How Are AI Overviews Changing SEO?
We explain how AI summaries affect clicks and what to do to get cited as a source in Google AI Overviews and chat-based search.
Aurora YazılımEditorial team
6 min read
Google's AI Overviews feature shows an AI-written summary with source links above the results for some searches. This can reduce clicks on simple information queries; on the other hand, qualified traffic goes to the sites cited in the summary. There is no special trick for SEO in the age of AI Overviews: content that answers clearly, is trustworthy, well structured and technically healthy is what matters.
What Are AI Overviews?
Google AI Overview is an AI summary that appears at the top of the search results page and answers the query in a few paragraphs. Google generates this summary by combining Gemini models with pages in its own search index, and shows source links next to or within it.
The summary does not appear for every search. Google shows it for complex queries where it believes an AI summary will genuinely help the user, typically queries that require combining several sources. For simple brand searches or queries answered by a single site, classic results continue to take the lead.
This change is not limited to Google. Users also ask chat assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity questions the way they would ask a search engine. What they all have in common is this: the answer is an AI summary, and your site is a candidate to be one of its sources.
How Are Clicks Affected?
When users read the answer to their question on the results page, the need to click through to a site decreases. This effect is felt most in informational queries with a one-sentence answer, such as “what is”, “how old” and “when”. For content sites that depend on traffic from these queries, it is a serious shift.
On the other hand, visitors arriving from a site cited as a source in the summary are usually better informed: they have read the summary and want more detail or to take action. For commercial-intent queries such as buying, requesting a quote, comparing and searching for local services, users still have to go to a site.
For this reason, measuring success by click count alone can be misleading. Impressions, appearances as a source, conversion rate and changes in brand searches should be tracked together.
| Query type | Likely impact | Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Simple definitions and facts | Clicks may drop | Aim to appear as a source and build brand awareness |
| How-to guides | Mixed | Go beyond the summary with steps, visuals and examples |
| Comparison | The summary stays short | Offer tables, experience and clear recommendations |
| Commercial and local | Users still go to the site | Trust signals and easy contact |
What Is GEO?
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the general name for work aimed at getting content used as a source in answers produced by AI-powered search engines and chat assistants. It is also known as LLM SEO, AI search optimization or AEO (Answer Engine Optimization).
GEO is not a separate discipline replacing SEO; it is built on top of it. When AI systems produce answers, they rely heavily on the search index and on pages that crawlers can reach. A page that cannot be crawled, is slow or is unclear has little chance of being a source in AI answers either.
Google also states that no separate optimization is needed for AI Overviews; it is enough for the page to be indexed and eligible to be shown with a snippet. So the basic rules are the same; what changes is that being clear, quotable and trustworthy matters more.
What Should You Do to Get Cited?
AI summaries tend to pick the passages that give the clearest, most verifiable answer to the question. Apply the principles below to review your content from that angle.
Answer the question in the first paragraph
Answer the reader's question in two or three sentences in the opening paragraph and leave the details for later. Question-style headings with short, clear answers right below them make it easier to be quoted in both featured snippets and AI summaries.
Add original knowledge and experience
Content that repeats what everyone else has written is something AI already knows. Your own observations, field experience, real examples, comparison tables and your own photos make content worth quoting. The principles Google emphasizes (experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness) apply here too.
Clarify the structure
- A logical heading hierarchy (a single H1, meaningful H2s and H3s)
- Numbered lists for step-by-step processes
- Tables for comparisons
- A frequently asked questions section
- Author, date and update information
The Technical Foundation Still Decides
In the age of AI, technical SEO has not become less important; it has become more important. A page being crawlable, indexable and fast is the precondition for being cited. Pages whose content is loaded later only by JavaScript may be read incompletely by some crawlers.
Structured data (schema.org) tells machines clearly what a page is: an article, a product, a local business, an FAQ, an event. On speed, the Core Web Vitals thresholds of LCP ≤ 2.5 s, INP ≤ 200 ms and CLS ≤ 0.1 are a good target framework. The most efficient way is to build this foundation during the design phase of the site; that is why SEO-friendly web design is not a layer added later but a starting decision. You can improve the speed of your existing site with speed and performance optimization.
Measurement: Search Console and Analytics
Clicks and impressions from links shown in AI Overviews are reported in Search Console within overall web search data; since there is no separate filter, you need to track the effect through indirect indicators.
The main indicators to follow are: queries whose impressions are rising while clicks fall, conversion rate per page, searches made with your brand name, and referral traffic from chat assistants in your analytics tool. Reading this data regularly and turning it into a content plan is part of the SEO and analytics process.
AI Crawlers and Access
Each AI company uses its own crawlers, and most state that they respect robots.txt rules. Which crawler you allow and which you block is a business decision: blocking protects your content but also lowers your chance of being a source in that assistant's answers.
On the Google side there is an important distinction: the Google-Extended token controls whether content is used to train Gemini models; it does not affect AI Overviews in Google Search. Appearing or not appearing in AI Overviews depends on regular Googlebot and snippet rules. The llms.txt file that some sites add is not yet a widely accepted standard.
Rebuilding Your Content Strategy
AI summaries lower the value of shallow, copycat content. Instead of hundreds of short “what is” posts, producing fewer but stronger pieces that cover a topic in depth, include experience and carry the reader to the next step is a sounder investment.
We covered how to use AI in content production in a balanced way in our AI content creation and SEO article, and the effects of voice and visual search in our multimodal AI article. Search is also not the only channel; brand awareness built through digital marketing and social media makes users search for you by name. For tips on this, see our AI for social media article.
The website itself is also at the center of this strategy. A corporate website that clearly explains your services, experience and contact details is also the foundation for AI recognizing your brand correctly.
Frequently Asked Questions
01Is it possible to opt out of AI Overviews?
At the page level you can limit the use of your content in summaries with snippet controls such as nosnippet. However, this also affects the description text in classic results, so it should be used carefully.
02Will AI summaries put an end to SEO?
No, but they are changing SEO's focus. AI systems still rely on crawlable, trustworthy web pages. What changes is that shallow content loses value and original, expert content stands out.
03Do we need a separate agency or tool for GEO?
Not necessarily. Good SEO work already covers technical health, structured content, original information and measurement. Regularly checking how your brand is mentioned in AI assistants can be added to that work.
AI Overviews is turning search into an answer-first experience; the winners are sites that offer clear, original and technically sound content. To find out whether your site is ready to be cited in AI-powered search, explore Aurora's SEO and analytics service or reach us through our contact page.
