Google’s AI Overviews have arrived, sparking mixed reactions among marketers. While they promise to enhance the search experience with quick, AI-generated summaries from Google’s Gemini large language model (LLM), some are wary of their impact on organic web traffic and SEO strategies.
Will this change increase search traffic and provide targeted content to the right audiences, or is it the beginning of an AI revolution?
Understanding AI Overviews
AI Overviews, the evolution of Search Generative Experience (SGE), aim to swiftly answer user queries by generating concise summaries of content from various web pages. These summaries, similar to featured snippets, highlight key information and provide links to the original sources.
However, concerns persist among marketers that users may only interact with AI Overviews and not click through to the source web page.
Impact on Web Traffic
Will AI Overviews dominate your web traffic? The answer is both yes and no.
While there may be a slight decrease in traffic initially, this could be offset by the overall increase in Google’s search traffic resulting from an enhanced user experience. Additionally, the sources referenced in AI Overviews often achieve organic results due to their high-quality content.
Furthermore, Google has a vested interest in supporting SEO, as many of its AdSense customers rely on organic traffic for their success.
What About Ads?
Google is likely to maintain paid ads within AI search results, potentially increasing ad revenue. Links in AI Overviews tend to attract more clicks than traditional search results, making them potentially more appealing to advertisers. Monitoring web analytics, including Google Ads data, will be key to understanding the impact of this change.
Optimizing for Generative Search Engines
To ensure your site appears in AI Overviews, focus on creating high-quality, authoritative content. Utilize structured data to help AI understand your content, and include multimedia elements like videos and infographics.
Google states that creators don’t need to take any special actions to be considered for AI Overviews, as long as they follow standard guidelines for search appearance. However, monitoring SEO and paid ad performance is essential for adapting to this new AI-driven search landscape.
