Written by Chris F., Brandography Digital Marketing Specialist, and Leila De la Fuente, Brandography Digital Marketing Manager
At Brandography, we’re on the ground floor of search evolution. Across dozens of client websites, Brandography’s team has been adapting strategies and running real-time experiments to understand how Google’s AI Overviews are reshaping the way people search online.
Right now, there are a lot of terms flying around: AI Overview (AIO), Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), Search Generative Experience (SGE). Regardless of what you want to call it, our internal experts across SEO, content, and strategy are here to weigh in on what we’re seeing, what’s working, and how brands can stay ahead.
What’s Changing in Search?
A lot is changing in the way we search online, but none so drastically as the integration of AI into Google Search Results. AI Overview (AIO) describes this new era of how Google is using AI to answer queries.
Let’s discuss recent shifts in Google and AI and how to shift your digital marketing strategies as a response. First, let’s look at what’s changed.
First, What is AIO?
Instead of just showing a list of links, AI Overview gives users a synthesized, conversational-style answer at the top of the search results page, pulled from multiple online sources. It’s designed to help people get quick, context-rich answers without clicking through to multiple sites. It’s already changed the way people search and how websites can interpret traffic. But the changes are continuing. Here’s how it’s developing:
Unpacking the Google Search Shift
Before, AI Mode would appear at the top of the search results page, followed by traditional organic search links below. However, now AI mode is presented as the first tab at the top of the search results page. This new tab appears alongside other filter options.
When users click on the AI mode tab, they are greeted with a search box designed to facilitate a conversational interaction. While this new interface still provides links to relevant websites that informed the AI’s response, the option to scroll down and view additional related webpages directly on this page has been removed.
This mode is now getting presented to users on a normal search result and a pop-up asking them to try out AI mode.
How Does AIO Impact Organic Opportunities?
This shift means Google is increasingly encouraging users to engage with AI mode directly from the search result page. The impact on website traffic is two-fold:
- We’ve entered a “zero-click” era. Users can get quick answers to their queries directly from the AI result, which decreases the need for them to visit individual websites. We see this affecting high-level, educational “what is” or “how to” content that historically drove high volumes of traffic.
- The placement of organic search results is de-emphasized. This change further reduces the visibility of traditional organic search results, potentially decreasing the chances of your website being discovered organically, even if you are actively running search ads.
We’ve put together recommendations for continuing to hit your KPIs for this new era of digital marketing.
What are AIO Best Practices Right Now?
Currently, marketers are in an era of “discovery” and “testing” when it comes to AI optimization. But there are tried and true elements that we’re seeing consistently influence success in AI-driven search:
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Content Designed for Generative AI
When writing, optimizing, or guiding content creation, produce clear, conversational content & question-driven (FAQ content). Not only is this style ideal for traditional search engines, but it also aligns with how AI-driven search platforms generate answers.
Pro tips: Analyze the type of content on your site that’s getting the most attention from AIO and AI chat bots. To get to this data, check GA4 referral traffic from ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc. aHrefs or Semrush will show you which of your pages are included in AI Overviews. Do you notice any patterns? Is there a topic that seems to receive the most AI attention? Content marketers can use this data to help inform their content strategy.
Another tip is to simply ask AI what topics in your industry it does not have much insight or content on. Identifying knowledge gaps and creating authoritative, educational content to fill those gaps can help position your brand as a resource for AIs as they interface with their users.
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Focus on Deeper Pages & Content
As the homepage becomes less relevant in search results and its viewership decreases across the board in analytics, focus on improving the quality and information density of other core pages on the website, including product pages. As user search queries become longer, you should adapt your approach to include how somebody is asking questions. Focus on more technical, nuanced, or experience-based content that provides value beyond what an AI response could provide.
