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Google’s AI Overviews: SEO is Alive and Well!
Despite scary predictions, Google's AI Overviews will likely be part of an SEO strategy!
The impact of Google’s AI Overviews, i.e. AI-generated summaries appearing on top of organic search results, on organic search visibility is still unclear. Back when Google started testing them as an SGE experiment, we were seeing scary predictions that they may end SEO as an industry.
Now that AI Overviews are available to all US searchers who are logged in to Google, the impact doesn’t seem to be that dramatic.
Here are the latest developments in the AI search area:
1. Strong Correlations Between (High) Organic Rankings and Being Linked from AI Overviews
Just like with featured snippets, ranking in the top 10 increases your chances of being linked from the AI Overview as a source.
This basically means that getting clicked from AI Overviews is simply a matter of good old SEO.
In other words, SEO is alive and well, just as we thought.
A recent study by seoClarity claims a bold correlation of 99% between organic rankings and AI Overviews.
I am not personally seeing that strong of an overlap but I am also looking mostly at top 10 positions. Unlike featured snippets, AI Overviews may pick a URL from page 2 or 3 of search results or even lower.
And yet, we are all seeing that AI Overviews are becoming more and more predictable.
2. Core Updates May Impact AI Overview Citations
If your site was impacted by a Google update, you may lose or gain an AI Overview presence.
This was observed by Glenn Gabe: Once a site loses positions due to an update, it loses AI Overviews’ citations.
This is an interesting observation showing that AI Overviews are being impacted by the same principles as organic positions and other search features.
Again, SEO rules here as well.
Still, Work in Progress
AI Overviews are still being figured out by Google.
I am testing them in both formats: The public version and the SGE (experimental) version and see them changing on a regular basis.
I expect things to change many times. At some point, Google will realize that the abundance of overlapping quick answers (AI Overviews immediately followed by quick answers in featured snippets, immediately followed by People Also Ask, immediately followed by Reddit packs… Should I go on?)
Most of those sections (apart from Reddit packs) are still controlled by SEO but time will show how Google decides to revamp these SERPs. Even Reddit is manageable by smart Reddit marketing efforts.
A good takeaway here: SEO is alive and well, especially expert-driven SEO done by professionals who remain up-to-date with what is going on.
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Yo Ann Thanx fir an interesting post. SEO or Search Engine Optimization is all about understanding the intentions, purpose, objectives and aims of your content, then using this information to craft keywords, page descriptions and page a suitable page title in the META TAGS of your < HEAD SECTION > of your page HTML CODE.
SEO is vastly complicated and requires team work from all the role players including
Design staff
Online marketing staff
Offline marketing staff
Image creators
Video creators
Management
Many others
#Frankie2Socks
The observation about core updates affecting AI Overview citations is particularly interesting and reinforces the importance of maintaining strong SEO fundamentals. Thanks for breaking this down and providing such a clear picture of the current state of SEO!