The Real AI SEO Shift: It’s Not What You’re Being Sold

AI Overviews Optimisation Strategy

Every few years, someone declares SEO dead. It’s a familiar pattern by now: new technology emerges, fear kicks in, and someone shows up with a sweeping, oversimplified solution.

This time, the scapegoat is AI Overviews (soon to be ‘AI mode’) – Google’s latest UI feature that summarises information at the top of the search results. But beneath the surface, the argument hasn’t changed. It’s not strategy. It’s another inversion narrative: flip what works, declare it obsolete, and use that as a reason to sell something else.

Let’s unpack why this argument falls apart – and why authority, structure, and trust matter more now than ever.

First Principles: What’s Google’s Incentive?

Before we talk tactics, we need to ask a basic question: why would Google kill its own business model?

AI overviews are designed to reduce clicks. That’s the point – they summarise answers so the user doesn’t need to click through. But that also means:

  • Fewer ad impressions (Google’s core revenue engine)
  • Fewer conversions for advertisers
  • Higher server costs from generating AI outputs at scale

Unless Google figures out how to monetise AI summaries directly, these modules are a cost centre, not a profit engine. So the idea that Google would replace traditional SERPs with AI is not only unproven – it runs counter to its current incentives.

Until that monetisation puzzle is solved, Google’s real model remains intact:

Search → Click → Conversion → Revenue

And that model still relies on authority and structure to determine what ranks.

Why the “SEO is Dead” Argument Fails Under Scrutiny

Here’s how the current narrative usually goes:

  1. AI overviews are replacing the SERPs
  2. Ranking is dead – now it’s all about inclusion in AI summaries
  3. Optimise by pumping out long-form content targeting long-tail queries
  4. Forget about PageRank or authority – those are relics

Sounds forward-thinking. But under scrutiny, it’s shallow.

Here’s why:

  • AI overviews are a front-end display shift, not a fundamental change in how information is evaluated.
  • LLMs don’t generate results from scratch – they lean on trusted sources, and those are still high-authority sites.
  • Content volume without authority doesn’t compound – it clutters.
  • Most of this advice is designed to be easy for vendors to sell, but hard for clients to measure.

The result? A growing content bill, falling CTR, and no ROI.

The Grain of Truth: Who Is Affected?

Let’s be fair – AI overviews are a real threat to certain types of search traffic. And some sites are seeing their business models disrupted. But let’s separate signal from noise.

1. Who’s Most at Risk?

Sites that rely heavily on long-tail, informational, mid-to-top of funnel traffic are seeing the biggest impact. This includes:

  • Publishers chasing volume across broad queries
  • Sites that monetise via display ads or subscriptions
  • Content farms or aggregators with little differentiation

For these players, SEO as a revenue source has weakened – because click-through is collapsing on curiosity – driven searches.

AI overviews summarise the answer. And if the answer is the product, the click dies with the query.

2. What About Product & Service Providers?

For businesses selling products or services, the story is very different.

AI overviews are not delivering the product. They’re not scheduling the appointment. They’re not comparing suppliers or handling nuance around needs and intent.

That’s why mid-to-bottom funnel searches (where people are ready to act):

  • Still demand click-through, decision-making, and user agency
  • Still power Google’s core ad business

This layer isn’t going anywhere.

3. Does Strategy Need to Change?

Yes, but not in the way the industry is pushing.

  • Publishers will continue publishing – because content is their product.
    SEO isn’t a strategy for them, it’s a channel. Their AI shift is more about format, structure, and surfacing.
  • Product and service providers need a pivot, but not to content factories. Instead, to:
    • Stronger mid-bottom funnel capture
    • Better UX/MX to aid conversion
    • Clearer authority signalling to help machines and users trust them

In both cases, the right move isn’t “write more”. It’s adapt smarter.

What Do AI Systems Actually Trust?

AI-generated overviews are based on language models, not ranking algorithms. But when LLMs do reference or cite information, they tend to favour:

  • Sites with high authority
  • Sources with structured, consistent content
  • Pages that are linked to, shared, and well-established

In other words, they still echo the traditional ranking signals – just through a different lens. These include:

  • Backlinks and equity flow
  • Structured data and internal architecture
  • Consistent quality and topical depth

So while the interface is changing, the trust signals remain the same.

What This Advice Delivers (and Why It Fails Clients)

Let’s be clear about what this new wave of AI-focused SEO advice actually recommends:

“Flood the web with long-form content targeting natural language queries, and hope the LLM picks you.”

That’s not a moat. It’s a race to the bottom.

Here’s what clients get from this advice:

  • Escalating content production costs
  • Fewer clicks (AI overviews collapse CTR by design)
  • Harder attribution (“we’re being included, but nothing’s happening…”)
  • No visibility on performance
  • Frustration when results don’t show up

Meanwhile, authority is still flowing – just not to the pages that deserve it.

Content Alone Is No Longer a Moat

This is the part most of these “AI-SEO” takes ignore: the barrier to entry for content creation has collapsed.

With AI tooling, anyone can generate a dozen blog posts a day. But content without distribution, equity, and structure doesn’t build trust. It just adds noise, and drains resources.

So unless you have matching authority velocity, and your content is supported by an architecture that distributes authority and signals relevance, it will never outperform sites that are better structured – even if they publish less.

The Real Strategic Error

The real issue with ‘AIO’ – or AI Overviews Optimisation (or the inevitable AI Mode Optimisation) – is that it’s reactive, not strategic thinking.

It assumes that the latest UI change will yield the same results as traditional SERPs, applying an existing CTR model to a newly developed and more dynamic feature, and breaks first principles in four key ways:

  1. It confuses presentation with substance
    • AI overviews are a UI layer, not a replacement for authority ranking systems.
    • Trust signals still underpin what gets surfaced.
  2. It does not take incentives into account
    • Neither Google’s incentives as a profit driven tech company
    • The users incentive to click through to get information that they’ve already been provided with
  3. It sells a low-barrier tactic as strategy
    • Publishing more content is vendor-friendly, but harmful without an effective authority engine.
  4. It ignores compounding signals
    • Content inflates, while tactical deployment of authority compounds.
    • Only one of these gives you leverage.

PageRank Isn’t Dead – It’s Still Patented

Some argue we’ve moved beyond PageRank. But here’s the thing:
It’s still patented. Google still uses variations of it. It still underpins how equity flows.

Maybe one day they won’t renew it. Maybe they’ll list it on eBay. If that happens, I’ll bid.

But until then, I’ll keep building systems that channel trust – not just content.

Final Takeaway

AI overviews aren’t killing SEO.
But vague advice is.

Yes, the interface is changing. But the game is still the same:

  • Build trust
  • Own your structure
  • Let authority flow to the pages that matter

Ignore that, and no amount of “AI optimisation” will save you.


Mike Simpson Digital Consultant

Mike Simpson

With nearly 15 years of experience in SEO and digital marketing, Mike has built a reputation for driving growth and innovation. His journey began at Havas Media, where he developed expertise in client management, technical auditing, and strategic planning for top brands like Tesco Bank and Domino’s Pizza. He progressed to leading teams at Forward Internet Group and IPG Media-Brands, before taking on the role of Commercial Director & Chief Product Strategist at Barracuda Digital, where he delivered significant results for high-profile clients.

Now working as a consultant, Mike leverages his extensive experience to help businesses enhance their digital strategies, delivering bespoke solutions and measurable success. His strategic insights and dedication have made him a sought-after expert in the industry.


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