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Google Search is dead. Long live Google AI Overviews.
Or perhaps not quite yet, according to some.
Backed by the tech company’s chatbot Gemini, Google’s AI-generated summaries were introduced at the start of November in Australia, stoking fears of dwindling referral traffic to publishers due to generating an overview of a topic with links to learn more that sits above what has always (and still is) returned when searching - a list of pages with individual links to websites.
Now, nearly three months from going live, SEO specialists from media agencies across Australia – both indies and those at holdcos – say that having to rank for AI Overviews versus Google’s traditional algorithm has resulted in a “dramatic” shift in strategy.
Add in the very nature of search itself changing – due to a growing interest from brands in ranking on platforms like ChatGPT, combined with destinations like Amazon and TikTok becoming quasi-search engines in their own right – and it all results in an SEO environment that is both fraught with never-before-seen challenges and rife with opportunities for those willing to lean in.
Think conversations, not just keywords
Atomic 212°’s head of SEO, Stephen Downward, said that while the central tenets of the agency’s SEO strategy remain largely unchanged, elements such as user-intent-focused research, customer journey analysis and the overall investment in content is shifting to the forefront of recommendations to clients.
“We continue to optimise for AI Overviews in much the same manner as we have for other Google search features, however we place a strong emphasis on owning branded search as the fastest way to take advantage of these features,” he said.
Downward said that conversational Q&A style content combined with deep topic knowledge and long form content is producing strong results, as brands investing in audience driven content that provides a unique perspective, is well researched and is authoritative helps to cut through the noise of bland, repetitive AI-generated content.
“Content and brand marketing will be more important than ever if brands want to build trust with their core audiences and search engines,” he said.
Yango’s SEO and content director, Hannah Mannion, agreed, saying that as Google AI Overviews is getting smarter, it is building a greater depth of understanding of how people actually talk, meaning content strategies need to evolve in tandem as a result.
“Instead of chasing keywords, brands should be focussed on creating content that truly answers people’s questions – the way they actually ask them,” she said.
“Think conversations, not just keywords.
“It’s important not to forget the SEO basics while also putting more emphasis on quality – make sure your content is written for humans, by humans with actual expertise, and don’t forget about internal linking and structured data as these help Google AI understand your content better and make it easier to find.”
Wavemaker’s GM of performance and analytics, Zac Godkin, said that the WPP-owned agency has also observed a shift toward more question-related queries.
“This prompts us to focus on broader, thematic content rather than optimising for isolated keywords,” he said.
Zenith Australia’s national head of SEO, Jack Telford, said Google’s AI Overviews mark the continuation of the search evolution that’s been observed over time as platforms shift from traditional rankings toward diverse, nuanced search experiences.
“This started with elements like ‘Featured Snippets’- which surface facets from web pages directly on the search results page - and has been gathering pace in recent years,” he said.
“We've been adapting to this by expanding the range of topics and formats we optimise for, providing valuable content to users matching their varied needs. While AI Overviews may reduce organic traffic for some queries (as users stay on the results page rather than clicking through), they also provide a new way to show up and a nudge to enhance brands’ content coverage online.”
Half Dome’s SEO director, Riccardo Ilari, said Google still has significant work to do to build trust in the accuracy of the AI generated results before AI Overviews can shift users’ search behaviour completely.
“AI Overviews impact SEO strategies by shifting the focus from traditional rankings to citation opportunities, so focusing on improving those elements that are already part of SEO is key: creating well-structured, mobile-friendly content, targeting specific long-tail keywords, and building brand credibility,” he told AdNews.
Next&Co’s head of strategy, Nick Grinberg, said the first part of his agency’s strategy has been to define which keyword themes (eg: complex, question-based queries) will be affected and what kind of impact this will have on client traffic.
“This has us evaluating and interpreting how Google interprets content, anticipates user intent, and relevance ranking,” he said.
“This will then influence the type of keyword themes we target with an understanding of whether the aim is to drive traffic (through a traditional ranking) or get our clients content featured in an AI overview snippet.
“The flow on effect of ensuring we are positioning our clients to maximise, relevant organic search share of voice will then influence content strategy, structure, and quality.”
The Pistol’s SEO manager Daren Polo said while traditional ranking factors are still important, AI-generated search results require a strong focus on content relevance, authority, and user intent.
“Structured data, expert-driven content, and conversational queries are now vital in ensuring visibility,” he said.
