Google AI Overview SEO Impact: What You Need to Know

Google has introduced AI into its search engine, and it's changing the way people explore and interact with information online. This change began in May 2024, when the company introduced Google AI Overview. Since then, these summaries have become one of the first things users see on the search results page.

As helpful as they may seem, this update is raising concerns among businesses, search engine optimization (SEO) experts, and content creators, especially when it comes to visibility and traffic. To learn more about Google AI overview, the impact on SEO, and how it could affect your online presence, keep reading.

Key Takeaways

• Google AI Overviews are summaries that appear at the top of Google search results pages. They help users get quick answers without clicking multiple links.
• With this update, SEO strategies alone are no longer enough to achieve high rankings. Creating clear, well-structured content and using different formats, like video, is necessary to get featured in overviews.
• While AI Overviews improve user experience, they also reduce website traffic and visibility for many businesses.

What Are AI Overviews?

AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs). Instead of clicking through multiple links to piece together an answer through a traditional search, Google uses AI to gather reliable information from across the web and present it in a clear, easy-to-understand format. These summaries are designed to handle multi-step or more complex questions without requiring multiple clicks. These sorts of relevant queries trigger AI overviews.

Increasingly, AI-powered search is becoming the norm, competing heavily with traditional search engines.

Where This Came From

Increasingly, AI-powered search is becoming the norm, competing heavily with traditional search engines. Google AI overview was first launched in May 2023 as Search Generative Experience (SGE) in Search Labs. This was Google's testing ground where users could try out experimental features before they rolled out widely. After a year of user testing and refinement, Google officially rebranded the feature as AI Overviews in May 2024. At that time, it began pushing out widely to all U.S. users. By May 2025, the overviews became available in over 200 countries and territories around the world. In addition to English searches, the feature has been extended to more than 40 languages.

Of course, the AI overview also isn’t the first time that Google has introduced a feature to its search engine that disrupted SEO efforts. Previously, Featured Snippets were received by the SEO community with hesitation. This feature is meant to answer search queries by displaying direct quotes with relevant information from sites across the web.

How Google AI Overview Works

The AI Overview works by using a query fan-out technique. This means that your question is broken down into smaller parts and sent out as multiple individual searches. This helps Google find hyper-relevant content that directly matches what you’re searching for. Once that’s done, Google decides whether your query qualifies for a summary, usually if it involves a bit more thinking or multiple layers.

If it does, the system uses its multi-step reasoning capability to carefully analyze each part of your question. Then it pulls together information from multiple websites and writes a brief, helpful answer. Below your answer, you’ll find links to the sources or expandable cards to explore more details. Some overviews also include “What to try” sections or suggested follow-up questions to guide your search further.

What Gemini Has to Do With It

Gemini, formerly known as Bard, is the latest of Google’s large language models (LLMs), and is a powerful form of generative AI. It is the technology behind AI overviews. Unlike earlier models, Gemini can process text, images, and code. This allows it to understand and generate content across multiple formats. This advanced capability helps Google AI Overviews handle more complex, multi-step queries and provide useful AI responses right on the SERP.

Because Gemini powers these AI summaries, it changes how Google interprets and presents search queries. This makes it necessary for websites to change how they write their content to fit this new AI-powered way of searching. By understanding how Google’s AI model works, businesses and digital marketing agencies can plan their SEO strategies to align with the way search results are now displayed.

What Google's AI Overview Means for SEO and Search Traffic

According to Google, its new AI Overviews improve user satisfaction. They also help spread organic traffic across more sites, especially for more complex English queries. But some early reports show that for purely informational queries, click-through rates are dropping in traditional organic positions. New data from BrightEdge reveals that, while Google search impressions are up 49% year-over-year, click-through rates have dropped by 30%.

That’s likely because AI Overviews give users access to all the key information they need right away. As a result, they often don’t feel the need to visit a website. This change means your SEO strategy has to evolve. It’s no longer just about ranking high for targeted keywords; it’s about being cited in the Overview. That only happens when you create content that’s clear, well-structured, and easy for Google to access, even when users search in Incognito mode. The key to creating Google-friendly content is technical SEO, the structured data behind webpages that helps show what the page is about. Also, using different formats, like video, can increase your chances of being featured.

The Issues and Pushback of Google’s AI Overview Mode

While the idea of this new feature is to provide users with all the necessary information quickly, it has raised several serious concerns from users, publishers, SEO experts, and businesses worldwide. 

Here are the main issues and pushback of Google's AI Overview:

• Wrong and Misleading Information – Early Overviews were found to be producing incorrect or misleading information. For example, suggesting swapping dinner for rocks for the added minerals, or using glue to thicken pizza sauce. These errors have been widely shared and criticized.
• Irrelevant Information – One common problem with AI-powered search is the production of irrelevant overviews that don’t match the user’s search intent.
• AI Overviews Dominate Search Results – These overviews are the first to appear in SERPs. This means that users see fewer traditional links and may stop exploring beyond the overview.
• Drop in Website Traffic – Because AI Overviews often give all the information searched need, many users don’t click through to visit websites. This hurts publishers, content creators, and businesses who rely on website visits for revenue and engagement.
• Reduced Opportunity for Exploration – With AI Overviews answering questions directly, users have less opportunity to explore different websites and viewpoints. This limits the amount of information people can access from the wider web.
• Space Taken by Overviews Lowers Other Results – Because AI Overviews use so much space, organic search results and Google ads get pushed down. This lowers their visibility and impact.
• Harm to Business Models – Chegg and others have even accused Google of undercutting their business models with AI. They say that AI-generated summaries in search results have significantly reduced their website traffic and revenue.
• Fuzzy Data – While you can access data on things like clicks and impressions from AI overviews within Google Search Console, the data cannot be filtered out, making it harder to interpret the effects of marketing efforts.

Where It’s Going: Future Plans

Google isn’t stopping with just showing AI Overviews on search results. They are working on making search smarter and more interactive. Here’s what’s coming next:

• AI Mode for Conversations – Soon, searching will feel more like chatting with a helpful assistant. You’ll be able to ask follow-up questions, and Google will remember the context so it can give better, more personalized answers.
• More Interactive Results – Instead of just reading summaries, users might see videos, images, or other interactive formats right in the search results. This is to make exploring information more engaging and easier to understand.
• Deep Research Reports – For those who want to explore a topic in depth, Google plans to offer detailed reports generated by AI. These reports will take a few minutes to create but will come with fully cited sources so users can trust the information.

Work With a Digital Marketing Agency That Understands Google AI Overview

Google AI Overview is changing how people find and use information online. This new approach impacts website traffic, user search behavior, and requires businesses to adjust their SEO strategies accordingly. If you want your content to remain visible in Google search, understanding the Google AI overview SEO impact is important.

That’s where Cobalt Digital Marketing can support you. We’re a digital marketing agency that understands these changes and can help your business explore new SEO strategies. Whether you’re looking to boost your online presence or get your content featured in AI Overviews, our team is here to support your SEO goals.

Do you want your content to stay visible even with all the changes from Google AI Overview? Contact Cobalt Marketing today.

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