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Key Insights from AI Overview Link Analysis 21.1% of Queries Trigger Overviews: Out of 11,163 analyzed queries, 21.1% (2,358) triggered an AI Overview, with each summary containing an average of 8.9 links. Top Linked Domains: The most frequently linked URLs included YouTube (3.88% from youtube.com and 2.59% from m.youtube.com), Wikipedia (3.76%), and less frequently, Southern Living (1.53%). Overlap with Search Results: 46.3% of the documents linked in the summaries were from the top organic search results for the exact match query. Inclusion of Related Queries: When related queries were added to the direct match queries, the percentage of links from both the direct match and related queries in the top search results increased to 60.4%. Combination of Query Types: The integration of direct match, related, and reformulated queries showed that 67.3% of the links in AI Overviews were accounted for in the top search results. SERP Position and AI Overview Visibility: The likelihood of a search result document appearing in an AI Overview depends on its SERP position. A link ranked first has a 53% chance of being featured, while content ranked tenth has a 36.9% chance. This trend holds for related and reformulated queries as well, with higher-ranking documents more likely to be included. Trends in Unaccounted Links: Further analysis of the unaccounted links revealed a significant presence of YouTube and Wikipedia, highlighting specific domains that AI Overviews favor.

Comparative Studies by Advanced Web Ranking and SE Ranking In July 2024, Advanced Web Ranking published a comprehensive study that found 33.4% of links in AI Overviews are in the top 10 results for the query. On average they found AI Overviews to contain just over 7 links. SE Ranking’s latest AI Overview study showed a significant increase in the average number of links, rising from 4 to 9 per overview. Moreover, SE Ranking found that 73% of the links in AI Overviews aligned with the top 10 search results, highlighting a stronger connection between AI Overviews and organic rankings.

AI Overview Optimization Recommendations Based on Research Findings Based on the findings from our research into Google AI Overviews, here are targeted optimization strategies to explore to increase your content’s visibility in AI Overviews: Optimizing for Direct Match and Related Queries Target direct match queries where your content can realistically achieve first-page rankings on Google, as AI Overviews often source from the top search results. Prioritize high SERP positions by aiming for top rankings in Google search results; the higher your content ranks, the greater the probability of its inclusion in an AI Overview. For highly competitive queries where first-page rankings are challenging, focus on related or reformulated queries where you can rank high. These are often less competitive but relevant variations of the main queries that can provide alternative entry points into AI Overviews. Use Google’s “People also search for” section to find queries that align with both the AI Overview content and your own, enhancing your strategy to target relevant queries. Leveraging YouTube Given the presence of YouTube links in AI Overviews, create and optimize video content relevant to your desired queries. Ensure your YouTube videos have clear, descriptive titles and detailed descriptions that incorporate the target queries.

The average AI Overview is 169 words and 912 pixels long.Only 12.4% of the analyzed keywords display an AI Overview.A Featured Snippet is showing on 17.6% of the analyzed keywords.On average, AI Overviews appear alongside Featured Snippets in 7.4% of cases. For the Health niche, they show up together the most often (34.9% of queries).AI Overviews contain 7.2 links on average when expanded.33.4% of AI Overview links rank in that query's top 10 organic results.46.5% of the URLs included in AI Overviews rank outside the top 50 organic results.Five-word queries trigger an AI Overview most frequently.Keywords from the Health and Safety niches are more likely to trigger AI Overviews.No AI Overviews show up for brand related queries.Navigational intent keywords are less likely to display AI Overviews.Google Ads are displayed in 28.3% keywords that trigger AI Overviews.From all the keywords that trigger AI Overviews, Ads at the top of the SERP appear for 8.7% of keywords. Ads at the bottom are displayed for 19.5% of these keywords.Shopping Ads are almost never seen together with AI Overviews and when they are, they always appear below the AI Overview.

AI Overview Visibility by IndustryWhich industries show AI Overviews more frequently?The bar chart below shows the frequency of AI overviews across different industries.

In fact, it is the human ability to understand context — which AI tools lack — that necessitates the need for greater human skills

specific qualities to look for in talent: “People that can be creative and innovative in the way they find solutions — problem solvers.” Broader research backs this up: A study of 1,700 global companies found that companies that excelled on human capital metrics were four times as likely to have superior financial performance.

One of the greatest values of experienced workers is domain expertise — deep knowledge of one’s environment. As AI takes over more tasks, there is a significant danger of atrophy of skills and loss of this kind of knowledge.

Top 10 Web Results Feature in AIO Sources 99.5% of the Time

Digging deeper into the data, we also found that nearly 80% of the AI Overview results contain a link to one or more of the top 3 ranking results. And when looking at just the top 1 position, the AI Overview contained a link to it almost 50% of the time. 

The bottom line? One of the best ways to get referenced in an AIO now is to rank highly in Google.  

Monitoring website performance in analytics platforms to discover insights.

Monitoring performance: AI can process data, alert the user to any anomalies and highlight quick wins to action immediately.

