AI Overviews: Understanding and Optimising for Google Latest Feature

What Google AI Overviews Are and Why Your Business Should Care

As the CEO of performiq.io, where we provide SEO and PPC solutions with financial performance guarantees, I've spent considerable time analysing Google's AI Overviews since their announcement in May 2024. Our team has thoroughly investigated what this transformative feature means for the search landscape and your business's digital visibility.

Google's AI Overviews are search features powered by generative AI that provide immediate answers directly within search results. Positioned prominently above traditional organic listings, they're designed to deliver comprehensive information without requiring users to click through to individual websites.

Here's what AI Overviews look like in practice:

When you search for information, Google now presents a concise, AI-generated summary at the top of your results. These summaries include "link cards" – clickable references to websites that informed the AI's response or provide additional context on the topic.

What's particularly fascinating is how these Overviews vary in format. Depending on your query, you might see:

• Mini informational articles with expandable sections
• Step-by-step guides with visuals
• Comparison tables with product recommendations
• Shopping-focused results with pricing information
• Interactive elements you can manipulate without leaving Google

The most impressive aspect is how AI Overviews handle complex, multi-faceted queries. For instance, if you search "best cities for tech startups with low cost of living in the UK", the Overview will simultaneously evaluate:

Rather than requiring multiple searches, Google now addresses all these aspects in a single, comprehensive response – creating both challenges and opportunities for businesses like yours.

How AI Overviews Impact Your SEO Strategy

AI Overviews represent the most significant shift in search results presentation since featured snippets. At performiq.io, we've analysed their impact extensively, and it's clear they're reshaping how users engage with search results.

Similar to featured snippets and local packs, these AI-generated summaries may contribute to more "zero-click searches" – instances where users find answers directly on the results page without visiting external websites. This can potentially reduce organic click-through rates for businesses that previously relied on traditional rankings.

However, my perspective is one of cautious optimism. For companies willing to adapt their strategies, AI Overviews present new opportunities to enhance visibility and attract more qualified traffic.

Google claims that initial data shows more clicks to sites featured in AI Overviews than those same sites would receive as traditional web listings for the same queries. They suggest this feature helps users discover a wider variety of websites when researching complex topics.

While some SEO professionals remain sceptical about these claims, at performiq.io, we're choosing to view this development as an opportunity rather than a threat. Our analysis suggests that appearing in AI Overviews can potentially deliver more targeted traffic – visitors who are specifically interested in your offerings and thus more likely to convert.

Current State of AI Overviews in 2025

It's worth noting that AI Overviews continue to evolve rapidly. What began as part of Google's Search Labs experiment called Search Generative Experience (SGE) has now matured into a more refined feature, though its implementation appears more selective than initially anticipated.

AI Overviews currently appear for approximately 1.28% of U.S. search queries. As of our latest analysis in April 2025, they're available in several markets including:

• United States
• United Kingdom
• India
• Japan
• Indonesia
• Mexico
• Brazil

Each market supports local language capabilities, and Google announced plans to reach over one billion users by the end of 2024, a goal they've been steadily working toward.

How performiq.io's Approach Helps Your Business Optimise for AI Overviews

After extensive research and testing, our team at performiq.io has developed specific strategies to help businesses optimise for AI Overviews. Here's my recommended approach:

1. Analyse Your Current AI Overview Performance

Before implementing any tactics, it's crucial to understand your current performance. We utilise tools like PErFORMIQ expanded AI Overview tracking by our technical specialsts.

This feature allows us to identify:

• Which of your keywords trigger AI Overviews
• Whether your pages appear in these Overviews
• What content types are featured for your industry

Understanding this baseline helps us develop tailored strategies for your specific market and competitive landscape.

2. Prioritise Exceptional User Experience (UX)

AI Overviews and other generative search experiences fundamentally prioritise user intent above all else. This shift reinforces what we've always advocated at performiq.io: exceptional user experience is non-negotiable for search success.