Magic’s head of SEO Tommy Glover said his agency is focusing more on optimising for AI-driven elements such as featured snippets and knowledge panels as a result.
“As such, content needs to be structured for clarity and relevance, as AI often answers queries directly within search results, reducing the need for clicks,” he said.
“Our approach combines traditional SEO with an emphasis on content that aligns with AI's goal of providing immediate, accurate answers to users.”
Kinesso’s associate SEO director, Kirsty Beth McLennan, said while core SEO principles remain relevant, their application and prioritisation are changing dramatically.
“Globally, SEO tools and software platforms have been releasing various new features which give us insight into how the SERP displays AI results but the constant flux of AI features makes it difficult to establish consistent best practices and conduct reliable tests,” she told AdNews.
“Interestingly, our experience with zero-click optimisation has prepared us well for this new AI-driven environment. While the fundamental SEO strategies remain largely unchanged, the prioritisation of these tactics has shifted in response to AI Overviews.”
McLennan said that structured data and semantic relevance are now more critical than ever, with Kinesso also finding that content depth and authority play a larger role in AI-driven results.
“A recent case with a major travel client showed us that optimising visual content and enhancing topical authority significantly improved their visibility in AI Overviews,” she said.
Jaywing’s senior SEO director, Rob Holborn, said since the launch of the Search Generative Experience (SGE) beta in 2023, his agency has observed the volatile nature of AI Overviews (AIO), particularly in its prominence across different industries and categories.
“In some cases, this has led to a decline in clicks as queries are answered directly within the search result,” he said.
“To adapt, we’ve prioritised producing high-quality, in-depth content that aligns with AI’s emphasis on relevance and detail. Additionally, we’ve invested in creating resources that AI cannot easily replicate, such as interactive calculators and unique tools, to maintain a competitive edge.
“For Jaywing clients, our strategies are based on best practices. This means that ultimately, our recommendations haven’t changed as a result of AIO to date."
Hotwire Australia MD Melissa Cullen said her agency has shifted to what it calls a ‘holistic search’ approach, blending traditional keyword focused strategies with semantic search optimisation.
“This means crafting content that provides contextual, meaningful answers to user queries while leveraging AI tools to further refine these strategies,” she said.
Sparro by Brainlabs’ SEO specialist Kieran Healy, said the rollout of Google AI Search in Australia has been slow enough that the agency hasn’t seen massive changes in results yet, but in the US, organic click-through rates for keywords that trigger AI Overviews (AIOs) are down significantly.
“The prevalence of AIOs varies by industry, and informational searches are the most affected - so it’s less of a concern for important product and service pages for now,” he said.
“Aware of what’s happening in the US, we are already preparing our Australian clients to expect clicks and organic search traffic to decline when AIOs are fully rolled out.”
Healy said Sparro is taking a three-pronged approach in preparing for the full rollout in Australia, beginning with updating client content to make it more likely to be featured in AIOs based on what it has found works in the US.
“The second prong is prioritising optimising for high-intent commercial searches over lower-intent informational searches, as these are still unlikely to trigger an AIO, so can still be relied on to become top traffic drivers,” he said.
“Finally, educating clients on the new realities of AI search and identifying non-traffic metrics for SEO success, as AIOs redefine the baseline for traffic, is also important.”
AI interest growing, but new strategies needed
Not only are brands having to figure out how to get their content to show up in Google AI Overviews, but some are also trying to figure out how to rank on chatbots.
This is a total shift for traditional SEO strategy – no longer prioritising mere keywords in hopes of being ranked by Google’s algorithm, brands (and the agencies who work with them) now have to attempt to get a raft of different chatbots – ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and more – to somehow not only mention their company and products, but to recommend them in a positive light – and preferably without any AI ‘hallucinations’ served up alongside it.
ChatGPT launched its own search product in November, challenging Google’s hold on the sector. The chatbot can now retrieve and deliver information from across the internet in real time, including news, stock prices and sports scores.
Media agencies AdNews spoke to at time of launch, however, said that while it excels in areas like conversational capabilities, it has limits in functionality and is unlikely to kill off Google anytime soon.
Zenith’s Telford said clients are increasingly interested in gaining visibility on AI platforms as they recognise a future where customer interactions with brands are mediated entirely by AI tools, much like consulting a trusted friend or forum.
“Building a strong online presence and focusing on entity recognition is critical to influence how clients show up here and these strategies impact how AI platforms perceive and represent brands,” he said.
