How Google AI Overviews Are Changing the SEO Game Forever

The Google AI overview is a fundamental shift in search behaviour that prioritises AI-generated summaries over traditional organic links. This evolution means businesses must transition from chasing top rankings to securing citations within these AI modules to protect their traffic.

Recent 2025 data indicates a significant transformation in the search landscape. If your impressions are climbing while clicks decrease, you are witnessing the new reality of search.

Google AI Overviews have rolled out to over 2 billion users across 200 countries as of mid-2025. These summaries now appear in roughly 30 percent of US desktop searches and dominate 59 percent of informational queries.

This transformation means the old playbook of chasing #1 rankings no longer guarantees success. You are now competing to be cited in AI summaries, not just to rank. Studies show that when AI Overviews appear, organic click-through rates can plummet from 1.76 percent to just 0.61 percent.

I am Kerry Anderson, co-founder of RankingCo. Over 15 years I have helped businesses navigate every major search evolution, from mobile-first indexing to voice search optimisation. Understanding the impact of AI overviews and adapting your strategy now will determine which businesses capture attention in 2026 and beyond.

For context on how these modules evolved from Search Generative Experience, Google has a public overview of the feature set under its AI experiences in Search: Google Search Generative Experience.

SEO impact terms explained:

• Generative AI search
• How AI Overviews work
• Ranking in AI Overviews

Google AI SEO Overviews reduces the value of traditional top rankings by providing immediate answers that often eliminate the need for a click. Mid-2025 studies show that organic click-through rates can drop by up to 70 percent when an AI Overview is present.

This structural shift changes how traffic flows through the B2B funnel. For informational queries, zero-click rates have risen from 56 percent to 69 percent in less than a year. This means only about 31 percent of searches result in a click to a third-party site.

Impressions often rise because AI Overviews cite multiple sources, giving your brand a chance to appear at the very top of the page. However, clicks fall because the AI summary provides the answer directly on the Search Engine Results Page.

This phenomenon is particularly prevalent on mobile devices. AI Overviews and Featured Snippets now occupy a staggering 75.7 percent of screen space on mobile results. When the answer is right there, users rarely scroll down to organic links.

Traditional SEO still matters because 97 percent of AI Overviews cite at least one source from the top 20 organic results. Google AI models rely on the same signals of authority and relevance that we have optimised for years.

While a page in Position 1 is 161 percent more likely to be cited, roughly 75 percent of links in AI Overviews come from positions 12 or higher. This means that if your content is better structured for retrieval, you can leapfrog larger competitors.

B2B brands must move beyond traditional SEO and embrace Generative Engine Optimisation to mitigate the AI impact. This practice involves creating content specifically for large language models that synthesise and summarise information for users.

The core of this strategy is demonstrating expertise and trustworthiness through citation-ready content blocks. We move away from vague marketing language toward concrete, evidence-based data. If you want to be cited, you need to provide unique data and structured answers that an AI can easily extract.

Structure is the new ranking factor because AI models use multi-vector retrieval to find the best snippets of information. To help them, we use descriptive headings, tight paragraphs, and clear lists. If your content is a wall of text, the AI will struggle to cite you.

Schema markup and structured data are more critical than ever. They provide a clear map for the AI to understand your product details and organisational authority. We also recommend using clean, precise language that focuses on specific outcomes.

Traditional KPIs like Position 1 are becoming vanity metrics if that keyword triggers an AI summary that steals all the clicks. We need to reset our KPIs to focus on Citation Rate and Share of Voice in AI Summaries. This ensures we are measuring actual visibility rather than just rankings.

We also need to recognise traffic repricing. While top-funnel informational clicks may decrease, the clicks you do get from an AI Overview are often higher quality. These users have already been educated by the summary and are further along the purchase funnel.

The impact is just one part of a larger shift. Your brand needs to be visible wherever users are asking questions. This applies to ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.

Brand recall is the ultimate hedge against AI disruption. If users specifically search for your brand name, you bypass the influence of the AI summary. This is why social search and community engagement are becoming core SEO strategies.

RankingCo helps brands navigate the AI impact by combining technical expertise with a deep understanding of generative search. As a Google Premier Partner, we provide the strategic oversight needed to maintain visibility in an AI-driven market.

Our founders, Amber Porter and Kerry Anderson, lead a team that focuses on ROI and long-term growth. We ensure your brand is not just ranking but is cited as a market leader across all major platforms. This human-led approach turns AI disruption into a competitive advantage.

Businesses in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, or across the ditch in Auckland and Wellington will find the AI impact affects their bottom line. The transition to GEO is a strategic necessity for any business that wants to thrive in 2026 and beyond.

Ready to secure your brand's future? More info about our SEO services is just a click away. Let's build a strategy that protects your traffic and drives measurable growth.