To optimise for UX in this new context, we focus on:

• Catering precisely to search intent: We analyse each query's intent (informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional) and ensure your content directly addresses it. For informational queries, we create comprehensive guides; for commercial intent, we develop detailed comparison content.
• Structuring information for effortless consumption: We implement clear headings, concise paragraphs, and strategic whitespace to make content instantly scannable. This improves both user engagement and AI comprehension.
• Incorporating diverse media formats: We enrich content with relevant videos, images, and interactive elements to improve engagement and provide context for complex topics.
• Optimising technical performance: We enhance page speed, navigation, internal linking, and mobile responsiveness to keep users engaged with your content longer – signalling to Google that your site provides relevant, valuable information.

3. Making Your Site More Comprehensible to Google

While Google's systems have become increasingly sophisticated at understanding content, we implement several techniques to make your site even more transparent to AI systems:

• Internal linking strategy: We create logical content hierarchies through strategic internal linking that help Google understand content relationships and topic authority.
• Schema markup implementation: We apply appropriate structured data to categorise your content more effectively, making it easier for Google to identify your expertise in specific areas.
• Quality backlink development: We focus on acquiring relevant, authoritative links that signal trustworthiness and subject-matter expertise to Google's algorithms.

To validate Google's understanding of your site, we leverage Google Search Console data, analysing:

• Search query patterns: We examine which terms drive traffic to determine if they align with your target topics and whether Google correctly interprets your content's purpose.
• Structured data verification: We verify that all implemented schema markup is properly recognised and without errors.

4. Creating Comprehensive Topic Coverage

AI Overviews don't just link to the most directly relevant content – they showcase various resources addressing different aspects of a query, including subtopics and related questions.

Our approach involves:

1. Thoroughly researching AI Overviews for your target keywords
2. Analysing all link cards to identify subtopics and content types that Google considers relevant
3. Developing a content strategy that addresses the complete topic ecosystem, including:
   • Core explanatory content
   • Supporting guides for subtopics
   • FAQ content addressing common questions
   • Product-specific information where relevant
   • Visual and interactive content when appropriate

This comprehensive approach increases the likelihood of your content appearing in AI Overviews across a range of related queries, maximising your visibility within this new search format.

5. Managing Your Brand's Online Presence Holistically

AI Overviews incorporate information from numerous sources across the web, not just your website. This means your broader online footprint significantly impacts how your brand appears in these overviews.

At performiq.io, we implement holistic reputation management strategies including:

1. Coordinated social media presence for your team and brand
2. Strategic participation in industry forums, Reddit discussions, and Q&A platforms
3. Proactive management of review profiles across relevant platforms
4. Collaborative content with industry influencers and publications
5. Community-building initiatives that encourage user-generated content about your brand

Even if your website doesn't directly appear in an AI Overview, your brand can still feature prominently through content on other websites – providing additional pathways to visibility in this new search format.

6. Maintaining Strong Fundamental SEO Practices

While AI Overviews represent an evolution in search, the foundation of good SEO remains crucial. All our client strategies at performiq.io continue to emphasise:

• Thorough keyword research and targeting
• High-quality, genuinely valuable content creation
• Technical SEO excellence
• Mobile optimisation
• Page speed enhancements
• User experience improvements
• Quality link building
• Reputation management

These fundamentals remain essential for overall search visibility and will subsequently support your presence in AI Overviews.

Protecting Your Content (If Necessary)

Should you wish to prevent your content from appearing in AI Overviews, there are several technical approaches:

• Using robots.txt to block Google from crawling specific pages
• Implementing noindex tags to prevent indexing
• Applying nosnippet tags to prevent snippet display in search results

However, I strongly advise against these measures unless you have specific, data-backed reasons. At performiq.io, we find that the visibility benefits of appearing in AI Overviews typically outweigh any potential drawbacks.

The Path Forward: Embracing AI-Driven Search

As search continues its AI-driven transformation, adaptation is essential. At performiq.io, we're committed to staying at the forefront of these changes, continuously refining our approach to help our clients not just survive but thrive in this evolving landscape.

The strategies outlined here have helped our clients achieve an average 30% year-over-year increase in organic traffic, even as AI Overviews have reshaped search results.

If you're uncertain about how these changes impact your business specifically, I recommend beginning with a comprehensive SEO audit to assess your current position and identify key opportunities. Our performance-guaranteed approach means we're invested in your success – if we don't deliver measurable improvements, you don't pay.

The future of search is here, and with the right strategy, your business can leverage these changes to gain competitive advantage in an increasingly AI-driven world.