AI is no longer a futuristic concept, it’s now part of our daily lives. From chatbots to smartphones with the latest AI features, AI is everywhere - there’s no escaping it. It’s also changing the way we search online, including the search engine results pages we use everyday. So how does it impact what we see and search for?

Google's AI Overviews

Back in May 2024, Google announced that it was bringing AI Overviews into Search in the US, and rolling it out across the globe shortly after. Fast forward to October 2024, we’ve seen AI Overviews become fully integrated with how we search. You might be thinking: “I’ve not noticed AI Overviews when I’ve searched on Google” - that’s because AI Overviews won’t appear for every user and only for select queries. You’re probably also thinking: “well what do they look like then?”

Below we’ve got an example. I’ve searched for the term “how to get a stain out of a carpet”, and Google has returned with an AI Overview answer, which uses information gathered from a few different websites to provide me with a multi-step response. This is really useful and you can see why Google is pushing forward with AI Overviews.

How does this benefit users?

It’s pretty simple really; it’s easier now than ever to find the answers you need when searching for predominantly informational queries. AI Overviews removes the need for you to trawl through a website trying to find the bit of information you’re looking for. However, we’d definitely recommend doing a quick fact check on an AI Overview answer if it doesn’t seem 100% accurate.

AI Overview Concerns

While AI Overviews will help users access information much quicker than previously, there are a few concerns.

How does this impact website performance?

If you’re lucky enough to get your website included in an AI Overview answer, while you’ll technically be at the top of page 1, users are less likely to click through to your website, as they’ve probably got the answer from the AI Overview. You’ll likely see lower click-through-rates and slightly lower website traffic - it’s a bit of a double edged sword.

AI Overviews tend to show up when the query has informational intent, rather than transactional. Unfortunately, there isn’t a proper way of excluding your website from AI Overviews without severely hindering the rest of your website’s SEO.

What if AI Overviews gets something wrong?

Now, this is really important as misinformation is rife in the online world, and we don’t need Google adding anymore ‘fake news’ into the mix, which is ironic because when AI Overviews first launched in the US, there were quite a few queries where the AI Overview got things wrong. Here are a couple of examples that could have used some human intervention.

As you can see, AI Overviews was picking out information from satire websites and using that to advise users. Google has rectified this issue, but because misinformation is so prevalent across the web, there will be a chance that AI Overviews get something wrong.

Google has even added a warning label, saying that “Generative AI is experimental”.

AI Overviews are a significant step forward in terms of the information provided through search engines. By providing users with quick and easy access to information, directly on the SERPs, they enhance the overall user experience.

However, they are not without their limitations and issues, especially when it comes to misinformation, and the potential negative impacts regarding website traffic. We’ll likely see Google make changes to how the system works, hopefully allowing websites to utilise AI Overviews to their advantage.

AI Overviews offer a glimpse into the future of search. Will it mean that in a few years time, AI Overviews will have overrun the SERPs? Probably not, but it does mean that Google is going all in with AI, so expect to see variations of AI Overviews across Google platforms.