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Leveraging E-E-A-T to Boost AI Trust (where available)
Strategically integrate available signals of Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) to enhance how AI evaluates your content quality. A few ways to achieve this include:
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Authorship
Avoid assigning a default or “Brand name” author to blogs and resources. Instead, ensure each piece of content is tied to a real person and a professional “Author profile page” that illustrates the individual’s industry expertise and links to a profile, such as LinkedIn. NerdWallet and NYTimes Wirecutter are both great examples for how to build author pages that support E-E-A-T and establish real authority.
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Reviews – both on-site and off-site
Ensure your Google Business Profile has a solid collection of reviews. If your website has products, enlist and visually feature real user reviews.
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Earn high-quality backlinks
We always recommend starting with your ecosystem of partners and industry affiliates. These relationships have already been established, and the opportunity to gain backlinks is easiest.
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“I worked for a company that had dozens of technology partners. Oftentimes, these partners would reference our brand or feature our logo on their websites. Some would include a hyperlink to our site, some didn’t. This was an easy channel for us to tap as we looked to increase backlinks from reputable domains, because the relationship was already there.” – Leila De la Fuente, Digital Marketing Manager at Brandography
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Technical Optimization & Speed
Since AI search prioritizes fast-loading websites, your site needs to be optimized for high performance, scoring highly on Google’s Core Web Vitals. AI tools also factor mobile usability and accessibility into their results, so are building and maintaining responsive sites while following accessibility best practices.
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Structured Content and Schema Markup
Advanced schema markup helps explicitly define content elements. Hierarchical URL structures ensure every page has a topically relevant parent/child relationship. This structuring helps AI search tools (and organic search bots) easily interpret, understand, and accurately represent your content.
“If I had to choose just one tactic to implement, I’d choose schema every time. Adding the appropriate schema markup to a website consistently produces improvements in organic impressions and clicks. Do you have instances within your content where a question is asked and an answer is provided? Wrap FAQ Schema around those. Do you have product pages? Add Product Schema. Job listings? Add Job Schema.” – Leila
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Paid Advertising: AI Mode in Search Ads
Google is also integrating AI Max into search ads, and agencies will be testing the effectiveness of AI mode over the next few months.
We are in the middle of another profound shift comparable to the Internet or mobile revolutions. It is not just an incremental improvement, but will fundamentally change how people interact with computers and information.
We are prioritizing a unique user experience while focusing on distinctiveness and reliability. We are also diversifying distribution channels and building strong brands and communities around them. – Chris F.
How Can I Expand My Digital Reach?
It’s a good time to remember Google isn’t the only place people are looking. In today’s marketing landscape, there are lots of opportunities to expand your digital real estate and meet more potential audience members where they’re searching. Here are a few additional strategies to consider:
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Expanding to New Platforms
Creating new accounts and engaging with customers on platforms such as Reddit, and pushing less-used search platforms like Bing.
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Consideration for How Social Media Factors In
These changes mean your social media presence is a more integrated part of your brand and how users can find and understand your offerings. Make sure your Instagram and Facebook bios have comprehensive “About” sections. Review old posts that might be pulled into AI overviews and post relevant, unique, and engaging content.
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Landing Pages
Landing pages are becoming even more crucial to your marketing strategy because AI Max can potentially pull ad copy directly from them. Think diligently about your landing pages through the lens of unique content and user experience. Now is a good time to review live landing pages. Do they clearly state your brand benefits and differentiators? Look at your low-performing landing pages and make updates or change them out altogether.
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DMs as a Conversion Layer
Customer service and social media DMs have been interlinked for a while, so promoting messaging instead of your website is nothing new, but the advantage is turning the DM into a choose-your-own-path funnel. Effective use of DMs to remove questions, not add pressure, converts higher than most websites.
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Creating Informational Videos
Google is pushing helpful videos as responses to search results. In addition, they have changed up options across the top to include forms more prominently.
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Building Community
Establishing targeted groups on Facebook to foster closer relationships and reduce the distance between your brand and your customers.
The Next Phase of Digital Marketing is Here
This sounds like a lot of change, and it is! But our team at Brandography is excited to meet the challenges of this new phase of AIO and create holistic strategies that make sense for your industry and brand.
Learn more about our approach to strategy!
