Here’s What you Need to Know About Google AI Overviews

Google rolled out its new artificial intelligence (AI) search tool a couple of weeks ago to, erm, mixed results.

You’ve probably seen the memes yourself, or at least heard about the new AI Overviews tool telling users that “non-toxic glue” can help make cheese stick to pizzas better, or that geologists have recommended humans eat one rock per day. 

As a result of the somewhat embarrassing launch, Google is now temporarily retreating and serving AI results to fewer users, with AI Overviews summaries now showing up in response to around 15% of queries as opposed to the initial 84%. 

 We can assume that this is because Google is busy behind the scenes making refinements to reduce the risk of incorrect - and in some instances, frankly absurd - AI answers. But if Google is going to compete with other AI search startups, it needs to move quickly to fix any mistakes and maintain user trust.  

We predict that it won’t be long until a new, refined, non-rock-eating-recommending version of AI Overviews is available - which means that it’s super important to be aware of how Overviews impact search and to make sure your website is ready for it.  

With that in mind, here’s how to optimise for AI Overviews so you can get ahead of the game… 

What is the AI Overviews tool? 

AI Overviews is a new search feature that provides users with AI-generated answers to their search queries.  

Originally known as Search Generative Experience, Overviews has been part of an experiment through Google’s Search Labs programme for a while. It became available to everyone in the US on 14th May 2024, with plans to expand access to AI Overviews to more than 1 billion people around the world by the end of 2024.  

So, how does it work? Well, AI Overviews essentially generates answers by gathering information from different sources on the internet. The goal is to improve the search experience and take the legwork out of searching by giving users answers as quickly as possible, whilst also ensuring they don’t have to sift through numerous websites to find them.  

AI Overviews will appear in search results when Google determines that the responses are helpful. This means they won’t show up for every query, but they will probably show up for more complex queries that would traditionally require multiple searches.  

Crucially, however, when they do show up, AI Overviews results will appear above all other search results - so if you want to futureproof your website, it’s essential that it is optimised for Overviews. 

Why is AI Overviews so important? 

The AI Overviews tool is going to revolutionise how Google delivers information. For starters, there’s the possibility that users will be able to find the information they need directly in the overview without even having to visit websites, which could lead to more zero-click searches.  

Obviously, this could have a pretty huge impact on organic traffic for websites ranking below the AI Overviews results.  

But it isn’t all bad news - Overviews could end up presenting new opportunities by increasing the visibility of content and sources cited, which could even boost click-through rates. In fact, Google’s initial testing seems to confirm that this is the case.  

Additionally, AI Overviews could also result in more qualified traffic being driven to websites, because the users clicking through to the listed sources are likely to already be highly engaged.  

How to optimise for AI Overviews 

Google’s systems will automatically determine which links and sources to feature in its overviews, so whilst there’s nothing specific you can do to optimise for AI Overviews yet, we’d place bets on the fact that it all comes down to creating high-quality, useful content, and following SEO best practices.  

As an expert provider of digital marketing and SEO services, here’s our round-up of what you can do to make sure your website is AI Overviews ready - and ensure your current SEO is performing to the best of its ability, too! 

1) Make sure your web pages are crawlable

If your website is going to be considered for AI Overviews, it needs to be crawled (the process Google uses to discover your website pages) and indexed (when the webpages are stored in a database) by Google. 

However, some technical issues can prevent Google from crawling and indexing your website successfully, such as 404 (not found) and 403 (forbidden) errors, poor site structure, and files or tags that tell Google not to file or index certain pages.  

We recommend conducting a site audit to ensure that everything is working as it should, fix any errors, and make sure your website is crawlable.  

2) Target long-tail keywords

As we mentioned above, AI Overviews is most likely going to be dealing with complex queries, so it makes sense that to optimise your site for Overviews, you should be going after long-tail keywords.  

Long-tail keywords are basically more specific search queries or keywords that tend to be longer in length and ultimately lead to more qualified traffic. For example, if you are a recruitment company, “remote IT project management jobs in the UK” is more targeted than a generic search for “IT jobs”.  

If you need help finding the right keywords to target, help is at hand. Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz Keyword Explorer are all super useful tools that can help you to conduct in-depth keyword research so you can strategically target the right long-tail keywords for your audience.  

3) Create quality content

Google makes no secret of the fact that it loves high quality content. In fact, their most recent core update was focussed on helpful content and reducing low-quality, unhelpful content - and, when you combine this with the fact that AI Overviews deals with complicated queries, it’s no surprise that creating great content will be essential for Overviews optimisation. 

Basically, your content needs to be accurate, original, and provide value to your users. This could include blog posts and articles, as well as pillar pages. By acting as an authority on your chosen subject areas, you can show Google that your content meets their stringent standards. 

It’s also worth making sure your content adheres to the Google E-E-A-T principle, which is the template Google uses to rate every site. Some key things to ask yourself to ensure you meet Google’s high standards include:  

• Does your content provide original information or analysis? 

• Does it provide a complete, comprehensive description of the topic at hand? 

• Does it provide insights and interesting information? 

• Does it add any additional value? 

4) Nail the user experience

Google rewards websites that provide a greater user experience. This means UX is a really important consideration in regular SEO - so it’s pretty safe to assume that nailing your user experience could also lead to increased visibility in AI Overviews. 

Key things to think about include bounce rate, dwell time, page load speed, mobile responsiveness, accessibility, and navigation and usability, as well as secure content access.  

5) Smash your on-page SEO

Whilst we don’t yet know any specific optimisation techniques for Overviews, it’s likely that traditional on-page SEO techniques that are designed to help Google better understand your content will be relevant to AI Overviews, too. 

With that in mind, you should make sure your on-page SEO is working hard for you by reviewing the following factors: 

• Make sure internal and external links are working 

• Use title tags, header tags, and meta descriptions on every page 

• Make sure your meta descriptions and URL slugs include keywords 

• Check for any toxic backlinks 

• Make sure your images have ALT text describing them, ideally with a keyword 

• Make sure your content isn’t too short or long 

• Check for any content duplication   

6) Attract backlinks

Finally, backlinks provide a powerful way to build authority and rise through the search engine ranks. Essentially, when reputable and authoritative websites link back to yours, it signals to Google that your content is valuable and trustworthy, which enhances your site authority.  

Again, given everything we know about Overviews so far, if you are going to optimise your site for AI Overviews, it’s likely that building a backlink profile will be essential.  

If you’re not sure where to start, we share proven best practices to boost backlinks in this blog.  

Need further advice on digital marketing and SEO? 

If you need any further help or advice on SEO or have any questions about the AI Overviews tool and what it means for SEO, we’d love to chat.  

Here at Angelfish, we’ve been providing digital marketing and SEO services that help our clients to create powerful SEO strategies that drive tangible results for years.  So, if you’d like to learn more about how we can help you, sign up for your FREE marketing report and consultation to make sure your SEO is up to scratch and that you are maximising your marketing channels for optimum growth.  

As part of your free consultation, you will benefit from: 

• A FREE one-hour consultation with our marketing experts 

• A technical and on-page SEO audit to assess what you’re currently doing 

• An unbiased opinion on what to do next to drive the results you need 

What are you waiting for? Book in for your free consultation with our digital marketing and SEO services experts today and make sure your marketing is fit for the future - non-toxic glue and all!