Google AI Overview – What impact will this have on SEO in Europe?

After rolling out in the United States in 2024, Google AI Overview is coming to Europe. Currently, only Germany, Italy, and Switzerland can test the results generated by artificial intelligence. But this new feature should be arriving in the United Kingdom soon. In the meantime, it’s best to prepare for it and understand the impact of AI Overviews on SEO. 

What changes with Google AI Overview?

Reminder

AI Overviews represent a new method of displaying search results. Rather than displaying links to websites, Google highlights answers generated by artificial intelligence. These appear at the top of the page, before organic or paid links. 

The strength of these AI results is that they combine multiple sources and summarise them in a matter of seconds. Internet users can find answers to their questions directly, without having to navigate from one site to another. 

So, inevitably, Google AI Overview is likely to impact SEO. 

Good to know: for the sake of transparency, Google may display the sources of AI-generated results. However, this is not automatic. 

Review in the United States after one year 

While Google AI Overview is set to arrive in Europe in 2025, these features have already been available in the United States for a year. So what are the results there? 

• Only 7% of user queries trigger a response generated by artificial intelligence. 

• For certain informational queries with AI results, website traffic drops by 18 to 40 per cent. 
• Only 5% of AI Overviews do not cite their sources. 
• Sources mainly cite specialised websites and exclude results from Reddit or Quora.

With the recent rollout of Google AI Overview in Europe, the US results are an excellent indicator of what lies ahead. And even if smart results are not yet available in France, they will be coming soon. But not necessarily on their own. Google is already considering developing new features to enhance its AI Overviews, such as integrated advertisements, AI product carousels and advanced customisation options. 

Not to mention that regulations are stricter in Europe, particularly with the Digital Markets Act, which requires algorithm transparency and data protection safeguards. 

What are the impacts of Google AI Overviews on SEO? 

An evolution in natural referencing

By changing the display of search results, Google AI Overview is transforming SEO. Organic links are moved to the bottom of the page, after the more or less complete answers generated by artificial intelligence. 

For informational queries, the consequences can be dire. If they don’t offer anything new, they will see their click-through rates drop dramatically. 

On the other hand, transactional queries are relatively unaffected. If internet users want a product, they will continue to visit these e-commerce sites to make purchases. 

But again, you need to be able to offer content that complies with E-E-A-T principles. In addition to promoting SEO on traditional results, they also enable you to position yourself on Google AI Overviews. 

Our tips for appearing in Google AI Overview 

Whether you have an e-commerce site or not, the challenge is no longer just to appear in Google’s natural results, but also in AI Overviews. So how do you do that? Here are a few tips: 

• Leverage the brand's expertise and authority: Google favours expert websites. So, remember to optimise your website for E-E-A-T. 
• Structure and clarify your content: for artificial intelligence to cite your site, it must be easy to understand. This means using relevant titles, short paragraphs, readable sentences, FAQs, etc. 
• Use structured data: for e-commerce sites, there are tags for products, reviews, prices, etc. But other sites can also use this structured data via How to, Review or FAQ markup. 
• Update your content regularly: to provide the most relevant answers to your audience, AI will search for the most recent content. Remember to update your articles and pages regularly. 
• Targeting long-tail queries: internet users ask specific questions to AI.  

Rest assured, Google AI Overview does not herald the end of SEO, just a profound change. It will be essential to adapt to this change in order to maintain online visibility and, above all, to convert. 

Please do not hesitate to contact our SEO agency to optimise your advertising campaigns.