A lot of people in the search engine marketing space are talking about Google’s AI review. Your organic traffic can already be significantly impacted by these AI-infused search results taking up SERP real estate. Even if they haven’t (yet), you probably have some questions—especially around what you can do to get found in an AI review and how to future-proof your strategy.
Today, we’ll go over everything you need to know about Google AI Review and share tips on how to optimize your content to be seen in AI Review.
Contents
What are Google AI reviews?
Google AI Overview (AIOS) is an AI-generated answer to search queries that compiles and aggregates results from across the web. These include text summaries of sources in conversational tone, related sources, video content and more. AI takes these blocks of infilled search results About half of the user’s screen when searching on Google on desktop and even more so on mobile.
According to Google, these AI-powered search results are “designed to improve the search experience by acting as agents that can answer questions and organize results into a personalized feed.” Like the results from ChatGPT, “Google AI reviews use multi-step reasoning to break a search into parts, answer each part, and then put the answers together.”
An example of what a Google AI review result looks like on a SERP.
Google compiles these results from information from across the web as well as its own knowledge graph data.
Displays about AIOS 55% Google searches, and the number of SERPs containing AIO, are expected to continue to climb.
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How AI Review Works
AI review is triggered when a query fits because Google’s AI model can respond using content from across the web. This information is then at the top of the SERP where the searcher can expand the AIO to see more information, click on any linked AIO content, or scroll past the ads and organic results.
As we mentioned earlier, AI reviews are showing up for more than half of all Google searches. approx 100% Among the keywords that trigger AIOs are informational intent, and keywords with average CPC $2-$5 Often tend to get AIO. If a query contains technical terms, jargon, or industry-specific, complex terms, it is 48% AIO is more likely to see the result. The industry that recently saw The biggest increase AIO’s presence on the SERPs was B2B technology. Insurance and entertainment are two industries that are also seeing more and more AIOs.
How AI Overview Has Evolved
After running the first version of AI Evaluation (known as the Search Generative Experiment, or SGE) as an optional experiment for a year, Google announced that it is Launching the AIO feature more widely.
From March 2025, the AI ​​review has increased 115%and the presence of AIOs on SERPs is predicted to continue to increase. AI reviews engage users over 200 Different countries and 40 languages, so this is a very extensive feature at this point.
As AIOS’s presence has grown, Google has continued Announce the increase in AIO Regularly
AI Overview vs. AI Mode: What’s the Difference?
Although AI reviews are powered by Google’s LLMAI model, Gemini, they still serve as static results on the SERP, similar to your standard paid or organic results. AI mode, however, brings Gemini’s chat experience to the SERP.
When you click AI mode icon, you are able to fully chat with Gemini about your query. Therefore, AI review is automatic, but users can choose to interact with the AI ​​mode to explore a more conversational style of the topic they are looking for.
How AI reviews are impacting search
Check out three ways Google’s AI review is changing the search game.
1. AIOS can make small business content marketing more difficult
a study These AIO effects showed:
- AI reviews take up 42% of the screen on desktop, 48% on mobile.
- 75% of AI reviews also rank in the top 12 search results.
- IOS studied 60% information and 20% business questions.
- AI review has been found to reduce clicks 35%.
- AIOs have reduced CTR by approx 7% For advanced sites.
- Some sites have seen a 20-40% A decrease in search traffic since the introduction of AI review.
What are the routes there?
AI review (and now AI mode) are affected A lot of things Searched
This massive shift has led to many of the best practices that search marketers and advertisers have relied on for years. According to Alyssa Gabbert, director of content and SEO at Wordstream by LocalQ, this will make content marketing much more difficult for all businesses, but especially small businesses.
“SERPs have become more competitive and challenging over the years, forcing businesses to increase their ad budgets to drive people to their sites,” said Alyssa. “But AI review reduces clicks on organic links more dramatically than AD-Havey Serps. I’ve seen SERPs where the full screen above the fold was dominated by ads, then the AI ​​review was full screen before you got to the rest of the results.”
2. Results from top ranked sites may no longer be as prominent
As some studies have noted, the sites that Google sources for AI reviews are not necessarily the same sites that have achieved strong organic rankings over the years. in some cases, Those sources weren’t even ranking in the top 100 resultsbut they are now at the top of the page.
