Last Updated on September 4, 2026 by Becky Halls
If you’re like us and noticed a dip in traffic lately (especially to your well-loved blog posts, how-to guides, or informational content) you’re not imagining it, and more importantly it’s not as bad as it seems.
Google’s AI Overviews are part of Google’s new SERP reality and have started dominating prime real estate in search results. While they look like a helpful shortcut for users, they can feel more like a sucker punch for content creators who suddenly find their pages getting fewer clicks, despite still ranking.
So, what can we do about it? We’ve delved into Google’s update and come up with some steps to adapt your SEO strategy so that you don’t lose out, and can still win, even when Google comes first.
Let’s get started…
So, What Exactly Are AI Overviews?
Google’s AI Overviews (previously known as the Search Generative Experience) are those boxes at the top of the search results that provide an instant summary for a user. AI overviews often include bullet points, links, and a confident-sounding paragraph that makes users think, “Great, I don’t need to click anything now.” This is obviously a HUGE change for website owners who have spent years (and $$) trying to rank on the first page, to now find themselves kicked off and replaced by an AI snippet.
AI Overviews vs. Featured Snippets: Key Differences
Featured snippets usually quote one page, often a paragraph or list. AI Overviews pull from several sources and show their links.
Overviews carry an “AI Overview” label at the top of results. They often include follow-up questions you can expand.
Sources appear as inline links and as tiles beneath the summary. Clicking a tile goes straight to the cited site.
These overviews are powered by large language models and are pieced together from multiple sources. But here’s the twist: unless your content is seen as trustworthy, well-structured, and accurate, it won’t be included in those summaries – even if you’re ranking just below them.
The SEO Impact of AI Overviews
This isn’t just a visual change to the SERP – it’s more a behavioral one.
Here’s what we’re seeing across the board:
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Click-through rates (CTR) are down for informational content.
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Impressions might still look healthy in Search Console but traffic is dipping.
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Users are staying on Google longer and visiting fewer actual websites.
We see Overviews more on broad how-to, comparison, and explainer queries. Health and finance get extra safeguards, so Overviews may not show.
Appearance also varies by location, query wording, and time. Google continues to tune triggers and quality checks in 2026.
And yet…
Websites that do get cited in the Google AI Overview are seeing spikes in brand recognition and authority. It’s a high-risk, high-reward shift.
Let’s Rework the Strategy
So how do you keep your visibility, and even thrive, under the new rules?
Here’s your playbook:
1. Be the Source Google Trusts
Google isn’t just grabbing snippets from random blog posts. It’s pulling from sites that demonstrate topical authority, clear structure, and trustworthy information.
Here’s how to build that trust:
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Use a named author with credentials. Add an author bio with links to social profiles, relevant experience, and where else they’ve been published.
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Cite credible sources. Don’t just say “according to a study” – link to the actual source.
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Keep your facts fresh. Update stats, add new examples, and revisit older content regularly.
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Add structured data. Use Article, FAQPage, Product, and Organization schema to aid parsing. It is not a guarantee for Overviews or rich results, and HowTo rich results were retired in 2024.
Our Tip: Run your top 10 articles through an “AI visibility check.” Would Google trust this page to summarize an answer in its voice? If not, start there.
2. Make Your Content Summarizable
In order to get cited we need to make our content as structured as possible.
Instead of dense paragraphs or rambling intros:
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Use bullet points, subheadings, and FAQ-style formatting.
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Start with a clear answer or summary before expanding.
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Label your sections with helpful cues like “How to…” or “What is…”
Think of it like a “cheat sheet” version of your content which is easy for AI to lift, but still enticing enough to get the click.
3. Don’t Just Optimize for Google – Think Like a Reader
Google is trying to mimic how real humans evaluate trust. That means:
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Personal stories matter.
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Unique angles matter.
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Original insights, data, and experience all increase your chance of being cited.
If your article reads like every other piece on the web, Google’s AI doesn’t need it. But if your article has you in it (i.e. your data, your point of view, your expertise) it’s harder to ignore.
