AI Overviews: What They Are and Their Impact on SEO

Google’s AI Overviews bring generative AI right into search results, offering quick answers without the need to click through multiple links.

Here’s what it looks like:

Ever since Google introduced AI Overviews, SEOs have been buzzing about how it could shake up search rankings and organic traffic.

The big question now is – how can you keep an eye on these AI Overviews in search results and share important insights with your team?

Keep reading or check out our webinar (recorded May 22, 2024) to dive into the basics of AI Overviews and how ScaleStation can help you stay ahead.

What is AI Overview?

Google’s AI Overviews bring a new twist to search by offering AI-generated answers right at the top of search results.

For instance, if you search for "best ways to improve sleep," Google will instantly generate an answer for you, pulled from various sources online.

And here’s what the AI overview looks like fully expanded upon clicking “Show more”:

These AI responses come with links to the sources, so you can dig deeper if you want more details.

The aim? To make searching faster and easier by giving users instant answers without having to scroll through tons of websites.

Originally called the "Search Generative Experience (SGE)" during Google’s Search Labs experiment, this feature, now known as AI Overviews, received such great feedback that it officially launched in the U.S. on May 14, 2024. The plan is to roll it out to over a billion people worldwide by the end of the year.

Why Are Google’s AI-Powered Overviews Important?

AI Overviews are about to shake up the way Google delivers information, kind of like how featured snippets did when they first came out.

One big change? We might see even more zero-click searches. This means users could get the answers they need straight from the AI overview without ever clicking on a website.

This could impact organic traffic for sites that fall below those AI-generated summaries.

But it’s not all downside.

If your content gets highlighted or mentioned in one of Google’s AI summaries, it could boost your visibility and clicks. Google’s early testing backs that up.

Just check out how clearly the sources are shown in these AI summaries.

And here's the silver lining—AI Overviews might send more engaged visitors to your site.

Why?

Because users who click through from these overviews already have a good grasp of the topic and are likely looking for deeper insights, making them more interested in your content.

How Do Google AI Overviews Work?

Google AI overviews work by leveraging artificial intelligence to quickly generate summaries or highlights of long-form content. This process typically involves the use of natural language processing (NLP) models, such as Google's AI-powered tools like BERT or T5, which are designed to understand, interpret, and condense information from text.

Here’s a breakdown of how Google AI generates overviews:

• Scanning the Text: Google’s AI reads through the content to figure out what’s important. It picks up key points, and facts and repeats to spot what matters most.
• Understanding the Context: The AI doesn’t just skim. It digs into the meaning of sentences, recognising how everything connects to ensure the main message is clear.
• Creating the Summary: Once it has the important bits, Google’s AI pulls everything together into a shorter version, removing extra details while keeping the key ideas.
• Making It Easy to Read: The AI doesn’t just summarise but also works to keep things simple and easy to understand for anyone reading the overview.
• Getting Smarter Over Time: Google’s AI is constantly learning from all the content it processes, making sure the overviews get better at capturing what’s important.

This approach helps users save time by quickly understanding long pieces of content without having to go through everything word-for-word.

How Do AI Overviews Affect SEO?

The launch of Google AI has changed the way ranking factors are considered and prioritised. While traditional SEO was all about optimising keywords, backlinks, and on-page elements, AI has brought more focus to content relevance, context, and understanding user intent.

Google AI now uses models that are much better at grasping context and meaning compared to older algorithms. This puts more importance on the quality and depth of content rather than simply matching keywords. Plus, AI allows Google to handle more complex and conversational queries, which means businesses need to rethink how they optimise their content to meet these evolving standards.

One of the biggest changes AI has triggered is the increase in zero-click searches. This happens when users get the answers they need straight from the search results without needing to visit any website. AI’s ability to generate quick, accurate answers right in the SERPs has made this more common.

Because of this, businesses now need to adjust their SEO strategies to stay relevant, even when users aren’t always clicking through to their sites. This shift affects traditional metrics like click-through rates, so the focus should now be on optimising content for direct visibility in the search results.

How to Optimise for AI Overviews?

There aren’t any special tricks for optimising content specifically for AI Overviews—at least not yet.

Google has mentioned that their systems automatically choose which sources and links to highlight in the AI-generated summaries.

According to Google, “Creators don’t need to do anything extra to be considered. Just follow the usual guidelines outlined in Google Search Essentials.”

So, if you’re sticking to SEO best practices, you’re already in a good spot for possibly showing up in AI Overviews.

Now, let’s get into some strategies that could boost your chances of ranking in AI Overviews. These tips are based on Google Search Essentials and general SEO best practices.

1. Check Your AI Overview Performance

Before jumping into tactics, it’s important to understand how your site is currently performing in AI Overviews.

Luckily, some tools are catching up and offering insights into this feature.

In September 2024, Semrush expanded its tracking to include AI Overviews in their Organic Research tool.

This is definitely a game-changer.

Now, you can easily analyse how your keywords and pages are ranking in AI Overviews on a larger scale.

To get started, go to the Organic Research tool, click on “Positions,” and select “SERP Features,” then choose “AI Overview.”

(Available in the US, UK, and India at the moment.)

