Recently, the Adido team was pleasantly surprised to see a particular keyword ranking in ‘position 1’ for a client. This was a significant milestone as the keyword in question had never achieved the top spot in all the time we have been working with the client. Highlighting this achievement was front and centre in their latest monthly report. However, was it all as it seemed?
The keyword appeared as part of the AI Overview on the SERP, so, was it really 'ranking in position 1'?
First and foremost, what is an AI Overview?
An AI Overview is a Google search feature that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to generate summaries and answers to questions in search results:
What AI Overviews do
AI Overviews provide quick answers and summaries of topics, including information from across the web and Google's knowledge graph. They can include descriptions of topics, key points, and links to additional sources.
How AI Overviews work
AI Overviews use generative AI, which learns patterns and structures from data to create something new.
When AI Overviews appear
AI Overviews appear in search results when Google's algorithm determines they may be useful to the user.
What to consider
AI Overviews can make mistakes, so you should think critically about their responses. You can also explore results from multiple sources to fact-check important information.
What it was previously known as
AI Overviews was previously known as Google Search Generative Experience (SGE).
Where was this ranking taken from?
There are many SEO tools in play for organic analysis. This information came from the position tracking section of Semrush. Seemingly a recent update, it sparked considerable discussion within the organic team: AI-generated overviews are now appearing as position 1 results.
Identified slightly differently to ‘standard’ position 1 rankings, AI Overview rankings are identified by a unique icon to set them apart - a small + sign.
This change highlights a broader industry trend, recognising the increasing role of AI in shaping search engine results pages (SERPs).
How do you feature in an AI Overview?
To increase the likelihood of your content being included in an AI Overview, focus on the fundamentals of SEO. While overviews are compiled using artificial intelligence, they still rely on information from trusted, authoritative websites.
A recent study by Botify and DemandSphere looking at Mastering AI Overviews for greater search visibility, analysed 120,000 Google searches and found that, 75% of AI Overview links came from the top 12 ranking sites. So the basics still matter.
You need to ensure your content is:
- Optimised for SEO: Relevant keywords, meta titles and descriptions and structured data to make your content easily discoverable.
- Targeted: Deliver content that directly aligns with the search term and user intent.
- Covers EEAT: Publish high-quality, well-researched content on a site that is recognised as a credible source by search engines like Google.
By consistently providing valuable, optimised, and targeted content, you can improve your chances of being featured in AI-generated summaries and overviews.
What does this mean for marketers, SEO professionals and clients?
Let’s break it down.
The introduction of AI Overviews as ‘position 1’ results could mark a significant shift in how organic rankings are analysed and how success in SEO is measured.
Understand the value of AI Overview rankings
While appearing in an AI Overview can boost visibility and authority, it might not always drive traffic directly to your site.
- Firstly, you might be ranking in 'position 1' but your content and position is being grouped together with other sites, sometimes up to eight other websites, which the AI Overview has taken information from.
- Not only will there be other websites contributing to the AI Overview, the list of citations
,will only show three contributing websites. The option to show all is available, but if users don’t click this, then they won’t know which site has contributed to the information.
- This will have an effect on certain metrics. Click-through rates (CTR) will likely diminish for keywords appearing in AI Overviews as there is less need to visit the cited websites.
Potential impact on reporting
Historically, clarifying a ‘position 1’ ranking was pretty simple. Nowadays it’s a different story, certainly in the evolving world of AI Overviews:
- As mentioned, your position 1 ranking will seemingly be grouped with any other websites appearing in the overview, meaning multiple sites could report rankings in position 1 for a certain keyword.
- Traffic may not spike as it would with traditional position 1 rankings. If users get answers directly from the AI Overview, they may not click through to your site.
- This can affect ROI, and while reports will look great, boasting numerous position 1 rankings, KPI’s, such as revenue or traffic, might not see the same benefits. There is also limited attribution and websites might struggle to see the value of AI visibility if it doesn’t translate to measurable traffic or conversions.
The future of SEO in an AI-driven landscape
The integration of AI Overviews into SERPs reflects Google’s ongoing mission to deliver faster, more relevant results to users. For marketers and SEOs, the challenge lies in balancing traditional optimisation strategies with this emerging feature.
I’ll leave you with something all marketers or clients should be aware of: if you see a keyword ranking in position 1, check if it’s the traditional ranking or an AI overview ranking.
