Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the way we interact with search engines, and one of the latest innovations is Google’s AI Overview. Thus, all SEO specialists should be aware of what and how to maximize their performance by using a new AI content strategy.
Ideally, a good strategy should focus on audience and content quality. In this guide, we will provide thorough insights for you about AI Overview, from the advantages, how it impacts SEO, and strategies to optimize your content for better visibility.
About AI Overview
Designed to help consumers quickly grasp a topic without having to scroll through several search results, Google AI Overview is a brief summary produced using artificial intelligence. These summaries compile material from several online sites to offer a more complete perspective of the subject.
It is powered by Google’s Gemini language model, which ensures accuracy and relevance by combining data from different sources, including Google’s Knowledge Graph. Read our article, “Google Launches “AI Overview”: Here’s What You Need to Know” for deeper insight on this topic.
The Advantages of AI Overview Compared to Traditional Google Search
Using cutting-edge generative artificial intelligence methods, AI Overview works by compiling and synthesizing data from many online sources. This AI-driven approach allows for more accurate and relevant summaries. Some key features include:
- Overviews that can be adjusted: Users have the ability to alter the summaries’ amount of depth.
- Handling complicated questions: The AI is capable of multi-step reasoning, which qualifies it to respond to complicated questions.
- Capabilities for planning: It helps in organizing events like meals and trips.
- Organized results: Results are arranged according to AI-generated headlines.
- Video support: Through video inquiries, users can get assistance with issues.
But in what way is AI Overview better than conventional Google search techniques? Let’s examine the main benefits for users:
- Faster Information Grasp
Google’s summary will save you a great deal of time and work by providing short summaries right on the search results page. So, no more browsing through countless websites.
- Improved Comprehension
As you know, tackling complex topics can be difficult. AI Overview simplifies these subjects into manageable segments, which makes them easier to understand—especially for people who are not familiar with the subject.
- Initiate Further Exploration
The summaries in this new feature may make users look for deeper investigation. If readers need additional in-depth information, this summary will direct them to relevant sources.
Will AI Overview Cause a Drop in Website Traffic?
Before exploring AI content strategy, let’s discuss its potential impact first. Although there are numerous advantages to this technology, including improving user experience, many website owners are concerned about how it can affect organic traffic.
As you may have been aware now, AI Overview gives detailed information directly within the search results. This means that users may find the answers they need without ever clicking through to individual websites.
This shift may result in a sharp decline in organic traffic, particularly for websites that primarily depend on giving clear and straightforward responses to informational queries.
For instance, when people get their answers from the AI-generated summary, websites that once scored highly for basic queries like “how to screenshot on laptop” may notice a 50% drop in traffic, as the results are shown directly on AI Overview’s summary.
However, the decrease rate might vary for certain types of websites. Research by Aleyda Solis highlights three types of AI snapshots that affect website traffic differently:
- Direct Answer Snapshots, which provide clear answers to simple queries, could lead to a traffic drop of up to 50%.
- Exploration Snapshots, which offer multiple perspectives, might reduce click-through rates by 30-40%.
- Deep Dive Snapshots, which cover topics extensively, could result in a 25-35% traffic reduction.
While these statistics might be concerning for some, it’s crucial to remember that not all traffic decreases are bad. For example, AI Overview might draw attention to free product listings from Google’s Merchant Center for eCommerce sites, which frequently leads to high CTR.
This increased visibility within the AI summaries can drive significant traffic to product pages, demonstrating that the impact of AI Overviews can also be beneficial for certain types of websites.
7 AI Content Strategy for AI Overview
So, the impact of AI Overview isn’t uniform across all types of content. To adapt to this new landscape, website owners should focus on creating high-quality, comprehensive content that goes beyond simple answers.
This is because websites offering in-depth analysis or complex information may still attract visitors who seek more comprehensive insights than what AI Overviews provide.
Moreover, quality content has a high probability of being cited in this feature. Being cited in these AI summaries can enhance a site’s visibility and credibility, potentially offsetting some of the traffic losses. Here’s a list of AI content strategy you may try:
- Crafting Specific and Detailed Content
First of all, the secret to SEO success with AI Overviews is producing content that is specific, detailed, and comprehensive. Remember, Google’s AI aims to provide users with thorough answers and to achieve this, it favors content that delves deeply into topics rather than skimming the surface.
Hence, as part of the E-E-A-T approach, always emphasize authority and expertise. Create material that highlights your experience and areas of expertise. This will increase your content’s trustworthiness, make it more unique, and help your content stand out.
Also, use in-depth research to support your content with facts, case studies, and professional perspectives. AI Overview is expected to more likely featuring content that offers in-depth analysis supported by reliable sources. For instance, in this article, we cited research about AI Overview’s impact on traffic decrease.
Another example, let’s say you own a health-niche blog. If you want to write an article about “managing diabetes”, besides tips about diet plans or medication, you should include the latest research and expert recommendations about diabetes. You can also include personal stories from people living with diabetes.