You’ll be able to see which of your keywords and pages are appearing in AI Overviews.

For example, Backlinko has around 13.9K keywords appearing in AI Overviews.

You can even preview the SERP to see how your content is showing up.

For a keyword like “inbound marketing,” a site might have a link in both the AI Overview and the featured snippet.

As we have told earlier, you can use tools like Semrush to use this data to identify patterns that trigger AI Overviews, like content types, key topics, and page structures.

2. Make Sure Your Webpages Can Be Crawled and Indexed

If you want your content to show up in AI Overviews, first things first—Google needs to crawl and index your pages. But some common roadblocks can get in the way:

• Robots.txt blocking pages: If your robots.txt file is telling Google to stay away from certain pages, they’ll never make it into search results.
• Accidental noindex tags: A simple noindex tag in your page’s code can stop Google from showing that page in search, even if you want it to.
• 4XX errors: Pages with errors like 404 (not found) or 403 (forbidden) can’t be crawled or indexed, which means they’re invisible to Google.
• Messy site structure: If your site’s layout is all over the place, Google might struggle to find and crawl everything.

Use a tool like Semrush’s Site Audit to spot these issues and make sure Google can find, crawl, and index your important pages.

3.  Focus on Targetting Long-Tail Keywords

Google plans to make AI Overviews smarter, especially for handling those longer, more detailed search queries—also known as long-tail keywords.

These are the specific phrases people search for when they want more focused answers. Think of four or more words.

Want to boost your chances of getting featured in an AI Overview? Focus your content around these long-tail keywords.

A quick way to find them is by using Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool.

Let’s say you’re writing about “search engine optimisation”. Pop that broad term into the tool, hit search, and you’ll get a bunch of keyword suggestions. To filter out the long-tail ones, set the word count to at least four under “Advanced filters.”

Boom—now you’ve got a list of detailed keywords that are right in line with the kind of queries AI Overviews love.

Start crafting content around those, and you’re positioning yourself to show up in those AI summaries.

4. Make Your Content Stand Out

If you want a shot at getting featured in AI Overviews, the key is creating content that stands out. Google’s algorithms look for top-notch quality, so your content needs to hit all the right notes.

What does that mean? It comes down to four main things:

• Accuracy: Make sure your facts are correct and trustworthy.
• Originality: Offer fresh insights or present information in a new way.
• Expertise: Content should come from people who really know their stuff.
• User Value: Address your audience’s needs and answer their questions clearly.

So, how do you make sure your content checks all these boxes?

Work with writers who truly understand the topic and set up a solid editing and review process. This is even more important if you're covering topics that fall under Google’s "Your Money or Your Life" (YMYL) category—things like health, finance, and legal matters.

Google holds YMYL content to higher standards because bad info in these areas can have serious real-world effects. So, the better your content, the more likely it is to get noticed and trusted.

5. Don’t Miss Out on On-Page SEO Techniques

On-page SEO focuses on optimising different elements of your webpage—like title tags, meta descriptions, and URLs—so that Google can better understand your content. This increases the chances of your page showing up in relevant searches and even being featured in AI-generated overviews.

Here’s a quick On-Page SEO Checklist to help:

• Title Tags: These are the titles that show up in browser tabs and sometimes in search results. Make sure the main keyword for each page is in the title tag to signal to Google what the page is about.
• Meta Descriptions: These are short summaries that appear under your title in search results. Keep them engaging and use keywords that make people want to click on your link.
• URL Slugs: This is the last part of your page’s URL. Keep it short and to the point while including a relevant keyword to make it easier for Google to find your content.
• Heading Tags (H1, H2, etc.): These organise your content into sections. Use your main keywords in these headings to help Google understand the main topics you're covering.
• Keywords: Incorporate relevant keywords naturally throughout your content without overloading it, helping Google connect your page with the right search queries.

Following this On-Page SEO Checklist helps boost your ranking chances and makes your content easier for AI overviews to summarise effectively.

6. Make User Experience a Priority

User experience (basically how smooth and enjoyable it is to interact with your site) is a big deal for ranking well in search results.

So, it makes sense that improving user experience could boost your chances of showing up in AI Overviews, too.

To level up your user experience, focus on these key things:

• Speed: Your pages need to load fast, ideally within a couple of seconds. Slow loading times can send visitors running.
• Mobile-friendliness: Your site should look great on mobile without needing to zoom in or scroll sideways. A responsive design will automatically adjust your site to fit any screen size.
• Security: Keep your users' data safe by using HTTPS, which encrypts information and protects personal details.

Work with your developers to iron out any issues in these areas. This could make a big difference when it comes to getting featured in AI Overviews.

7. Help Google Get a Clear Picture of Your Site

Google's pretty good at understanding websites, but you can make it even easier for them.

Here’s how you can help:

• Set up a solid internal linking strategy
• Use schema markup to categorise your pages
• Build quality backlinks from trusted, relevant sites

But how do you know if Google’s getting the right idea about your site?

That’s where Google Search Console (GSC) comes in.

GSC offers tools to help you check how well Google understands your site. 

Head to the "Performance" section in GSC to see which search queries are bringing traffic to your site.