4. Answer the Follow-Up Questions Too
AI Overviews don’t stop at one summary. They’re designed to answer multiple angles of a user’s question.
That’s your opportunity.
Use these strategies:
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Add “People Also Ask” style sections throughout.
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Build in follow-ups like “What if X doesn’t work?” or “Is there an alternative?”
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Use FAQ schema (but also just write the actual FAQs out clearly).
Citations in an Overview can show inside the text and as source tiles. You can be cited even if your page is not the top organic result.
What matters is usefulness, clarity, and trust signals across your site. Tight summaries and clean headings help the model pick you.
Google loves structure and clarity so give it lots of it!
5. Build Brand Authority Across the Web
This might be the most overlooked lever.
You don’t just want to be visible on your own site as that doesn’t cut it anymore. You also want your brand to be mentioned across forums, review sites, guest posts, roundups, podcasts, and more.
Why do you need these brand mentions? Because Google’s AI considers mentions, sentiment, and recurring patterns across the web when deciding what to trust.
If your name keeps showing up (and in a positive light), that’s a signal of authority, even without backlinks.
6. Track New Metrics
The old way of measuring success in SEO: rankings, impressions, clicks, still matters. But they don’t tell the whole story anymore.
Now, keep an eye on:
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Whether your content is getting cited in Overviews (track with tools like ContentKing or SEOTesting).
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No AI Overview report in Search Console. Use manual checks, annotate major launches, filter brand queries, and track CTR shifts on informational pages versus others.
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Which pages are seeing steady impressions but dropping clicks – those are the ones likely impacted by AI.
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Your brand search volume. If people are Googling you after seeing you in an Overview, you’re doing something right.
7. Use Tools Built for Testing, Not Guessing
Here’s where tools like PageTest.AI and 3way.social can make a real difference.
👉 Use PageTest.AI to:
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Test variations of your summary paragraph.
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Find out if your content with added expert quotes performs better.
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Measure whether adding a “quick answer” block improves engagement or bounce rate.
👉 Use 3way.social to:
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Build contextual backlinks that increase domain trust.
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Get mentioned across relevant blogs and build your digital footprint.
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Strengthen your site’s authority, making you more “AI-citable.”
8. Control Snippets and AI Overview Inclusion
You can limit how your text appears in Search and Overviews. Use these controls with care or you may lose visibility.
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robots meta nosnippet. Blocks text snippets in Google Search and can prevent your content from appearing in AI Overviews.
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data-nosnippet. Blocks specific parts of a page from being shown in snippets.
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max-snippet. Limits the length of shown text, which can affect what is quoted.
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Google-Extended. This controls AI training access, not Search or AI Overviews inclusion.
Test changes on a few URLs first and measure impact. Start with low-risk pages.
Expert Roundup: This Isn’t a Loss – It’s a Level-Up
So yes, AI Overviews are stealing clicks.
But they’re also filtering out the noise. Lazy content? Ghosted. Shallow posts? Ignored. Untrustworthy sites? MIA.
That leaves space for the good stuff, and ultimately that’s what we all want – right?
So if you’re producing genuinely helpful, trustworthy content – and you know how to structure it – you can own the new top of the SERP.
You don’t have to “beat” AI Overviews.
You just have to become part of them.
FAQs: Winning with AI Overviews
How can I tell if my content is in an AI Overview?
Use tools like SEOTesting or perform a few manual searches in incognito mode. Look for your domain cited beneath the AI-generated summary.
Is it still worth creating informational content?
Yes, but you need to make it deeper, clearer, and more actionable than ever. Focus on providing insights AI can’t generate on its own.
What’s the biggest mistake people are making right now?
Still chasing keyword density and rankings without thinking about trust, clarity, or how content is structured for summarization.
Can I block AI from using my content?
Yes, by disallowing AI bots in your robots.txt. But unless your business model depends on keeping info private, it’s definitely better to be visible – otherwise how will you ever be cited?
Is this the end of SEO as we know it?
Not quite. It’s more like the next chapter. The principles of good SEO: authority, experience, and usefulness, are more relevant than ever. But the execution needs to evolve.
