On May 14, 2024, Google launched its famous AI overviews… Enough to make SEO experts and companies who invest in SEO to ensure their website’s visibility shiver (once again)… First launched in the USA, then in around 100 countries worldwide, Google’s AI-generated overviews have just conquered 9 European countries: Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Switzerland. While some experts are questioning their SEO strategies, others are already predicting the end of SEO… So, should we be afraid of these AI-generated summaries? Will they wipe out SEO and make SEO experts and content creators disappear?
First of all, let’s take a look at what these AI-generated overviews really are… In reality, according to Google, these overviews aim to organize information and make it as concise as possible. Users will receive a detailed answer to their question. This means they no longer have to click on links to other websites to find the answer to their question.
Imagine a search for “the best digital communications agencies in Mauritius”… The AI will create an “overview” presenting the services of digital communication agencies in Mauritius, as well as customer reviews for each of them, all taken from authoritative websites.
The (official) aim is to provide users with an instant, relevant response, but let’s not be fooled… For Google, it’s also a way of countering Open AI and its chatbot ChatGPT, which handles 1 billion queries a day, i.e. around 12% of the 8.5 billion daily queries made on Google!
Welcome to the new digital world, where AIs are at war with each other!
Fast and efficient… what more could you ask for? What’s to stop Internet users clicking on website links to look for information themselves, since AI overviews do the job for them? In an increasingly connected world, where everything has to move faster and faster, why shouldn’t users be satisfied with AI-generated summaries? This is the question that entrepreneurs who rely on SEO to develop their visibility on the web are asking themselves. It’s also what keeps them awake at night, haunted by the question: “Is SEO dead?”
Let’s not beat around the bush for fifteen years and answer the question straightforwardly: yes, a thousand times over! AI Overviews have clearly changed the game (and this is just the beginning!). A noticeable drop in organic traffic has been noted for many sites. Since the advent of AI Overviews, and according to a study by Advanced Web Ranking, CTR (click-through rate) is down in the following sectors: science (-6.03 percentage points), technology and computing (-5.26 percentage points), automotive (-6.34 percentage points), and real estate (-6.24 percentage points).
It’s clear that the appearance of AI Overviews is totally changing the way Internet users search, for the following three reasons:
The key word is: ADAPTATION. To stay in the spotlight, content creators are going to have to adjust their strategies. The content produced will need to be high-quality, detailed and, above all, respond precisely to the various user queries. The ultimate goal is for the content produced to be displayed in the previews generated by Google’s AI. And to achieve this, you’ll need to be even more precise than before!
For example, a blog post entitled “What are the best digital communications agencies in Mauritius? “will have to offer in-depth information, bulleted lists, sourced data and FAQ’s to answer users’ questions as precisely as possible…
Of course, to maintain your position at the very top of the podium, you’ll need to implement a comprehensive SEO strategy, including video. According to a HubSpot study, “video content generates 1200% more shares than text and images combined”. In other words, video is no longer just an option… It’s the essential tool for giving your website the visibility you want.
If AI Overviews are changing the game, we need to be proactive and enter the AEO era as soon as possible. But what is AEO? Yet another acronym you’ll have to come to terms with if you want to stay on top of your visibility! More seriously, AEO stands for “Answer Engine Optimization”. In other words, while SEO is linked to the queries made by Internet users in the search bar, AEO is linked to the questions Internet users ask via vocal search. According to Google, nearly 30% of queries today are made via voice search. So it’s clear that implementing an AEO strategy is a crucial step if you want to maintain your position on the first page of Google!
And to avoid missing out on your AEO strategy and, above all, maintain your website’s ranking, here’s what you need to integrate as quickly as possible, while maintaining your SEO best practices:
By implementing these AEO practices, your chances of being selected by Google and displayed in AI Overviews or Featured Snippets are multiplied. To face up to this new digital revolution, we need to continue thinking in terms of SEO, while including AEO. However, while AEO has many positive points for maintaining visibility on the web, it doesn’t guarantee traffic growth either.
In the age of AI, content creators will need to be ever more creative in order to grow their audience, particularly by applying good AEO practices, developing their social networks and investing in the YouTube platform. Only then will they be able to play their cards right and maintain (or conquer) their first place on the Google results page.
