You know those little summary boxes at the top that tell you the answer to your query without having to do much digging? Those are AI Overviews, and they’re changing the search game.
With AI Overviews’ impact already being felt, it’s time to develop a Google AI Overviews strategy to ensure that you effectively maintain your website’s visibility in this new search landscape.
Discover how to build an effective AI Overviews strategy so you can win the AI search race!
How to build an AI Overviews strategy
Start building a strategy for AI Overviews with these steps:
1. Determine the impact of AI Overviews
First, understand how AI Overviews will affect your website. Several SEOs have developed processes (and templates) for this step, including Aleyda Solis. Your impact assessment will take time, as it requires manual searches.
If you don’t want to manually track, you can use paid tools like OmniSEO® or Ahrefs Brand Radar AI to monitor AI Overviews. View our list of recommended AI Overview tracking tools to find the right one!
While completing an impact assessment for all URLs is possible, consider starting with URLs that rank on page one or two for their target keyword. You can use rank tracking tools to help identify these URLs.
If you have a larger site, focus on your most valuable pages for:
- Traffic
- Micro-conversions, like newsletter sign-ups
- Macro-conversions, like online sales or quote form submissions
Keep in mind that while the above template includes a column for the next steps to take, like page-specific optimizations, you do not have to complete that step as a part of your impact assessment. Instead, we’ll address that task later.
2. Audit your existing SEO
When it comes to AI Overviews ranking factors, Google uses its core ranking systems from Google Search, making search engine optimization a non-negotiable part of an AI Overview strategy. Learning how to rank in AI Overviews starts with a solid SEO foundation.
Conduct an SEO audit with a search engine optimization tool like Screaming Frog to figure out where to start.
For websites with an SEO strategy in Poor health, focus on improving your SEO since SEO serves as the foundation to an effective AI Overviews strategy.
Screaming Frog will highlight issues across SEO, from on-page to technical, and provide actionable advice on fixing errors related to crawling, indexing, internal linking, on-page optimizations, and more.
Your goal is to understand the overall health of your SEO program, which is broken down into:
- Poor
- Good
- Excellent
For websites with an SEO program in Poor health, we recommend reconsidering AI Overview optimizations. Instead, focus on building and improving your search engine optimization strategy, which will serve as the foundation for ranking in AI Overviews.
If your SEO program is in Good or Excellent health, now is the time to build a Google AI Overviews strategy.
3. Evaluate your generative engine optimizations
When it comes to ranking in Google’s AI Overviews, SEOs use generative engine optimization (GEO), which includes tactics related to user experience (UX), search engine optimization, and design, like:
- Multimedia
- Structured data
- E-E-A-T
- Online mentions and/or reviews
Consider the following questions when evaluating a URL’s GEO:
- Does the content include custom multimedia, like graphics or video?
- Does the content use structured data, if applicable?
- Does the content demonstrate E-E-A-T?
On a sitewide scale, consider these questions:
- Does our brand have a Google Knowledge Panel?
- Does our brand use Google Merchant Center, if applicable?
- Is our brand featured on third-party websites, like directories?
Your answers will determine which optimizations get prioritized and implemented.
4. Outline your short- and long-term goals
Let’s recap. You now have answers to the following questions:
- How much will AI Overviews impact my site?
- How healthy is my site’s SEO?
- How well do I follow GEO best practices?
Now, it’s time to create some short- and long-term goals. These goals are useful for a few reasons:
- Demonstrating to leadership the team’s response
- Tracking the team’s push towards AI Overview rankings
- Understanding the effectiveness of these strategies
Focus on creating S.M.A.R.T. goals — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. While these goals can encompass multiple timelines, from weekly to monthly to quarterly, we recommend starting with monthly or quarterly goals.
5. Prioritize your optimizations
Next, prioritize which URLs and optimizations to focus on using data from the previous steps. We recommend focusing on URLs that rank on page one or two, since these URLs have a better chance of appearing in AI Overviews.
For AI Overviews optimizations, consider the following:
| Area | High impact | Medium impact | Low impact |
| Site-based |
|
|
|
| URL-based |
|
|
|
You can use additional prioritization methods, like ICE (Impact, Confidence, and Ease), to build an optimal Google AI Overviews strategy for implementing these optimizations. For example, if an optimization requires more developer time at your organization, consider deprioritizing it.
This step is where you can return to your impact assessment sheet and its next steps column.
6. Implement your optimizations
Work with your team (or SEO agency) to begin implementing the prioritized optimizations for AI Overviews. Document changes made, the date completed, and your before AI Overview rankings to provide the necessary data for a comprehensive before and after analysis.
Monitor AI Overview updates, too, as these updates could affect your placement.
7. Measure your AI Overview rankings
Changes in AI Overview rankings can take time — that’s why we recommend focusing your strategy on URLs ranking well in organic search results (preferably on page one). Typically, businesses will see ranking shifts within 30 days.
Keep in mind, though, that Google algorithm updates and AI Overview changes can affect this timeline. Just a few weeks after launch, Google was already pushing public updates for AI Overviews.
Because Google Search Console does not provide rank tracking for AI Overviews, measuring rankings is manual, though, you can opt to use paid tools to help track your performance.
If these tools are outside your budget, use a Google Sheet (similar to the impact assessment one shared earlier) to understand how your appearance in these AI Overviews has changed.
Check if your site appears in AI Overviews
Are you unsure if your website is appearing in AI Overviews? Our free AI Overview Checker will let you know! Not only that, it will display some crucial information for how organic results are informing the AI Overviews, and how your site can improve.
Rank in AI Overviews with an effective strategy
You’ve got an effective SEO strategy. Now, level it up with a complementary AI Overviews strategy. Understanding how to optimize for and rank in AI Overviews is crucial for maintaining visibility as these AI-powered features become more prominent. Build yours today, or get professional help with the above steps by contacting us online about our AI Overview optimization services!
Future-Proof Your SEO Strategy with OmniSEO™
Goodbye search engine optimization, hello search everywhere optimization.
FAQs
Learn more about AI Overviews with these FAQs:
Why do AI Overviews matter?
AI Overviews matter because of their impact on organic search traffic. SEOs expect (and have seen) AI Overviews decrease organic visibility, traffic, and conversions, affecting businesses that use SEO to generate revenue. It’s important to understand how they work and why they matter
What determines AI Overviews rankings?
Based on our research, we’ve determined seven AI Overviews ranking factors:
- AI models
- Core ranking systems
- Databases
- Topic
- Search intent
- Multimedia
- Structured data
Future-Proof Your SEO Strategy with OmniSEO™
Goodbye search engine optimization, hello search everywhere optimization.
Future-Proof Your SEO Strategy with OmniSEO™
Goodbye search engine optimization, hello search everywhere optimization.
Writers