Ask yourself:

• Do these queries match your target keywords and topics?
• Are the search terms closely related to your content?

If you notice a lot of irrelevant queries, it could mean Google is misreading your site—or you might be focusing on the wrong keywords.

If this happens, it’s time to revisit your content. Make sure each page focuses on a specific topic, has a clear structure, and aligns with what users are really searching for.

Doing this doesn’t guarantee you’ll land in AI Overviews, but it boosts your chances—and helps improve your presence in regular search results, too.

8. Manage Your Online Presence and Reputation

AI Overviews don’t just rely on what’s on your site—they pull info from across the web. That means how others talk about your brand is super important.

For instance, if someone searches for “project management software,” they might see content from other sites before they even get to yours.

So, what can you do to appear on the above list?

Make sure you’re managing your online presence by:

• Getting your team active on social media
• Jumping into conversations on platforms like Reddit, Quora, and other online forums
• Keeping up with customer reviews on sites that matter
• Collaborating with influencers for YouTube reviews or blog posts
• Encouraging your users to create content about your brand

Even if your site doesn’t show up directly in an AI Overview, your brand can still appear through mentions on other sites.

By staying on top of how your brand is talked about online, you’re shaping the pool of information AI Overviews might pull from. It’s a smart way to manage your reputation—and it helps with SEO and business growth, too.

9. Build Strong Backlinks

Backlinks are like votes of confidence from other websites. When sites link to your content, Google takes it as a sign that your content is reliable and worth sharing.

The more quality backlinks you have, the better your chances of getting featured in AI Overviews.

But how do you get those backlinks?

It’s all about outreach. This means reaching out to sites in your industry and asking them to link to your content.

Start by finding relevant websites to contact. You can use Semrush’s Link Building Tool for this.

Set up a project for your site, and you’ll get a list of websites that could be interested in linking to your content.

When reaching out, think about why your content would matter to them. Does it offer fresh insights, add value to their existing content, or share unique data?

Write an outreach email that highlights why your content is worth linking to, and you can send it directly through the tool.

10. Optimise Beyond AI Overviews

AI Overviews are still pretty new, and we don’t have a clear blueprint for getting featured in them just yet.

But one thing’s for sure: if you want to boost your overall visibility, you need to optimise for more than just AI Overviews.

Your SEO strategy should aim to strengthen your entire search presence. That way, as you improve in regular search rankings, your chances of showing up in AI Overviews will increase, too.

The basics of solid SEO still matter and can help you perform well across all of Google’s search features.

Why Are AI Overviews So Limited?

While Google’s rollout of AI Overviews might have felt sudden, it’s clear that they’re still only appearing for a small number of queries. Even for informational searches, they’re less common than the SGE results were in the experimental phase.

This suggests that Google is being cautious about going all-in with AI Overviews.

There could be several reasons why AI Overviews aren’t more widespread:

• The AI summary might not always match the search intent, leading to fewer relevant results for what users are actually looking for.
• There’s still some concern about the trustworthiness of the sources being used in these AI summaries, with some coming from less credible sites.
• They might also just be less practical compared to regular search results, offering fewer filters and features that make traditional searches more useful.

How to Prevent Your Content from Appearing in AI Overviews?

Some websites might not want their content showing up in AI Overviews—whether it’s about protecting copyright, worrying about how it’s summarised, or just wanting more control.

While you can’t directly opt out of AI Overviews, there are a few SEO moves you can make to limit your content’s chances of being included:

• Block Google with robots.txt: Use your robots.txt file to tell Google not to crawl certain parts of your site. It won’t stop them from indexing, but it reduces the likelihood of your content showing up in an AI Overview.
• Noindex tags: Add a noindex tag on a page to keep it completely out of Google’s index. That means it won’t appear in AI Overviews—or search results at all.
• Nosnippet tags: This tag tells Google not to create any snippets of your content, which should also keep it from being pulled into AI summaries.

But here’s the thing: AI Overviews might actually bring more clicks your way. Early testing shows that AI summaries could boost your click-through rates more than regular search listings.

So before you block your content, think about the traffic you could be missing out on. For now, sticking with standard SEO practices is probably the best bet while we wait to see how AI Overviews evolve.

Get Featured in AI Overviews with ScaleStation’s Expert SEO Services

ScaleStation’s SEO services are designed to not only improve your rankings in traditional search results but also help your content appear in AI Overviews. Our team focuses on optimising every aspect of your website—from keyword targeting and content relevance to site structure and user experience. 

With AI Overview SEO becoming more important, we make sure your content is relevant, authoritative, and structured in a way that increases its chances of being featured in these AI-powered search results.

By working with ScaleStation, you’ll ensure that your website is fully optimised for both regular search rankings and AI Overviews, driving more traffic and boosting your online visibility across the board.

Want to learn more about how ScaleStation can help you monitor and improve the impact of AI Overviews on your rankings and traffic? Connect with our team today!

Key Takeaways

While AI Overviews are still in their early days, they’re already impacting the way search results function. Focusing on AI Overview SEO by ensuring your content is high-quality, relevant, and user-friendly can boost your chances of being featured in these AI summaries.