Recently, Google implemented a new feature called AI Overview. If you want to take advantage of the opportunities it offers to businesses, I recommend reading this article completely.
I’ll share unique data about the AI Overview from analyzing 30 million SERPs. We’ll also discuss how to benefit from this new Google novelty.
What is Google AI Overview?
AI Overview provides users with automatically generated responses to queries using artificial intelligence. These responses appear ahead of other links at the top of the search results page. The primary purpose of the AI Overview is to make the search process faster and more convenient by offering brief and relevant answers without the need to browse through multiple sites.
Google creates these overviews by collecting information from various sources across the web and forming concise, accurate answers. Users can access the original sources through the provided links if they need more details.
This feature was first preset as part of the experimental Search Generative Experience (SGE) program. After positive feedback, it became widely available to the public in the US in May 2024.
Advantages of AI Overviews
AI Overviews represent an innovative way of delivering information, offering several key benefits for regular users and website owners:
- Quick and accurate responses. AI gathers and summarizes information from multiple reliable sources, saving time.
- Convenience. AI Overviews allow faster answers for complex queries that often require multiple searches.
- Increased visibility for websites. If a site is listed among the sources used for the AI Overview, it can significantly boost its visibility. Users interested in more detailed information often click on the links leading to these sites, positively impacting traffic.
- More targeted traffic. Since users who click on these links have already received basic information, they are likely more interested in the topic and ready for deeper exploration.
- Integration with organic search results. Most AI Overviews link to sites already within the top 10 organic search results. This is an additional bonus for sites with high organic rankings, helping them reinforce their positions and build user trust.
Thus, AI Overviews not only benefit users but also offer new opportunities for website owners to increase visibility and attract high-quality traffic.
Disadvantages of AI Overviews
Despite the significant advantages of AI Overviews, there are potential drawbacks that could affect website owners and users, too:
- Reduction in overall organic traffic. Since AI Overviews provide people with generated answers at the top of the search results, this may lead to fewer users visiting websites. Clicks on links on the second page of search results may become less frequent and start looking like a miracle.
- Competition for placing in the overviews. As AI Overviews typically use a limited number of sources, competition in these lists has become more intense. For website owners, this means that even with high-quality content, getting into the desired overviews may not always be possible.
- Inconsistent appearance in search results. AI Overviews don’t appear for every query, and their presence depends on the complexity and nature of the query. Companies targeting specific keywords may not consistently see their presence in these overviews. I’ll discuss this phenomenon further when I present the exclusive data from my research.
While AI Overviews offer significant search advantages, they also pose risks of reducing organic traffic and controlling content used for automatically generated responses.
How Google’s AI Overview Works?
The overviews use generative AI technology to automatically create short and relevant responses to Google user queries. Here are its key stages:
1.Processing the query.
2.Selecting documents.
3.Generating the response.
4.Verifying information.
5.Providing sources.
6.Evaluating accuracy and relevance.
This process lets Google quickly provide helpful, summarized answers to complex queries. However, it’s important to note that due to the automatic generation of information, inaccuracies may occur, so users are encouraged to check the source links for verification.
How to Optimize Content for AI Overviews?
To have your content appear in Google’s AI Overviews, following general search optimization recommendations is important. Although content creators don’t need to take specific actions to have their material included in these overviews, there are several strategies that can increase your chances:
2.High-quality content that is relevant to queries. Information for AI Overviews comes from trusted sources that answer users’ queries most accurately.
4.Monitor performance through the Search Console. Check your content statistics through Search Console to see how often your pages appear in AI Overviews.
By following these recommendations, you can not only increase the visibility of your content in AI Overviews but also improve your site overall performance in search engines.
How to Avoid Placing in the AI Overview Panel?
If you do not want your content to appear in AI Overviews, there are several ways to limit or control the display of your site snippets:
1.Use the “nosnippet” meta tag. It prevents Google from showing any snippet of your page content in search results. If you add this meta tag to your page HTML, your content won’t appear in AI Overviews or other search snippets.
