Google’s AI Overviews Expand Globally, Gain New Features, and Start Affecting Rankings

Despite what many would consider a less-than-ideal launch for Google’s AI Overviews, the feature seems to be here to stay. Though scaled back to now appear in about 4% of all queries, this still results in a substantial number of daily users experiencing the feature. That number is only going to increase as Google has now expanded AI Overviews into six new countries: the United Kingdom, India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil. With the reach of AI Overviews now spanning nearly every continent, one can comfortably consider the feature global.

Along with expanding their reach, AI Overviews have also gained several new features over the past month. These include the ability to save specific AI Overviews for future reference, a new link display on desktop and mobile to showcase relevant websites, in-text links, and two new accessibility features. On the accessibility front, AI Overviews can now translate to simplified language, which is particularly useful for those not native to the language in which they searched and for those trying to engage with complex topics. Overviews also now include a “listen” button, allowing users to hear the AI Overview summarized in practical language terms. With updates and expansions being added regularly to Google’s AI Overviews, it’s clear that the feature will remain for the foreseeable future. In addition, Google has also revealed that it is now considering ranking well in standard search as the method for deciding which links appear in AI Overviews—something that businesses will have to consider to fully optimize their websites.

A recent study found that over 99% of the time a link was in the AI Overview, it came from one of the top ten organic results. This was after analyzing 36,000 keywords and comparing the URLs appearing in AI Overviews to regular search results. This contradicts what Google initially stated regarding what was then called the “Search Generative Experience.” While Google claimed its AI would find results unique to Overviews, in order to provide a broader experience, it has now altered its AI links to more closely resemble those in traditional search. Those looking to optimize for AI links should simply continue with SEO best practices, but they should also take special care if they are in a health-related industry. While AI Overviews don’t appear for 96% of queries, they have a far greater visibility rate in the healthcare sector specifically, appearing for just under 30% of all health-related queries. Marketers should maintain their best practices for standard search, but doctors and other such practices should ensure their websites and links are particularly friendly towards the natural language models that AI Overviews utilize.