The Importance of Being Visible in Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT Search

The name of the game is changing in search, and a recent study has put some numbers to what your business may have already felt—webpages that don’t get featured in Google’s relatively new AI Overviews are losing clicks.

As the search paradigm changes from pages of links ranked by their relevance to a query to a natural-language AI-generated summary with citations, the goal and strategy of search engine optimization (SEO) must change too. It won’t matter if your website grabs the top spot on page one of Google results if nobody is scrolling past the AI Overview. Here’s what to know about the measurable impact so far, why AI-enabled search is becoming so popular, and what you can do to maximize your chances of grabbing a coveted spot in those citation lists.

How Inclusion in AI Overview Citation Lists Increases Traffic

The study examined the effect of inclusion in AI Overviews on webpages’ traffic from Google and found that being featured increased traffic, regardless of where the page was originally ranked.

How did this break down?

In general, webpages benefited from being included in AI Overview results, no matter the intent of the query. However, the effect on what pages saw more traffic varied depending on if the query was informational or transactional in nature. For informational queries, AI Overviews increased traffic for pages appearing in positions 3 through 10 on page 1 but diverted traffic from those in positions 1 and 2. In transactional queries, the position on page 1 of Google didn’t matter—all pages featured in AI Overviews saw more traffic.

This means that turning up in top positions in traditional Google SERPs is no longer driving the visibility and engagement it once did. And as search diversifies away from Google, it is imperative to tailor your strategy to conform with how and where your ideal audience is looking for solutions to their problems.

The Popularity of AI-Enabled Search

The debut of ChatGPT Search and its growing popularity speak to what is most appealing about AI-enabled search. Instead of generating a list of ranked results, which can be time-consuming to weed through, ChatGPT provides a natural-language summary with a citation panel that provides transparency as to where it derives its information from. Instead of having to guess what conglomeration of relevant keywords is going to surface the results they’re really looking for, a user can enter detailed queries and use follow-up questions to refine their search. The result is a more efficient and humanized search experience.

Unlike Google results that include an AI Overview and SERPs, however, ChatGPT Search only provides its list of relevant citations, which makes it even more important for webpages to appear on that list. Otherwise, there is simply no chance they will be visible for users to click through and dig further.

Marketing for AI Search Optimization

What does this mean for brands that are trying to stay visible online? The good news is that the fundamentals of marketing for your ideal audience aren’t changing dramatically. Knowing your intended market thoroughly and understanding their desired outcomes are still key to building a strategy that reaches them. Nevertheless, the way we think about keyword strategies and search queries will need to shift toward a more nuanced understanding of natural language queries and search intent to create effective content. Diversifying content formats will also be essential for capturing online attention and providing answers in your customers’ desired channels.

This is not gaming the system or “one weird trick” to boost your website traffic. Instead, it is more deeply putting yourself into your ideal audience’s shoes to inspire and guide your communication with them. Because when you provide the answers they need—your pages will show up where they need to be when your potential clients and customers are looking.

Expert Marketing for AI Search

If your company has been seeing your website traffic steadily draining away as AI-enabled search gains more traction—or worse, seen it fall off a cliff entirely—you can’t waste time waiting and hoping that old marketing methods will produce the results you’re looking for. At Iffel International, we’ve been working diligently to adapt the fundamentals of effective marketing to the evolving technology of online search. Our successful strategies can make your online presence a tool for growth and profit. To schedule your consultation, contact us here today.