For example, if ChatGPT conveys a brand’s quality or reliability, a customer may decide to purchase without ever visiting the brand’s site.
“While measuring this engagement is currently challenging (with visibility tracking especially tricky in the current landscape), we anticipate more tools and data becoming available over time to address this gap,” he said.
Yango’s Mannion said her agency is helping clients by focusing on Generative Engine Optimisation, which focuses on aligning content with AI-driven search engines.
“We’re now looking at optimising for emerging platforms such as SearchGPT and Perplexity, making sure that our clients' content is not only optimised for traditional search engines, but aligned with how AI models think and work as well,” she said.
The Pistol’s Polo said he too has seen growing interest from clients in ranking on AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT, Claude and others, and that while direct ranking in these models is not as straightforward as traditional SEO, brands can influence AI-generated results by building strong, authoritative digital presences.
“This can be achieved by mentions in high authority publications, creating content that aligns with AI model training data and ensuring websites are structured and optimised for indexing by AI crawlers,” he said.
Atomic 212’s Downward said this has been a hot topic coming into 2025 and one that is increasingly working its way into every client conversation, and that while the numbers are still relatively low, website referral traffic coming from ChatGPT is growing and sparking a lot of interest.
“Strategically we see a lot of opportunities emerging with the introduction of ChatGPTs search functionality,” he told AdNews.
“These platforms are recommending brands and products based on their perceived popularity; that is, the frequency and number of citations across authoritative websites.
“When searching for a topic such as ‘best ready-made meals’, users are presented with a list along with the websites citing the ranked brands. If you want to rank effectively on these platforms, then digital PR is certainly an area I'd be investigating.”
Downward said focusing on a website’s UX and scannability is going to be paramount.
“These platforms, just like Google AI Overviews, need to be able to read your website's content and easily summarise it into succinct answers – making this as easy as possible will place you well to reap the rewards as the platform's user base expands,” he said.
Jaywing’s Holborn said clients wanting to understand and leverage opportunities on AI platforms like ChatGPT has led to more requests for analytics and dashboards to track performance, and his agency has incorporated referral data from these platforms into its processes to provide actionable insights as a result.
“Ranking for ChatGPT is feasible, as it relies heavily on Bing’s index to source information, so using tools like Bing Webmaster Tools, we can monitor and enhance visibility for content that ChatGPT might access, ensuring it aligns with best practices,” he said.
“This highlights how core SEO pillars such as quality content, technical optimisation, and relevance remain crucial for visibility, even within the evolving landscape of AI-driven search engines.
“While we’re still in the early stages of fully understanding these platforms' full potential, we’re closely monitoring developments like the potential launch of paid ads on Google AI Overviews and merchant solutions on platforms like Perplexity.”
Hotwire’s Cullen said her agency has developed a tool - GAIO.tech – that provides visibility into what AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Perplexity say about clients’ brand and products, helping to better understand their influence over their target audience’s purchasing decisions.
“While these platforms don’t operate with traditional levels like Google does, they rely heavily on semantic relevance and context,” she said.
“The strategy here is to create authoritative, accurate content that AI platforms can easily interpret and reference when responding to user queries.”
Other agencies, meanwhile, are seeing little interest from their clients around ranking on AI platforms – or if they are, caution that such AI platforms don’t operate like traditional search engines, thus applying the same strategies for trying to rank on ChatGPT as has been traditionally used with Google won’t generate strong results.
Next&Co’s Grinberg said the interest he’s seeing from clients is “minimal” for the time being as the exact mechanisms for getting featured in a generative AI response are not as predictable and as easy to put into a strategy as more traditional search.
“The fundamentals of writing relevant, quality content, that adds value to your target audience, should still be the main focus of a brand,” he said.
“It is hard to quantify the exact impact on how much this will get a brand exposed in a generative AI search capacity but this will help maximise the potential chances.”
Sparro by Brainlabs’ Healy said clients have been asking about ranking in AI platforms for as long as featured links and reference websites have been included in AI results, and while the agency has seen some success and a growing number of users arriving from AI platforms, the numbers are still dwarfed by traditional search engines (particularly Google) and social media traffic.
“The basic philosophy behind AI SEO is understanding that they want to display the most relevant, most useful sites for each user’s needs - specific tactics for getting sites referenced in AI results are functionally similar to SEO best practices with pretty clandestine guidelines,” he said.
