A few days ago, we talked about one of the biggest changes ever seen in Google Search History – AI Overviews. Check the article out in case you need to catch up.
AI Overviews – First USA…Then The World!
Remember that box office hit Independence Day with Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum?
With AI Overviews, It feels a bit like we’re slap bang in that movie – The aliens first landed in the USA, but before long the little buggers spread to almost every corner of the globe spreading terror and chaos everywhere.
Because, AI Overviews initially dropped in the United States, with several organically competitive websites reporting drops in traffic. Since then, they have expanded to many more countries, reaching billions more people.
Today, we explore what AI Overviews look like in the UK, whether they’ll stay and most importantly the ten-point masterplan your business needs to adopt, in order to maintain and grow organic website traffic.
Let’s dive in!
First – What Do AI Overview Layouts Look Like In UK?
Now, since those pesky aliens are here, let’s say you’re looking to hide out in an underground bunker (they’ve travelled from another star system and destroyed the White House with one zap, but I’m sure it’ll help).
You might search for “best underground bunkers UK”.
Here’s what you’ll see at the top of Google, before the traditional original organic search results (not the UFO’s though – we did that – cool huh?):
What To Know:
By Circle 1, we see the AI summary of the most popular UK underground bunkers. By the answers Google provides, there are discreet website links to “corroborate” what Google wrote.
The text is controlled by Google, so unlike a SERPS description, you cannot optimise to improve Click Through Rate, the way you would an organic listing. You can only hope your text is “corroborated” by Google, and the user clicks to your website for more information.
By Circle 2, on desktop, we see a big vertically stacked panel with some actual search engine results. Call me cynical, but this large, eye-catching vertical carousel looks like the perfect place for Google to ultimately place Google Ads (ching ching!).
What about the Google Ads as they are currently? In a recent Google press conference, the company also stated that Google Ads would stay, either before or after the AI Overviews and this seems consistent with the searches we’ve seen so far. We’ll have to see if Google do incorporate ads into their overviews.
Interesting also that in the side panel, 2/3 of the top results are YouTube videos. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – YouTube and video is one of the most overlooked ways for brands to get targeted views, traffic back to their sites, leads and sales. And it looks like they’ll play a big part in AI Overview results.
But remember, it’s still very early days and Google appear to be taking a fluid approach to how and where they display AI Overviews, as well as the content served. The way AI Overviews render may continue to change as the days roll into weeks and months. Google will keep gathering user data, adoption insights and other metrics to optimise what AI Overviews will finally become.
What’s Next? Are Overviews Here To Stay?
Will they stay around, and so should your SEO strategy look to take them into account… ? Yes. Because, 1) they’ve now rolled out to even more countries including 1Billion+ people in India, and 2) Google’s leadership team have pretty much nailed their colours to the mast on making AI Overviews the next big thing.
It’s not bad though…?
There are certain elements that seem impressive with Google AI Overviews. The answers from what I’ve seen are concise and useful. Another positive is the speed. The AI Overview comes up very quickly, and that’s good user experience.
Google know they are up against competitors, like Chat GPT – but when you compare the response speeds, Google Overviews return results much faster than GPT. They probably use some type of caching, which probably costs them less too. Once they get the Ads into the mix, there’s no reason Overviews wont stay around and evolve.
Will AI Overviews Be Measurable In Google Analytics?
At this stage, no. Which means digital marketing teams will need to be clever in terms of measuring the impact of Overviews.
Top 10 Things To Do To Get More Traffic From AI Overviews
There are certain strategies and actions that every business should be taking to bullet proof their organic traffic, and muscle their way into the AI Overviews section.
I’ve created a cheat sheet to help every business get ready for AI Overviews. It outlines ten key things you must do right now to have the very best chance to get featured, and maybe even increase your organic traffic as Overviews kick in front and centre.
To get hold of this cheat sheet, just DM me and I’ll send it over with compliments.
And Finally…Words Of Hope!
Spoiler alert. In Independence Day, against crazy odds, humanity did manage to defeat the aliens in the end.
As AI Overviews will tell you, we uploaded a virus onto their computer to disarm their shields and then nuked the gits (guessing someone in IT got it in the neck for that one):
I’ve seen so many changes in Google in my many years in digital marketing transformation. With every big change comes big opportunities to take your business to the top. The bigger the change, the more exciting the opportunity.
Just thynk hard and keep on trying.
I’m Tukshad Engineer. Thanks for reading, and till next time, wishing your business every success.