AI Overviews is reshaping how people find information online. To stay visible, your content needs credibility, clarity and must present across the platforms AI trusts.
By Angela Kryhul
AI visibility is the new frontier
Is your sports organization ranking as highly as you’d like in Google searches? The introduction of AI Overviews last year has radically changed how people search, how content is discovered and whether users are enticed to click.
AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear at or near the top of the search engine results page (SERP), pulling answers from multiple sources to provide users with quick, conversational responses. Success now depends on understanding how AI platforms work, what content they prioritize and how users interact with that content.
Traditional links still exist, but they’re being pushed further down the page and that means fewer clicks for many websites. During a recent webinar titled “Where Did My Traffic Go? Winning in the Age of AI Overviews,” experts from NP Digital—co-founder Neil Patel, chief product officer Matt Santos and vice-president of SEO William Kammer—explored how to maximize content visibility in this new AI-first landscape.
User behaviour has shifted—so must your strategy
One of the most notable impacts of AI Overviews is reduced user clicks. Many users now get the information they need directly from the summary without visiting a website. Santos points to SparkToro data showing that over 50% of all searches result in zero clicks, even when links are prominently placed.
“The old SEO tactics that got you to the top of page one just aren’t enough anymore. Visibility and traffic are no longer the same thing,” Santos explains.
He adds that search is no longer a linear experience: “It’s become layered and fragmented. AI Overviews is pulling from dozens of sources to create a single composite answer. To win in this new landscape, you must influence what gets summarized, not just what’s ranking.”
Patel puts it bluntly: “You can’t be playing by 2022 rules. AI doesn’t really care about click-through rates. It cares more about your content’s value, clarity, authority and structure. You’ve got to write for humans and package for AI.”
Create content that gets AI’s attention
To get noticed, content must provide clear, authoritative answers that are easy for AI to parse and summarize. That means publishing proprietary data, current statistics and citations from trusted sources.
Format is equally important: short summaries, lists, FAQs, bullet points and testimonials placed near the top of a webpage are more likely to be included in AI Overviews.
“Make sure your content addresses the intent of a prompt or a user’s query immediately, and that your content is concise, helpful and almost conversational,” advises Kammer.
Engagement is the new currency
While AI Overviews may reduce overall clicks, users who do click are often more engaged—and that’s what matters most to AI algorithms today.
“Google is now rewarding content that performs after the clicks,” Santos explains. “What matters now is how far users are scrolling once they get to your website, how long they’re staying on those pages and how they’re interacting with your content or your calls to action. While fewer users are clicking, the ones who do are more qualified.”
This shift makes it essential to optimize for post-click engagement: deliver value immediately, encourage interaction and keep users exploring.
Expand your digital footprint
Getting cited in AI Overviews isn’t just about your own website—it’s about showing up on the platforms that AI trusts most. Kammer emphasizes the importance of understanding which sources AI pulls from: “Google and Chat GPT pull heavily from Wikipedia, government sources and educational content. LinkedIn has been particularly beneficial for us and some of our clients,” he says.
“If you’re trying to get into AI Overviews, just know that Google is liking its own properties,” he adds. Tools like YouTube, Google Lens, voice search and Ask With Video are all contributing to AI Overview responses.
To increase exposure, the NP Digital team recommends having a strong presence across multiple platforms, including key social media channels, YouTube (short, engaging videos), email and user-generated content on platforms like Yelp and Reddit, as well as considering paid ads.
Learn more: Visit NP Digital to access the webinar “Where Did My Traffic Go? Winning in the Age of AI Overviews.”
Published August 2025