The unifying thread through all of this is the fact that AI can deliver highly relevant insights automatically, at huge scale, and in a manner we can easily share with other departments in our organization. Without the right technology, we could only achieve this with the support of hundreds of analysts and an infinite budget.It is worth noting that the difference between a valuable insight and a simple observation is incredibly significant for any business. A true insight illuminates something new and guides future action based on the moments and metrics that matter

One of the most significant impacts of AI on SEO is personalized search results.

AI algorithms can understand natural language queries and provide accurate results. Therefore, SEO strategies should include conversational keywords and phrases matching people's speech.

AI-powered predictive analytics can help businesses identify trends and predict future outcomes

Why we care. Economic uncertainty has kept marketing budgets flat (or even reduced) and put greater focus on SEO this year.

Google has warned against using AI-generated content for years – although that guideline has softened in 2023. Now, Google cares less whether a human or AI writes your content, as long as your content is helpful to people and not created to manipulate the search results. 

For every $1 put into SEO today, organizations can find compounded benefits over time, resulting in greater ROI, Yu said.

Creating things other humans who use ChatGPT prompts can’t (or won’t) create is the only path forward. In my experience, the three biggest advantages human creators have over AIs (for now) are: Emotion – ChatGPT can’t be vulnerable. It isn’t scared. It feels no empathy, nor can it convey true regret. It isn’t humble or prideful, distraught or loving. When you prompt it to communicate using these emotions (e.g. “Say that again, but more empathetically?”), the results feel inauthentic. Spicy autocomplete almost never elicits the emotional weight that good, human writers can. Novelty – If an idea, a bit of data, a data source, an amalgamation of information, or an event didn’t exist before 2021, ChatGPT isn’t going to produce content about it. Technically, it can create new works, but these will always be derivative. If you ask ChatGPT what to write about to please an audience of X, it can only tell you what they might have cared about in the past. Creative Insight – After reading the output of a LLM AI, you will almost never hear someone exclaim “Oh my god… that’s a great point!” or “Whoa… I’ve never thought of it that way.” Nor will you see the AIs get artistic or inspirationally motive with their replies. “Oooo… I just thought of a great way to visualize that,” or “I bet we could make a really cool video game based on that premise,” aren’t responses the machines can compete with (yet).

Google’s Gary Illyes recently said that when it comes to ranking in AI Overviews, all you need to do is normal SEO. He also said that Google won’t be crawling and using the new LLMS.txt files that have become a popular topic in the SEO space

Accept that your old value proposition is toast Consider how you convinced your existing clients to sign up with your agency. If your pitch included that you produce amazing results because you’re really good at bid management (something machines are getting really good at), you may need to tweak your positioning. You don’t want to make your main value proposition something that can be put on autopilot by anyone — and will hence become very difficult to price at a level that makes you successful. That’s not to say that you should stop thinking about something like bid management altogether. Instead, you should offer skills that are complementary to the AI system rather than skills that compete against it. Hal Varian, Google’s chief economist, gives the career advice to “become an indispensable complement to something that’s getting cheap and plentiful.” For example, become a data scientist because we’ll need more people to make sense of the data and to figure out how to turn new insights we get from more sophisticated AI into new strategies. In the context of an ad agency, this makes a lot of sense. You want to be able to say you have great data scientists who can make sense of what the automated systems are doing and make solid recommendations for the next thing to test.

Hire one extraordinary (wo)man American philosopher Elbert Hubbard said that “one machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.” And he was on to something. In engineering, a great engineer can do the work of 10 good engineers. So, as more of an agency’s work gets done by machines and you need fewer humans to do repetitive work, having the smartest possible person to work on the tasks that remain will be more important than ever.

services.2Includes respondents working for organizations focused on human resources, legal services, management consulting, market research, R&D, tax preparation, and training. Exhibit 1

Also, responses suggest that companies are now using AI in more parts of the business. Half of respondents say their organizations have adopted AI in two or more business functions, up from less than a third of respondents in 2023 (Exhibit 2)

The biggest increase from 2023 is found in marketing and sales, where reported adoption has more than doubled. Yet across functions, only two use cases, both within marketing and sales, are reported by 15 percent or more of respondents.

Link placement and context influence transfer Links positioned in the main “content area” can transfer more equity than those buried in footers or sidebars, acting as a more potent vote of confidence. Google Search recognizes that editorial links within relevant content—like within a blog post or landing page copy—indicate stronger endorsements and more relevance than navigational or promotional links. The surrounding content context matters significantly. A link about “technical SEO audits” embedded within a paragraph discussing site optimization, for example, carries more relevance signals than the “Contact Us” link in the site’s navigational menu at the top of the blog. 

While exact-match anchor text isn’t required, descriptive anchor text helps search engines understand the destination page’s topic and purpose.

External links typically carry more weight per link (often correlating with the linking site’s authority), but internal links offer more control and scalability without veering into black-hat SEO strategy. A well-structured internal linking system can amplify the impact of external backlinks by distributing their equity strategically throughout your site.