Google AI Overviews: A New Threat for SEO

Source: Freepik_Free Vector_Laptop and software assisting in testing process, tiny people testers.

Google’s AI Overviews, which are designed to afford users a more concise synopsis of the relevant information of things all in a nutshell, have been gaining increasingly prominent positions in search results. Data from more recent times, though, suggests that for signed-in users, AI-generated overviews get triggered more often than not which would otherwise impact natural organic traffic for specific websites.

According to the latest study on BrightEdge, an enterprise SEO platform, signed-in users are 10% to 20% more likely to look at AI Overviews than signed-out users. It is the most pronounced chasm in ecommerce, where signed-out users are up to 90% less likely to encounter such overviews.

Considering this, the impacts on AI Overviews are tremendous for website owners as they can potentially divert the attention of a user away from their organic search results. Knowing how AI Overviews are being triggered across different industries thus becomes critical to the optimization of SEO strategies.

Impact on Other Industries

Although this disparity between the AI Overviews of signed-in and signed-out users most profoundly affects ecommerce, other fields also experience these effects at least to some extent. For instance, education, B2B tech, and healthcare see the AI Overviews 17-21% fewer times for signed-out users.

The impact the AI Overviews will have on organic traffic will be determined by industry competition, high-quality content on the website, and just how relevant the AI Overviews are to your target audience. What is true, however, is that this is opening a new wrinkle in the face of the SEO world that site owners are going to have to account for.

Google’s Citation Preferences

But that’s not all that is changing here. Google’s citation preferences are also changing. In fact, it is gradually shifting away from consumer-centric media and blogs toward more specialized, expert, authoritative, and trustworthy domains that have E-A-T.

For example, healthcare citations is where Google cites domains such as arthritis.org, while general health sites such as verywellhealth.com is experiencing a decline in citations. This means that the high-ranking search still leans heavily on the authority and credibility of a particular niche to do so.

SearchGPT vs. Perplexity

More results from other AI search development reports from BrightEdge include the fact that more of its customers, be they large or Fortune 100 brands, get referral traffic from SearchGPT than from Perplexity. After all, it was only last July 2024 when this new AI search tool from OpenAI came into the scene, still in its limited data phase.

While BrightEdge didn’t have specific statistics to share, in as much as it related to their opinion concerning the article, it is almost obvious that AI search tools are rapidly accelerating and could disrupt the search landscape.  The Future of Search: AI-Powered SEO Strategies

The birth of AI in search has fundamentally changed the landscape of the digital world. Moreover, with these smart systems evolving, SEO professionals must evolve their strategies as well to stay ahead of the curve. This article discusses the future of search and its possible impacts on SEO, along with some key strategies for success.

Understanding AI-Powered Search

AI-powered search engines use extremely developed algorithms and their own space within the machine learning technology through understanding of user intent and processing their queries by highly relevant natural language. Those systems can evolve with time, analyze a large amount of data, identify patterns, and thus get better with time.

One of the largest impacts of AI-based search will be a move toward semantic search. Semantic search focuses on understanding the semantics and context of a query rather than relying solely on keyword matching. This allows search engines to return more accurate and relevant results even if the same keywords are not present in the search.

Keystone SEO Strategy for the AI Age

Content must be of the highest quality.

Now, while content remains the core of good SEO, in this AI age content is created with more wisdom than ever before to suit the changing needs of these search engines: creation of significant and informative contents which teach user intent and give value; content optimization for semantic searching through inclusion of appropriate keywords and phrases in natural speeches; creating quality multimedia contents, like images and videos and infographics that create long interactions with users.

AI Tools

AI-based tools might cut through much of the drudgery and wasted labor in SEO. Some useful tools to watch out for are as follows:

• AI-based content generators that can help assist with generating ideas, writing, and optimization
• AI-powered keyword research tools which can identify the right keywords and phrases
• Backlink analysis tools to have a better view of the opportunities toward building quality backlinks

Optimize for Voice Search

Voice search is on the rise, and knowing how to optimize for it will make you ahead in the game. This includes:

• Long tail keywords: The long-tail keyword. Chances are that a more conversational and less technical keyword is used during voice search.
• Optimizing towards natural speech. This might sound easy, but do not forget to compose exactly in natural speech without using technical jargon.
• Optimize with mobile-friendliness because voice search can be used on the go on smartphones.

Improve Your Backlinks

Although important rank factors still do exist in AI-powered search, backlinks are very much important when it comes to determining the quality and relevance. Thus, try to create a couple of relationships within your niche industry and backlinks from other authorities.

Keep Track and Adjust

The search landscape is always changing. That’s why it’s essential to keep tabs on your website’s performance. This way, you will know if you need to shift or change your SEO strategy to fit the changing landscape. Analytical tools help monitor traffic, rankings, and user behavior on your website. Track trends and algorithm updates to stay on top of the industry.

The Future of SEO in the AI Era

Even more dramatic changes can be expected as AI advances further. Some of these could include:

• Further personalization in search results: It is possible for search results to become even more personalized, such that it can adapt to individual users, based on their preferences, the history of searches done and the location.
• More advanced visual search: The ability to search by images and videos may become a more useful capability.
• Other AI-powered technologies in integration: search engines can integrate with other AI-powered technologies such as virtual assistants and chatbots to ensure that there is an easy user experience.

The future of SEO in the age of AI is so thrilling as it promises much. By understanding the implications brought by AI powered searches and the implementation of the strategies given above, SEO professionals can position their websites for success in future years.

Sources:

• https://searchengineland.com/google-ai-overviews-signed-in-users-data-446747
• https://blog.google/products/search/generative-ai-google-search-may-2024/
• https://www.authoritas.com/blog/google-ai-overview-expansion-non-logged-in-users
• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/explained-what-are-ai-overviews-how-googles-ai-is-changing-search-experience-for-users/articleshow/112573354.cms

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