Google generative AI Overviews are now showing in Australia

On October 29th 2024, Google introduced AI Overviews to Australian search engine result pages.

Whilst initially rolled out in the United States as a test case, AI Overviews have now been released to additional countries, including Australia, giving the general public access to generative AI responses similar to what you’d expect from platforms like ChatGPT.

Unlike ChatGPT, however, Google effectively attributes the sources of information, making it easier for users to click through and learn more.

The team at White Chalk Road has been experimenting with AI Overviews for the past few months. We have been reviewing what’s been changing and happening in the United States regarding SEO optimisation and how to effectively show in additional AI Overviews.

Before getting into the SEO side, let’s first understand AI Overviews and how they’ll likely change the way people use Google.

How Google search engine result pages have changed

On both mobile and desktop devices, depending on the search, Google may now show an AI Overview on the results page. This AI Overview consolidates information from multiple websites to provide an AI-generated answer to the query.

For example, if you search for a query like “enrol for university”, the AI Overview may show how the searcher can enrol for university, with clear citations to where this information was gathered.

The original iterations weren’t great at attributing the source of the information. However, Google listened to content creators and user feedback and has now made it very easy to see additional information through links.

Clicking links next to any AI Overview points will show the source, allowing users to click through for additional information.

It is important to note that not all queries will show an AI overview. Currently, most AI Overviews appear on informational queries like “setting office desk height” rather than transactional queries like “buy an office desk”.

Therefore, for right now, at least, it is important to review the informational pages on your website to see if the queries the page shows for are triggering an AI Overview. If they are, and your website isn’t showing in the overview, chat with us, and we’ll provide some insight into how you can optimise your content for AI Overviews.

How AI Overviews change how people use Google

While AI Overviews will change the way people utilise Google’s search engine, the foundations of SEO remain relatively unchanged.

However, the way people search Google is about to get a lot more conversational.

How Google changed the way we searched

Back when Google started, people would commonly write a sentence to provide as much context as possible, in the hopes of getting the best possible results.

Google changed this, and commonly, people now search terms like “plumbers perth”.

This has been the way for well over 10 years, and it has previously provided very relevant and accurate results, useful to the searcher.

Google is now retraining searchers

Like how ChatGPT works, the more content and context you provide, the better the response. This is how Google is going to change and retrain the way people search.

Out with “plumbers perth” and in with “reliable plumber based in perth with no call out fee and at least 100 five star reviews”.

It might not happen overnight, but if you heavily focus on a few exact match keywords, you’ll miss out on a lot of potential traffic.

It’s time to broaden your keyword focus

Okay, high search positions for your core service or product’s exact match keywords are great. They will likely bring you traffic and generate conversions.

But we alway recommend looking at the broader picture of actual performance – how many people are you reaching, how much traffic you are getting, and how many people are buying your products or enquiring about your services.

This is the approach we take for clients at White Chalk Road. We find the keywords that are important for the business, as well as long-tail and conversational keywords that are likely to generate enquiries and sales.

The blended approach allows us to continue building our client results through each Google algorithm update, month after month, year after year.

How Generative AI Overview changes SEO

Core SEO fundamentals have not changed, even with the introduction of generative AI Overview. Google reward:

• Good, accurate content;
• Providing a good user experience; and
• Effective internal linking.

For businesses and websites that have been investing in SEO over the past few years, the essentials will already be covered.

What businesses need to consider now and understand is how the way customers are searching for their products or services is changing. If you better understand this (with the help of industry tools and experience), you can create content and pages that rank well in generative AI Overviews, boosting awareness of your brand, and traffic to your website.

Final takeaways about Generative AI Overviews

As Google changes the way people search and information is provided, it’s important for businesses to keep ahead of the curve and start preparing and optimising their informational content for AI Overviews.

Some key takeaways:

Generative AI is still experimental

Although AI Overviews have been present in search results in the United States since April 2024, the system is still experimental, and Google continues to make changes and enhancements. If you notice results that aren’t helpful or useful, people can give them an up or down vote to let Google know – and we recommend doing this.

The more data Google has, the better AI Overviews will get at showing relevant and accurate information.

Videos can also be provided in AI Overviews

While many AI Overviews quote text content from reputable websites, they can also recommend videos on the queried topic. The multi-media approach (creating written, visual, video and audio content) gives you additional opportunities to rank in AI Overviews.

Re-optimise your informational content

If you start seeing AI Overviews that your existing articles or blogs relate to, but the article doesn’t currently show as a resource, then go back and re-optimise your content to answer the query better. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to re-optimising content, so take some time to see what the currently referenced websites have done well and optimise your content to suit.

Want to optimise your website for AI Overviews?

We’ve been SEO specialists since 1999, helping our clients navigate Google’s many iterations and change with results that speak for themselves.

If you’d like some additional information about generative AI Overviews, please get in touch.