AI Overviews are a new Google offering that presents more sophisticated and useful answers to questions online. It is being tested and rolled-out in the US, United Kingdom, India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico and Brazil (at the time of writing in October 2024). For many people, Open AI got the jump on Google in the AI space with its ChatGPT which quickly became the ‘Sony Walkman’ of artificial intelligence searches. Google had of course been working with artificial intelligence for years and Gemini, Google’s main AI foundational model, powers a number of Google services already.
How Do Google AI Overviews Work?
Gemini has now been put to work for Google’s AI Overviews which essentially apply a multi-step reasoning model to not only understand a question or search based on the language used, but also by interpreting the intent of the searcher, and then gong even further to anticipate what other information they might need. In this way AI Overviews can address complex questions holistically, and provide more complete and useful answers.
Whereas Google currently shows Featured Snippets with useful short answers and a link to the source website, along with related questions listed under People Also Ask, the new Google AI Overviews may show a more detailed explanation as an answer, and then might not link back to the website they took it from, particularly if the AI took data from many sources and crafted it into a unique answer.
The goal is for the AI to understand and interpret complicated requests that might have nuances such as slang or local language variations and even humour like sarcasm or satire. Tests so far have proven AI finds humour hard to understand and this can make it provide incorrect results, but it’s only a matter of time. The learning and intelligence around natural language is a major breakthrough as it makes AI Overviews really useful for users who are using dictation and voice search, such as phone users, drivers and people at home barking at their smartTV.
How Can AI Overviews Help My Business
Initial reactions to AI Overviews from some quarters have been negative with early studies citing a 10% drop in website traffic compared to normal Search Engine Results. Websites that have focused on gaining exposure in Featured Snippets are finding they might lose ground because the structure and keyword focus of their content might not be favoured by AI Overviews as it was for Featured Snippets.
The upside is that the AI is searching for truly useful, unique content that helps people. If you know your business and services inside out, and you are tuned into the wants and needs of your target audiences, then your content has a chance of being favoured by Google’s AI.
The point to remember is that AI Overviews goes next level and uses AI to predict and anticipate what follow-up questions might be. This is a critical factor to consider when you are preparing content for your target audiences – what is the next question or related information they will want to know? What do customers always ask when you are having a face to face conversation about your business and offerings? Google has been pushing the need for genuine useful content for years, so if you’ve been doing this then just keep on doing what you’re doing, if not then now is the time to review and really focus on your content marketing strategy.
Two other opportunities highlighted in early research into AI Overviews is that two of the main sources that Google favours are Youtube and LinkedIn. If you are using these platforms to inform and engage target audiences, then keep going, and if you haven’t been then now is a good time to investigate them further.
As with all change and new technologies, there can be fear and upheaval, but also new opportunities to grasp. We follow many of the thought leaders in digital marketing and related technologies, and we’re always happy to have a chat and share what we have learnt.
