-in to seeing an AI-generated result. 

It appears at the top of the page, usually below paid search ads.

What’s cool about AIO?

AI Overviews offer capabilities not currently available in Google search.

Interactivity
If you don’t get the answer you seek, rather than typing in a brand new search, you have the option to ask a follow-up question or click on suggested FAQs. This will allow AIO to build upon your previous search/es like ChatGPT does, and content in the module will refresh.

Inference
To date, SEO has been heavily dependent on keyword targeting – if you don’t use a specific phrase, Google traditionally would not see you as a good match. With the added capability of inference, AIO will be able to identify more content that may match your query, even if keyword optimisation hasn’t been thoroughly applied.

For example, if you own a hotel with a gated pool, but don’t explicitly use the phrase ‘toddler-friendly pool’, you would historically not be seen as a good match for that keyword. With inference, Google will understand that your pool is toddler-friendly, and you may now be eligible to appear in AI Overviews.

More complex query handling
Currently, we dare not make our searches too sophisticated because Google won’t be able to provide meaningful results. With AIO, Google’s ability to understand and process long-tail, nuanced searches will continue to learn and improve.

What are the risks to your website’s SEO?

Traditional results will be pushed down the page
A March 2024 study by Authoritas using the US test version found that when AI Overviews were expanded, the top-ranking search result (the number one organic result) typically dropped down the page by an average of 1255 pixels – the equivalent of where the tenth-ranked result typically appears. That’s a lot of scrolling to see the first traditional organic listing.

AIO may include new competitors
With the added capability of inference, in AI Overviews we may see new competitors who offer great value, but haven’t had the time or budget to properly implement SEO in the past.

Users may not need to click through to websites
If AI Overviews does a great job at answering queries, users may not feel a need to click through to your website, even if it’s been used to generate an overview. It’s worth starting conversations with stakeholders now to manage expectations around FY25 traffic.

The algorithm isn’t changing, but the display of information is. AI Overviews are a new place to be found. Your organic search strategy should evolve to appear in this new module.

Nine tips for making your content appealing to AI Overviews

1. Get real about the value your content offers. Rather than targeting a wide range of keywords with shallow content and offering no unique perspective, lean into providing deep expertise on topics that really matter to your customers. Gather a team that includes a content strategist, UX specialist and SEO specialist, and start auditing.
2. Use internal links to demonstrate your depth of content. Both users and search engines rely on links to find related content and understand your subject matter authority. Interlink your content using in-copy links and ‘Related’ modules to make your web of content more findable. Consider using a pillar and cluster strategy to demonstrate topical authority.
3. Use industry experts to write content and highlight their authority. It’s time to move away from content written by brands and to leverage SME authors who have the experience, expertise, authority and trust (known as ‘EEAT’) to be writing credibly. Add author names and bios to every article, and create author detail pages to categorise and link to their contributions.
4. Build trust by linking to external resources. Reference research in your content and link your citations. Link to other content that adds value on top of what you’ve written. Provide as best a resource as you can on a given subject and prove your content is well-researched, fact-checked and trustworthy.
5. Be transparent about editorial practices. Additional ways of demonstrating the humanity behind your content and its trustworthiness are to date-stamp when your content was last edited for accuracy and to create an editorial policies page, outlining the steps your organisation takes to ensure high-quality standards. Link this page from every article.
6. Apply structured data to help search engines better understand your site. This additional code tells search engines when content is an article, a video, or a contact page. It identifies a string of numbers as a phone number and a string of characters as an author’s name. The more search engines can understand your site, the more confidently they can offer it to users in search results. Find instructions for common structured data types.
7. Consider your use of images carefully. In AIO Overviews, cited sources often have a small image attached, which can influence clickthrough rate. Try using images that are clear and attractive on a small scale.
8. If you sell products, assess your product pages against the who/what/when/where/why/how model. Who is it for? What is it? When can it be used? Knowing users may increase the complexity of their searches with needs, occasions and use cases, how can you show AIO that your product is a good match?
9. Get the word out and the links in. Backlinks – external links from topically relevant, quality websites to yours – are a signal that people like your content enough to link to it. ‘If you build it [content], they [links] will come’ applies to an extent, but you may need to build relationships with sites in your niche. Don’t forget to ask your SME authors to promote and link to their content.

In summary

Generative AI has the potential to revolutionise the search experience with enhanced capability we didn’t think possible. 

While it’s designed to improve the user experience, there are expected repercussions for the websites and content makers fuelling AIO results, including risks of reduced findability and traffic from traditional organic search results.

In turn, AI Overviews present a new area of the search results page to be found on. Eligible sites will be those that demonstrate authority, trust, humanity and specific value to increasingly nuanced and deep search queries. Having high-quality, well-linked and cited content works now and will continue working for AIO.

It’s time to move away from siloed strategies (content versus SEO versus UX) and execute a user-centric strategy that is genuinely meaningful and valuable for your audience. 

Shayna Burns is a senior SEO Specialist at Australian digital agency Luminary with 17 years’ experience working both client-side and agency-side across a range of industries, including tourism, education, e-commerce, not-for-profit, professional services and FMCG.

Lead image attributed to Google.
Imagery attributed to Luminary.