“Many AI platforms have fewer crawling resources than the likes of Google - though Gemini is an obvious exception, along with ChatGPT to a lesser extent, which is powered by Bing - so making your site’s best pages and content easily accessible is a must.
“Logical inference and language processing are strengths of AI models, so including trust-builders like reviews, accolades, and qualifications is vital for improving authority. Extensive FAQ sections are a great shortcut to being featured in AI chats, though this may not be a viable tactic long-term.”
Kinesso’s McLennan said despite growing interest in AI platform visibility among her agency’s clients, the traffic from these sites doesn't quite match the market enthusiasm.
“Currently, ranking specifically within platforms like ChatGPT or Claude is not directly actionable,” she said.
“However, focusing on optimising content for featured snippets and high-quality, authoritative answers will indirectly boost visibility across LLMs that pull from Google and other sources.
“It's important to note that while actual traffic from these AI sources doesn't yet match expectations, we anticipate significant growth in the coming months. As such, we're developing robust business cases for prioritising AI Search and AI model optimisation where we see potential for growth.”
Magic’s Glover agreed, saying it's important to note that these platforms don’t operate like traditional search engines, as AI platforms generate responses from large datasets rather than ranking content.
“Businesses can still optimise by creating content that aligns with the types of queries AI platforms answer, ensuring their material is relevant and accessible, but directly ranking on these AI systems isn't currently feasible in the traditional SEO sense,” he said.
Wavemaker’s Godkin said while clients are showing interest in understanding and monitoring AI platforms, it is not yet a priority due to their relatively low market penetration, particularly in Australia.
“Although there are emerging tactics that can potentially increase visibility on these platforms, our approach has been to closely monitor how AI platforms evolve and potentially change user behaviour before making significant shifts in strategy,” he told AdNews.
Half Dome’s Ilari said that recent studies show that organisations with high SEO maturity are more than three times more likely to report a positive impact from AI compared to those with low SEO maturity.
“That's why it’s a priority for our team at Half Dome to educate clients about the connection between SEO and AI,” he said.
“While data on ranking in AI platforms is still limited, tools like ChatGPT are not yet used as widely as search engines, but mostly for automated functions. Basically, using ChatGPT as your home page on your browser hasn't become a thing yet.
“However, AI results within search engines like Google have gained bigger attention from clients. After all, being cited in an AI Overview boosts visibility, as it's often the first result users see.”
Ilari said to be included in AI Overviews or generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT, what Half Dome has found is that clients must have a strategy that ensures content meets Google E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) guidelines rather than focusing solely on keywords optimisation.
“AI responses are triggered by informational search intent keywords 99.2% of the time, but within the results to a user’s query, the exact keyword is only mentioned 5.4% of the time,” he said.
“This shows that AI-generated responses focus on context over keywords. Therefore, brands should prioritise creating high-quality, authoritative, and contextually relevant content that answers user queries comprehensively, as this will increase the likelihood of being featured in AI-generated responses, regardless of exact keyword matches.”
Goodbye Google – hello TikTok, Amazon and YouTube
While Google is still the dominant search engine worldwide – stats from December 2024 show it has close to a 90% market share – Gen Z are using platforms and apps that were never designed as search engines to ask questions, find products and receive recommendations on everything from what local restaurant to go to for dinner through to which brand of clothing they should buy for a friend’s birthday.
Google’s own senior vice president, Prabhakar Raghavan, even told a conference so much back in 2022, as reported by The New York Times.
“In our studies, something like almost 40 percent of young people, when they’re looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search,” said Raghavan.
“They go to TikTok or Instagram.”
A 2024 study from Adobe found that over 2 in 5 Americans use TikTok as a search engine, with nearly 1 in 10 Gen Zers more likely to rely on TikTok than Google as a search engine.
Other studies show that close to 60% of US consumers started their online shopping searches on Amazon as of Q2 2023, which is more than those who started on a search engine (42%).
Whether it’s hearing about products through podcasts on Spotify, ChatGPT recommendations shaping purchase behaviour or even searching via the use of images - Google said last year there were 20 billion image searches through Google Lens each month – one thing is clear: any platform with a search bar and a database is becoming a search engine in its own right and it’s up to the SEO specialists of the industry to pivot.
Sparro by Brainlabs’ Healy said SEO is no longer the responsibility of just one team managing the website - teams in charge of website, social, e-commerce merchandising, and product managers need to prioritise coordinating content for distribution across multiple platforms.