- Emphasizing Topics Over Keywords
In the age of AI Overviews, try to think in terms of broader topics rather than individual keywords. AI models like Google’s BERT and RankBrain are designed to better understand context in user queries, making topic-based content more effective.
This approach helps Google link your content to relevant concepts, providing structure to the information and improving the chances of being included in AI Overviews.
To do this, you can try grouping related content pieces into clusters around a central topic. In SEO strategy, we call this topic clustering. This helps Google understand the context and relevance of your content.
You may also use semantically related terms and phrases to create content that comprehensively covers a topic. This approach helps AI understand the depth and breadth of your content.
- Use Links as Trust Signals
Links are still an important authority and trust indication, even for the AI content strategy in AI Overview. Links, both internal and external, are essential for search engines to understand the structure and credibility of your material.
First tip, try to acquire backlinks from reputable and relevant websites. This enhances your site’s authority and trustworthiness. The more backlinks you have, Google will consider your website more reliable and trustworthy to be featured in the AI summary.
You can also leverage internal linking by strategically linking related content within your site to guide Google’s AI algorithms about your content’s hierarchy, while also improving user experience.
- Implement Structured Data and Citations
Even without the new overview feature, structured data is always crucial for helping search engines understand the context and structure of your content.
For example, for an e-commerce site, you can provide detailed information about the products, including price, availability, and reviews. This structured data helps Google display your products prominently in search results as shown in the picture below, potentially increasing CTR.
An additional tip, try to use tools like Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to ensure your structured data is correctly implemented and up-to-date.
Also, try to always include citations in your content. By citing authoritative sources–like how we cite Google Developer’s site in the previous paragraph–you enhance the chances of your content being featured in AI Overviews.
- Leverage Multimedia and Voice Search
Multimedia elements such as images, videos, and infographics can make your content more engaging and easier for AI to understand and present. Additionally, optimizing for voice search can improve your rankings, as voice queries often seek concise and direct answers nowadays.
So, the next AI content strategy is, always use high-quality images, videos, and infographics to complement your text. Besides affecting Google AI’s algorithm, visual content can break down complex information and increase user engagement.
Moreover, create content that mimics natural language patterns and conversational queries. This is particularly important for voice search optimization.
Let’s see an example: if you have a cooking website, try to include step-by-step photo tutorials or infographics for recipes. Additionally, the content should be optimized for voice search queries like “How do I make rice?” by providing clear, concise instructions.
- Adopt an “Always-On” Mentality
“Always-on” means you should continuously monitor and update content to align with current trends and user intents. This involves using Google tools to monitor trends and adapt your strategies proactively.
For instance, to monitor trends, utilize tools like Google Trends and social media analytics to stay updated on emerging topics and user interests. Not only Google tools, you can also use AI-driven technologies to analyze and optimize your content.
Let’s say you’re living in the U.S., and you want to know what are trending topics in there now. Just open Google Trends, select your country, and explore top topics by clicking on the “Trending now” tab. You may also find insights into trends on specific topics or keywords on the “Explore” tab.
- Monitor and Adapt
For the last AI content strategy, don’t forget to regularly monitor the performance of your content in AI-driven search results, it’s essential for continuous improvement.
There are many performance-tracking tools that you may use to track how your content performs in Google’s AI Overviews, such as SEMrush and Google Analytics. Pay attention to metrics like visibility, click-through rates, and user engagement for better insights.
Then, based on performance data, make necessary adjustments to your content strategy. This might include updating old content, creating new content based on trending topics, or enhancing multimedia elements.
Here’s an example. Suppose you own an SEO-niched website, then you should track how your posts on popular topics perform in the AI Overview.
If a guide on “How to use AI Overview” performs well, you can create similar content for other tips about AI Overview. Such as this article which explores comprehensive strategies to optimize content for Google’s AI Overview.
(from personal screenshot)Though it is true that AI Overview may impact CTR in Google Search, a smart AI content strategy can help you tackle its potential drawbacks. Here at Toombooh, we create high-quality content optimized for the latest search engine algorithm, including Google’s AI Overview. Contact us now!
FAQ
- What is the AI content strategy?
Simply put, this strategy refers to content production, optimization, and distribution with artificial intelligence, where this AI technology uses machine learning and NLP (Natural Language Processing) to work.
- How can AI be used in content marketing?
AI can be used in content marketing in many ways. Such as content creation, SEO optimization, analytics for trends or metrics, automation for content distribution, and more.
- How to optimize AI content?
You can try 7 strategies explained above, including:
- Make specific and detailed content
- Focus on topics rather than keywords
- Optimize links building
- Use structured data and citations
- Incorporate multimedia and voice search
- Continuously following trends
- Monitor and adapt
- What is AI for content making?
As the name implies, it’s about automatically producing material utilizing artificial intelligence technologies. This includes generating text, writing articles, creating visuals/images, and even producing videos.