2.Set a maximum snippet length. If you want to control the length of the snippet Google displays in search results, use the “max-snippet:[number]” meta tag. This method allows you to define the maximum number of characters Google can use to generate a snippet from your page.
3.Restrict specific parts of the page from being shown. Using the “data-nosnippet” attribute, you can prevent Google from including specific parts of content in search snippets or AI Overviews. It is convenient if you want to hide certain information while allowing other content to be displayed.
Following these guidelines will help you effectively control the visibility of your content in AI Overviews and control which parts of the page are publicly accessible.
Interesting Facts and Statistics Based on the Analysis of 30 Million SERPs
Our company analyzed 30 million search pages (30,041,971 to be exact). Here are the categories of sites we found there:
Of these 30 million search pages, 258,712 contained a block with an AI response, which is 0.86% of the total.
Based on the data obtained, I can highlight several interesting facts I propose to discuss further.
Which Domains Most Often Appear in SERPs That Include AI Overview?
According to the research, the leading sites were:
1.youtube.com
2.quora.com
3.reddit.com
4.wikipedia.org
5.nih.gov
6.healthline.com
7.tiktok.com
8.webmd.com
9.clevelandclinic.org
10.medicalnewstoday.com
11.mayoclinic.org
12.facebook.com
13.verywellhealth.com
14.amazon.com
16.sciencedirect.com
17.wikihow.com
18.medlineplus.gov
19.hopkinsmedicine.org
20.study.com
What Are the Domain Types With the AI Overview Panel Related To?
The mentioned sites fall into these categories:
These categories are the most popular for search pages where AI Overviews appear.
What Other SERP Elements Is AI Overview Located on the Same Page With?
The research disovered the following results:
The data reveals a low presence of ads and a frequent appearance of responses from various categories (especially health and knowledge areas).
What Are the Keywords That Most Often Lead to the AI Overview Panel?
The study showed that interrogative keywords appear in 25% of the keywords that trigger an AI Overview. It is the highest percentage in this type of analysis.
Which Intents Most Often Lead to the AI Overview Panel?
Analysis of intents revealed that practically all search phrases are informational.
How do Keywords With Place Names Perform?
Across the 30-million sample, toponyms (place names) appear in 22% of the cases. However, they comprise only 5% of the 250,000 search result pages where AI Overviews appear.
Top 5 Countries Where AI Overviews Appear in SERPs
Finally, here’s a breakdown by country where AI Overviews most often appeared:
- USA (254,778)
- UK (44,818)
- South Africa (7,995)
- Nepal (2,555)
- Nigeria (1,007)
Serpstat’s AI Overview Identification Feature
Serpstat now allows users to track whether an AI Overview appears in search results. In the Site and Keyword Analysis reports, a robot icon signals that the tool detected a generated answer for the corresponding keyword. You can also filter keywords based on the presence of this element.
This feature enables you to see where artificial intelligence is actively helping users with answers. For SEO specialists, it opens new opportunities for optimizing content for these overviews and understanding their impact on traffic and search visibility. Such functionality is especially useful for those who work with the US and UK markets, as most such elements appear in SEPRs for these countries.
Serpstat’s keyword databases were recently improved as well. Among the main updates:
- 45% increase in the update speed for all databases
- removed 1,500,000 duplicates and misspelled phrases from the US database
- 2,600,000 outdated SERPs removed from the US database
These improvements make traffic data more accurate, providing fresher and more relevant insights for quality SEO analysis.
Conclusion
AI Overviews reveal new horizons for Google users and content creators. However, this innovation has contradictions, presenting both advantages and disadvantages.
I recommend dedicating time to learning about the AI Overview. When used wisely, its potential can help to achieve your goals.
You can start reaping the benefits of this ahead of your competitors. But remember, this secret stays between us, so I wish you the best of luck in making it happen 🙂