“Content has to be fit-for-platform and genuinely consider where in their journey each user is at each touchpoint, he said.
“A user can discover a topic on TikTok, compare options on YouTube, ask for the ‘best’ option on ChatGPT and find reviews on a website, brands need to accept this messy, multi-touch, multi-platform approach and build it into marketing plans.”
Magic’s Glover agreed that brands now need a multi-platform SEO strategy, saying brands should look at optimising content for search on social media (using hashtags and video), e-commerce sites (like Amazon product listings), and voice search.
“Optimising for user intent across these diverse platforms is crucial, as consumers increasingly turn to video, reviews, and social content to make decisions - to succeed, brands must ensure visibility across multiple touchpoints, not just Google,” he said.
Google isn’t going down without a fight, however - Jaywing’s Holborn said in response to the development of such tools as TikTok Creator Search Insights, which provide insights into its platform-specific user behaviour, Google has released updates like the Shorts Tab, which highlights short-form content from platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
“To stay competitive in e-commerce, Google has also introduced visually engaging product grids in search results, offering users an experience similar to browsing on Amazon,” he said.
“Google’s Gemini AI, which powers these AIOs, has enhanced capacity to interpret and cite content such as YouTube audio and third-party reviews, providing a more comprehensive answer for users. This also indicates to us that brands should be investing in video media to syndicate across social media and Youtube.”
Kinesso’s McLennan said her agency sees SEO as an evolution from Search Engine Optimisation to 'Search Everywhere Optimisation', with this diversification demanding a holistic, platform-agnostic approach to SEO.
“It's about creating an ecosystem of discoverable content that resonates across various channels,” he said.
“We're seeing success with modular content strategies that can be easily adapted for different platforms; video-first approaches that cater to TikTok and YouTube's algorithms; and structured data implementation that feeds both traditional search engines and AI models.”
McLennan said the key is to think beyond rankings and focus on omnipresence.
“It's not just about being found; it's about being the preferred answer regardless of where the question is asked,” she told AdNews.
“SEO success is measured by visibility across the entire digital landscape, not just Google's first page. Brands that master this multi-platform approach will dominate the attention economy in the years to come.”
Half Dome’s Ilari said SEO as a discipline has always provided some rules that can be used to make sure brands appear on different search platforms, so it's more a matter of marketers understanding how to use SEO to improve their brand presence in platforms such as TikTok and Amazon rather than thinking of SEO as something that only applies to organic search results.
“For instance, TikTok’s algorithm prioritises engagement and video content, so brands need to focus on creating engaging, creative, and shareable videos,” he said.
“To do so, SEO for TikTok means optimising captions with niche-specific keywords and incorporating trending sounds and hashtags that align with search trends.
“On Amazon, optimising product listings with relevant keywords, high-quality images, and reviews is critical for visibility in search results. Trustworthiness is crucial across all platforms. Google has emphasised the importance of E-E-A-T in SEO, and this principle extends to other platforms, where reviews, user-generated content, and consistent brand messaging across channels help boost visibility and credibility.”
Atomic 212’s Downward said the most important change he’s noticed in SEO recently has been the need for increased cross team collaboration and alignment, leveraging audience and channel behaviour to identify the various kinds of content most appropriate for each channel and stage of the consumer journey.
“In short, SEO in its more simple and traditional interpretation has shifted closer to a digital experience role where audience intent and channel data inform client-specific brand strategies that stretch across all digital touchpoints,” he said.
“Overall, a shift away from redundant or superficial AI content creation means that increasingly, SEOs are leaning into the concept of ‘information gain’ and the importance of well researched content. Recent Google leaks revealed the value they are placing on content that provides unique value, fills knowledge gaps or contributes to a given topical evolution.”
Zenith’s Telford said emerging service areas like Retailer Optimisation, App Store Optimisation and, most recently, Answer Engine Optimisation (focused on showing up on AI engines) are areas taking off, with success requiring adapting to platform-specific formats and user expectations.
“Quick visual content may work for some platforms, while others will require a more detailed product listing approach,” he said.
“While tracking performance across these platforms is less granular than it is on Google, you can still see when the needle is moving overall through your efforts. The fundamentals remain consistent: focus on user needs; highlight key benefits; and deliver comprehensive, tailored content.
“These channels should complement, not replace, efforts on Google, which remains the dominant search engine and represents an untapped opportunity for most brands.”
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