After all that trouble, Google’s SGE-turned-AI summary feature was rolled out to 84% of searches, but has since been rolled back to 15%.
Temporarily. Probably. For now. It's just as likely that it will be rolled out in the near future.
Let's all take a moment and a deep breath, everything will be fine.
SEO has changed a lot over the past 20 years, but in reality, not much has changed.
In the meantime, I'll explain why you should move forward and how you should move forward.
Search cannibalization has been happening for years now, and the AI ​​overview is just continuing that trend.
On the other hand, AI Overview will create new “losers” that will cannibalize search traffic for certain sites or for certain query types.
But on the other hand, this is nothing new.
I would argue that this is an evolution of something that has been happening beneath the surface for years.
As you know, smart SEOs have been keeping an eye on the “zero-click SERPs” phenomenon since at least 2018 .
It continues to accelerate from 2019 to 2022 and to today.
AI Overview will still show automated listings, instant answers, and new SERP layouts, but all of this will come at the expense of the traditional “free” organic 10 blue links.
But all of this was before 2018.
Google’s Knowledge Graph was already “answering roughly one-third of the 100 billion monthly searches” as far back as mid-2016, and by 2020, that number had ballooned to 500 billion.
When searching Google for a black-and-white, specific query like “European date formats,” searchers can see the actual answer (pulled from the underlying content) within seconds.
There are literally countless examples of this trend.
After spending a long time trying to explain AI to executives on Friday, when it's time for a drink, the Manhattan cocktail recipe pops up, without you having to click through to the publishers who actually helped craft each answer.
The key point is that AI Overview simply accelerates existing trends.
Certainly, new developments will continue to occur in the future and SEO will continue to evolve on a daily (or what seems like an hourly basis at this point) basis.
butBut the silver lining is that there are still many “blue oceans” to explore.
SEO has changed a lot over the past few decades, but its underlying principles have remained relatively the same.
This is the only advantage of having years of experience in the field of SEO.
Remember when people first said “SEO is dead” with animal-based algorithm updates like pandas, penguins, and a host of other ridiculously named ones sending chills down the spine of every marketer?
(And why do we have to name them all after the cutest animals at the zoo?)
So, has anyone really surprised you in the last few weeks?
A lot of the stuff SEOs have theorized about for years, from authorship to domain reputation, is actually legitimate to some extent, contrary to what “Google says.”
SEOs (and digital marketers in general) need to create great content for their audience first and not become overly reliant on a single channel.
Oh, and the fact that links actually still matter.
Shock! Surprise!
So if you actually did proper SEO from the start (instead of just publishing crappy AI-related content for the last 12 months and hoping for instant results), it’s basically business as usual.
Otherwise, start here.
Tip 1: Prioritize keywords and topics based on potential ROI over the next 6, 12, 18+ months
Anyone can access your keyword data. That's okay.
The question in SEO from day one has been what to do with that data.
How to interpret it, how to analyze it, and how to make decisions based on it.
This is even more true in a world where AI summaries continue to eat up top-of-funnel queries.
And that's why keyword research strategies that spit out generic data are always doomed to fail from the start.
Especially now.
Take “International SEO,” for example.
It's a big, sexy keyword that gets any nerdy marketer's heart racing.
But still? For almost everyone reading this (probably 99.99% of readers), this is a complete waste of time.
You already know that these are “difficult” keywords. What most people overlook is that “Keyword Difficulty” is biased in most, if not all, tools. Essentially, this refers to the number of external links pointing to each of your currently highly-ranked pages.
In other words, “page-level” competitiveness is compared to actually taking into account the overall strength of the brands currently ranking.
Here's a quick look at how the brands rank:
Added to this is disappointingly low purchase intent (see ad-based CPC estimates as a reasonable proxy).
point?
In fact, most of you are not even qualified to create a single piece of content on this. Unless…
- First, we will publish to sites with a DR of 90 or more.
- We'll have to wait years.
- Or a super patient boss (does such a boss even exist?).
None of this has anything to do with what Google is doing with its AI overview for this query yet.