3. AIO results may not always be reliable or accurate
We know Google has made the world harder for business, but that’s not the only problem here. There have also been serious problems with the quality of AI results from a user perspective.
Google itself acknowledges that the generative AI used in the AI ​​review “experience and information quality may vary.” However, most businesses have realized that this is to be kept lightly. “Ai” (Machine learning indeed) AI in review clearly cannot read the context of a search query like a real person would. However, some generated search responses are fraught with problems and potentially dangerous errors. For example, Google’s AI doesn’t understand jokes or sarcasm from sources it pulls from, and it’s also been found to be outdated (Or even dead) urls.
We even tested AI reviews in the context of PPC and found them to be wrong about 26 percent of the time, making them the least accurate generative AI tool when it comes to sourcing marketing and advertising information.
How to Optimize for AI Review: 4 Tips
Here are four key tips to optimize your SEO strategy so that your business shows up in AIOS.
1. Stick to SEO basics
Many of the strategies to look for in an AI review are based on basic SEO principles. Here are things you can do that impact SEO that also affect AI reviews.
- Create links at the domain and page level for key pages and your site as a whole.
- Create clear, concise answers to the main question of your page address (just like when you were targeting featured snippets earlier).
- Create clickable title tags.
- Deliver on the promise of your title tag, deliver searchers to quick answers and create a great user experience that prevents visitors from bouncing back to search results for different answers.
- Build your brand so that your site is mentioned frequently in listings, review sites, etc., so that you stand out among businesses in your category.
Building your brand and getting listed in top directories can help you get physically found on search engines.
These are all things that will affect AI reviews and rankings in other AI products like ChatGPT, DeepSock, and Cloud, and will help you rank higher in traditional organic results, whether there is an AI review or not (and again: most of the time, sites with higher rankings see a higher probability of appearing in an AI review).
There is a lot of work to be done to stand out in an AI review Do the things you already know you should do to rank in Google search results: Target relevant terms, link to your domain and individual pages, write clickable title tags, and create a great user experience on your site so your engagement metrics are strong.
2. Know your audience
Another important aspect of AIOS to note is that they change based on the user’s history and location, as well as the engagement with the AIO by users in general. So, as with all search engine rankings, you have to take into account that the results will be personalized and dependent on the user’s interaction with AIO itself. A little audience research can help you tailor your content to the types of AIOs your ideal users are likely to have.
3. Update your content with AIO placement in mind
Beyond current SEO best practices, there are some Areas you can focus on It comes down to AIO placement:
- Verification and embedding distance. If you’re targeting something like a term definition (eg, what is X), your term definition matches AIO with a slightly different but highly similar “closer” language that helps increase the likelihood of standing up in AIO links.
- Updating content and timestamps. One of the factors is Google’s relevant patents when it comes to AIOS.
- Adding knowledge graphs. This is one of the sources that LLM draws from to power Google’s AIO results (along with its index).
- Related Topics AIOS will change over time based on how an individual user or users typically refine their query, so it’s important to have relevant topics.
4. Repeatedly pay attention to the types of content known to AIOs
It has been found that AIOs favor certain types of content, such as:
- Interactive tools and calculators. AI supports content that helps users take action. Interactive tools and calculators let people participate instead of passively reading. This type of content provides something that AI abstractions cannot: instant, personalized results. You want to create easily accessible tools that solve a real problem, like a savings calculator or a cost estimator.
- Data visualization and original research. AI can reinterpret existing information, but it cannot create new data. Publishing proprietary research gives you credibility and longevity. Once AI models recognize your content as a data source, they continue to draw from it in future responses.
- Video content AI reviews often surface in short, high-quality videos that directly answer user questions. It satisfies intent faster, builds trust, and is much harder to summarize than written content, so it’s more likely to support AI-generated results.
Again, lots of them Are there things you are already doing? As part of your normal SEO process.
Google AI Overview: What’s Next
We know that Google AI reviews will continue to adapt to Google’s ever-changing needs, so it’s key to stay one step ahead of the game by optimizing your content for AIOS as much as possible.
While we can’t escape AI review anytime soon, we can think of ways to work around it to still see results — whether through different strategies or different channels. If you have more questions or want help with your SEO during these turbulent times on the SERPs, see how our solutions can help you optimize your business’s search marketing for sustainable growth.