How AI is changing the visibility of websites in search
You can’t move at the moment for webinars, blogs and social media posts telling us how we can use AI to enhance our businesses, and there’s no doubt that AI is revolutionising the way we all work.
But what about the impact on visibility?
For years, SEOs and content marketers have been focused on securing those top spots on the search engines for our clients, and strategically using PPC to bridge the gaps while we wait for SEO efforts to gain traction. However, the emergence of AI-generated overviews in Google’s search results is starting to shift the game.
Some recent analysis from one of our favourite SEO tools, Ahrefs, has shown that AI overviews are changing the face of the search landscape. They analysed 300,000 keywords and found that…
“The presence of an AI Overview in the search results correlated with a 34.5% lower average clickthrough rate (CTR) for the top-ranking page, compared to similar informational keywords without an AI Overview.”
What does that mean for businesses today?
In short: if you can’t beat them, you’ve got to join them and secure a space in that AI overview.
Here at AlphaQuad, we’ve been doing lots of experiments to see how to earn a spot in those AI Overview sections and have found that:
- The pages featured in the AI Overview are often not the same ones that rank in the top organic results. So, for now at least, your content and keyword strategy need to be tailored separately for traditional SEO and AI visibility.
- Our most successful entries into AI Overviews have come from longer-form, highly informative blog posts that target specific, question-based, long-tail keywords.
What can you do right now?
If you’re in a business or marketing team facing the challenge of visibility in this dual-ranking environment, Step 1 is to find out what your audience is asking and answer those questions in a detailed and authoritative way.
Think FAQ-style content, in-depth explainer articles, and structured answers that clearly address the intent behind a search. AI models love clarity, completeness and context, and this is key to being seen.
The bottom line
AI isn’t replacing SEO, it’s evolving it. And while the landscape is shifting fast, businesses that stay informed, adapt quickly, and focus on helpful, audience-driven content will continue to thrive.
If you’re not sure where to start, we can help. Whether it’s finding the right keywords or creating content designed to feature in AI Overviews and organic search results, we’re here to guide you through the next generation of search.
Contact us today and let’s start the conversation…