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Tip 2: Always start with customer intent and product relevance, then expand from there
Now, let’s look at the admittedly very tricky query on “best VoIP phone system for small business.”
It's definitely tough, and the volume is low.
However, if it is relevant from a business perspective, the high intent can also make it very profitable.
Smaller sites or those with limited budgets will need to spend several months (possibly 12 months or more) working their way up to the top with the Beachhead Principle.
But the point is, this is actually worth fighting for.
This is especially true for B2B SEO and its impact on CPL, where high intent to buy is often better than actual volume.
So, when next year’s SEO results depend on the work you put in this year, you don’t really have time to stress about things you can control.
Or they may publish on topics that they shouldn't have targeted in the first place.
Instead, stay focused on the things that are not going to change anytime soon. For example:
Tip 3: Focus your time, energy, and budget on the content and queries that are least likely to be dropped off quickly
AI will have two impacts on the world of content and SEO in the near future.
- AI Overview will continue to provide instant answers to black-and-white queries that are already ready to be answered.
- AI in content creation can similarly produce unattractive but passable black-and-white content for similarly specific queries.
A big issue that remains with AI overviews and AI content creation in general is subjectivity.
It can’t handle nuance, persuasiveness, credibility, grey areas, etc.
So, in theory I could explain what an “advanced Excel formula” is, but it goes something like this:
- Unable to view advanced Excel formulas.
- I can't explain why that's important or how it helps.
- You will not be able to display some of the most common advanced Excel formulas to the right type of reader or audience based on their profession.
- It can’t be put into a usable format like a free template or a tool that will do the calculations for you.
In other words:
AI overviews and AI content always struggle to handle mid- and bottom-of-funnel terms – the terms that actually drive leads and sales.
Here's one final example to help drive this point home.
quick:
- What is the “best dive watch”?
Let's search it on Google!
Here are some popular shopping lists:
- There are several indie automatic watch brands that range from about $700 to $1400+.
- Two quartz movements (boo!) in the $200-$600 range;
- There are some smartwatches out there that are great for working out, but they're definitely not “dive watches.”
What are watch enthusiasts missing?
Actual Genuine Diver's watch!
No Seiko, no Tudor, no Omega, no Rolex.
Hell, there aren't even any affordable hipster G-Shocks to be found.
In other words, any “smart” watch consumer (i.e., someone who is willing to spend more on more watches) will find that the results for this question are all largely terrible.
Watch some YouTube videos on “best dive watches” and then cross-reference them with this list.
None of these brands or watches would actually make it onto any true enthusiast’s list of “best dive watches.”
Now, why are these results so terrible?
Because this is actually a tricky issue.
If you go to Ahrefs, you’ll see that there are over 860 potential clusters for “divewatch.”
Translation: There are lots of grey areas and nuances.
There is a ton of volume in the “affordable” and “$500-$1,000” areas.
So, combining with the last two tips, for example, would Rolex target these keywords even if they could get a high ranking in the SERPs?
no.
That's because it would cost about $10,000 or more to actually get your hands on one, whereas people who can buy a watch for just $1,000 would be flooded with tons of traffic.
Instead, Tudor, Omega and Rolex may spend more time in the “luxury” cluster, while the second-hand market and brokers may focus more on the “vintage” cluster.
Beyond the hype: Adjusting your SEO strategy for Google's AI
No doubt, the end is near.
The AI ​​brief will continue to evolve the SERP landscape and erode the most easily answered queries online.
But none of this is new, or, frankly, all that surprising.
Because this is just a continued acceleration of an existing trend that has already been occurring since at least 2016.
Yes, AI overviews will continue to eat into TOFU topics, but either way, that's not where the real money is.
Instead, focus on prioritizing the right keywords at the right time, focusing on queries that attract buyers rather than eyeballs, replicating the typical buyer behavior that gets people buying your products.
And focus on conquering what is in front of you.
It may not be the most glamorous strategy, but it is predictably profitable.
And that, ultimately, is why we should all be in this together in the first place.
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