Google AI Overviews: How are they affecting your website traffic?

If you’ve spent any amount of time online over the last few months you will surely have noticed the big new change to the top of the Google search results page: AI Overviews. After being slowly rolled out it now looks like the AI generated answers are here to stay and showing up for a large chunk of searches.

You may have also noticed something concerning: a drop in search traffic to your website.

Google AI Overviews are reshaping the search landscape and causing a big shift in search behaviour. With users now getting detailed, personalised answers directly on the search results page, there is often less of a need to click through to websites to find the answer they are looking for.

So, what can be done to stem the bleeding away of search traffic and how can AI Overviews be incorporated into successful SEO strategies?

Let’s start at the beginning: What are Google AI Overviews?

Google AI Overviews (AIOs), formerly SGE, are results integrated into Google’s search engine that uses generative Artificial Intelligence. This new tool gathers data from all over the web and provides comprehensive and direct answers to users’ needs.

A screenshot of Google search 'What are Google AI Overviews?’ showing a Google AI Overviews result. — Straight from the horse’s mouth.

What’s really going on? The impact on traffic

Since its launch in Australia in October 2024, it’s likely that click-through rates (CTRs) from Google results have significantly decreased. According to a study by Seer Interactive, organic CTRs dropped from 2.94% to 0.84% when an AIO result was present on Google’s search engine results page (SERP). While this report was focused on the US, it’s reasonable to assume there has been a similar impact on search behaviour in Australia.

Important: At this point, Google AIOs appear more frequently when someone uses informational and long-tail keywords (4-6 terms); this means the user is looking for information to satisfy a very specific need. For example: ‘how superannuation works when you retire’.

New SEO strategies: All change brings new opportunities

Yes, SEO is evolving again and faster than ever. The emergence of Google AIOs is the perfect example. It’s clear that SEO strategies must be revised to maintain visibility in search engines and achieve business objectives in this new AI era.

Google AIO results include links to websites where the information has been gathered from. Being linked to and referenced in these results could provide a boost in traffic and an increase in brand awareness through increased visibility.

How to optimise for AI Overviews

Important things to consider:

Create clear and well-formatted content that directly answers user’s needs.
Use structured data to improve content visibility.
Focus on authority and trust.
Enhance content with data-backed insights to appeal to AI algorithms.

Tips for finance and superannuation companies (Your Money Your Life sectors)

The finance sector and also the health sector are areas that Google treats differently (they are the so-called Your Money Your Life sectors). But, the financial industry has also been affected by the new Google search engine. SE Ranking carried out a study on AI search results late last year (Oct. 2024), based on the United States market, and found that Google AIO was activated in 41.67% of searches related to the financial sector.

While a similar study doesn’t exist yet for the Australian market, we have noticed AIOs showing for many searches related to finance and super.

A screenshot of Google search 'How do I open a superannuation account' showing Google AI Overview results — Google AI Overviews are now showing up for many financial-related queries in Australia.

So, what can financial organisations do to optimise for Google AIOs? Here are a couple of tips:

Maintain and improve your credibility as a reference within the financial sector. We know that Google’s AI Overview favours content that demonstrates expertise and reliability, especially within YMYL sectors (start producing well-researched and authoritative content).
Additionally, create a strategy to improve branded search terms and implement off-page actions to help mitigate traffic loss.

Under this scenario, new concepts like Search Everywhere Optimisation (SEO 2.0) and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) come into play. These strategies involve optimising content beyond Google.

Understanding the new SEO: Search Everywhere Optimisation

Search Everywhere Optimisation (SEO 2.0) is the practice of optimising content to be discoverable not just through traditional search engines like Google, but also across various platforms where users actively search for information. This includes social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram and AI-based assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity.

For instance, a study by Google itself reported that nearly 40% of Gen Z prefer platforms like TikTok or Instagram over Google.

Important: Companies willing to adapt their SEO strategies to take into account the behaviour of these audiences will be ahead of their competitors.

Get expert help

It’s clear that navigate this evolving landscape requires a strategic approach. At SGY, we specialise in helping finance and superannuation organisations develop SEO strategies that leverage the latest AI-driven features.

Get in touch for an SEO evaluation or to create a new strategy tailored to your organisation’s needs.

References

Google Blog – AI Overviews in Search are coming to more places around the world
Seer Interactive – How AI Overviews are impacting CTR: 5 initial takeaways
Google Research – How well do you know Google Search?
Neil Patel – Search Everywhere Optimization: The New SEO
Search Engine Land – Social search is Gen Z’s Google: Are you visible where it matters?
SE Ranking – AI Overviews Research: Analysing Google’s approach to YMYL topics