TL;DR: Google AI Overviews now appear in over 60% of US searches. When they show up, click-through rates drop by 61%. Traditional SEO still matters—92% of AI citations come from top-10 results—but you also need to optimize for AI systems now. The biggest shift? Brand mentions are now 3x more predictive of AI visibility than backlinks.
What Are Google AI Overviews and Why Should You Care?
Google AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of search results, answering user questions directly. They pull information from multiple sources and present it before any traditional search results.
Here is why this matters for your business:
- AI Overviews appeared in 60%+ of US searches by late 2025
- When they appear, organic click-through rates drop by 61%
- Only 8% of users click on website links when an AI Overview answers their question
This is a fundamental shift in how people find information online. If your content is not being cited in AI Overviews, you are becoming invisible to a growing portion of searchers.
Does Traditional SEO Still Matter?
Yes—traditional SEO remains the foundation. Research shows that 92-99% of AI Overview citations come from pages ranking in Google's top 10. If you are not ranking well organically, you will not get cited by AI either.
However, traditional SEO alone is no longer enough. Here is what changed:
| Traditional SEO | AI-Optimized Content |
|---|---|
| Backlinks are primary signal | Brand mentions 3x more predictive |
| Optimize entire pages | Optimize extractable passages |
| Success = clicks and traffic | Success = citations and share of voice |
| All query types | Focus on informational queries (88%) |
Think of it as two layers: traditional SEO gets you into the top 10, then AI optimization gets you cited in the AI Overview.
What Is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
Generative Engine Optimization is the practice of optimizing content to be cited by AI systems like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude. It builds on traditional SEO but adds new requirements.
The key difference: In traditional SEO, you optimize to rank. In GEO, you optimize to be quoted. AI systems extract specific passages from your content—they do not send users to read your full page.
This means your content structure must change. Each section needs to stand alone as a quotable, factual answer.
How Should You Change Your Content Format?
The biggest practical change is how you structure your content. AI systems extract content in roughly 800-token chunks, so each section needs to be self-contained.
The old format:
- Vague, clever headline
- Long intro building up to the point
- Dense paragraphs
- Conclusion at the end
The new format:
- Question-style headline (matches how people ask AI)
- Answer in the first 40-60 words
- Short paragraphs (2-4 sentences)
- One statistic per 150-200 words, always with source
- Bullet points and numbered lists (78% of AI Overviews contain lists)
- FAQ section at the bottom
This is the format we are using for this very post. Notice how each section answers its heading question directly in the first sentence.
What Technical Changes Does Your Website Need?
Beyond content format, there are technical optimizations that help AI systems find and cite your content.
Allow AI Crawlers
Most websites block AI crawlers by default. To appear in AI Overviews, add these to your robots.txt:
User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /
User-agent: ClaudeBot
Allow: /
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /Add Schema Markup
Schema markup tells AI systems exactly what your content is about. Priority schemas for 2025:
- Article schema - for all blog posts with author credentials
- FAQPage schema - for FAQ sections
- HowTo schema - for step-by-step guides
- Organization schema - for your about page
Ensure Server-Side Rendering
AI crawlers do not run JavaScript. If your content loads after the page renders, AI systems will not see it. Use server-side rendering or static generation for all important content.
What About Brand Mentions vs. Backlinks?
This is the most surprising finding from recent research. Brand mentions correlate at 0.664 with AI visibility, while backlinks correlate at only 0.218. Brand mentions are 3x more predictive.
What this means practically: A single press placement generating 50 unlinked mentions may drive more AI visibility than a link-building campaign producing 50 backlinks.
Ways to build brand mentions:
- Guest posts on industry blogs (even without links)
- Podcast appearances
- Press coverage and expert quotes
- Reddit and community participation (Reddit appears in 68% of AI Overviews)
- Original research that gets referenced
Which Queries Trigger AI Overviews?
Not all searches show AI Overviews. Understanding which queries trigger them helps you prioritize your optimization efforts.
High AI Overview likelihood:
- Question queries: 57.9%
- Science and health topics: 43%
- "Reason" queries (why, how): 59.8%
- Long-tail queries (7+ words): 46%
Low AI Overview likelihood:
- Shopping queries: 3.2%
- Local searches: 7.9%
- Commercial/transactional: ~10%
Focus your GEO efforts on informational content—blog posts, guides, how-to articles. Your product and service pages benefit more from traditional SEO.
What Steps Should You Take This Week?
Here is a practical implementation roadmap:
Immediate (this week):
- Update your robots.txt to allow AI crawlers
- Add schema markup to your blog posts
- Audit your top 5 blog posts for extractability
Short-term (this month):
- Restructure 3-5 priority pages with the new format
- Add FAQ sections to key content
- Start participating in relevant Reddit communities
Ongoing:
- Shift some link-building budget toward brand mention activities
- Track your citation rate in AI Overviews for target queries
- Update content regularly—55% of citations come from 2024-2025 content
Frequently Asked Questions
Will AI Overviews replace traditional search results?
No. AI Overviews appear for about 60% of queries, mostly informational ones. Product searches, local searches, and transactional queries still rely heavily on traditional results.
How long does it take to see results from GEO optimization?
Initial citation improvements can appear within 4-8 weeks. Building sustained visibility typically takes 3-6 months as you develop topical authority.
Do I need to completely rewrite my existing content?
Not necessarily. Start by adding clear, direct answers under each heading and adding FAQ sections. Full rewrites are only needed for your highest-priority pages.
Is it worth optimizing for ChatGPT and Perplexity too?
Yes, but prioritize Google AI Overviews first since they have the largest reach. The good news: content optimized for one AI system generally performs well across all of them.
What if my business serves a local market?
Local searches trigger fewer AI Overviews (7.9%), so traditional local SEO remains most important. However, optimizing informational content about your services can still drive awareness.
The search landscape is changing, but it is not as complicated as it might seem. Traditional SEO remains the foundation—you still need to rank well. GEO adds a new layer on top: formatting content for extraction, building brand mentions, and ensuring AI systems can access your site.
Start with the technical basics (robots.txt, schema markup), then gradually reformat your content. The businesses that adapt now will capture visibility while competition is still low.