SEO after AI Overviews — what changed
Google's AI Overviews ate top-of-funnel queries. Click-through rates on informational searches dropped 30-60%. Where SEO still wins.
Search results changed shape in 2024-2025. Google now answers many queries directly with AI Overviews, citing sources but rarely sending the click.
What lost traffic the hardest: how-to queries, definition pages, beginner tutorials. The user never leaves Google.
What still wins:
- Transactional queries — AI doesn't sell, you do
- Brand searches — AI Overview rarely intercepts these
- Comparison queries — users want multiple sources, not one summary
- Recent news and time-sensitive content — AI Overviews lag
Strategy shift: invest less in pure top-of-funnel SEO, more in middle and bottom of funnel. Build content that triggers a click, not content that gets summarised.
Side effect: short-form social (TikTok, Telegram, Reels) is now where top-of-funnel happens. SEO is a deeper-funnel game.