How to Optimize Your Website for Google AI Overview

In mid-May, Google rolled out a new search feature called AI Overview. Here's how it works.

Let's say a consumer is looking for a particular piece of information. When they perform a Google search, artificial intelligence scrapes information from relevant websites (hopefully yours) and generates a summary at the top of the search results page.

If they want to explore the topic further or browse source material, Google also includes links to the websites behind the summary.

In a nutshell, AI Overview is Google’s latest attempt to further streamline searches by eliminating clicking and scrolling. And as a business owner, you want your website to be included in these AI-generated summaries.

But is the tool working? And how does it impact your SEO and Google search rankings? We’ll tell you everything we know.

Is Google AI Overview Living Up to the Hype?

In the weeks following its debut, AI Overview advised users to do all sorts of things, from the hilarious to the surreal—add "blinker fluid” to broken turn signals, increase vitamin intake by eating rocks, and even spice up homemade pizza by adding non-toxic glue to the sauce.

It’s clear Google has some kinks to work out.

Despite this, the company is far from giving up on the AI Overviews tool. They are aware of its limitations, though. Earlier in June, the company pared back AI Overviews, further limiting which searches the tool would be used for.

As of now, it appears AI Overviews is not being used to generate answers regarding:

• Divisive topics like political issues and war
• Real-time information like news events
• Quick searches like weather, recipes, or topics that have simple answers
• Personal searches concerning finance, health, or major life decisions

Why You Want to Be Included in Overviews

If you run a business, you want your website to be included in AI Overviews for a few reasons:

• It will likely increase your visibility to users who may not have otherwise clicked and scrolled to find your site.
• Even if the AI-generated summary provides a quick answer, users may still be interested in learning more and clicking on the link to your website.
• Some website owners worry that AI Overviews will reduce organic traffic. Google argues the opposite—that AI-powered search results actually drive traffic to sites that provide high-quality content.
• Google does not appear to be abandoning AI-powered searches anytime soon. Exclusion from Overviews will put your business at a serious disadvantage.

Google Optimization Standards Are Unofficial Yet Clear

Many website owners want to know how to optimize their content to meet AI Overview standards. Unfortunately, Google has yet to issue an official set of qualifying standards. What the company did say on Search Central, however, is that:

• “AI Overviews appear in search results when Google's systems determine that AI-generated summaries would be particularly helpful to users.”
• “There is nothing special for creators to do to be considered other than to follow Google Search Essentials guidelines.”

Vague? To be sure. But if you read between the lines, Google is essentially saying that if you already follow SEO best practices, your website content should be considered for inclusion in AI Overviews.

But what are these best practices?

Make Your Website Crawlable & Indexable

For Google to consider using your website content in AI Overviews, the search engine must first find and store your web pages. To ensure Google can effectively crawl and index your site:

• Configure your robots.txt file to allow Google access to all important pages
• Use appropriate meta tags to indicate which pages should be indexed
• Ensure all pages are error-free and accessible
• Implement a clear, logical site structure with proper internal linking

Sound complicated? Our SEO team would happily give you a free website audit to identify and address these common issues.

Give Users a Better Browsing Experience

Users expect your website to load between 0 and 2 seconds. They also expect it to be navigable on any device without pinching screens or scrolling horizontally. Additionally, they want to feel reassured that their personal information is secure. If not, you may be unknowingly driving visitors away from your site.

This is where WISE Digital comes in.

In addition to evaluating your website to ensure it is Google-friendly, our audit will also identify areas for improvement, such as loading speed, responsiveness, or security.

Optimize Web Pages

If your website is not optimized, Google will not be able to index your content—a technical way of saying customers will not be able to find your website when searching for relevant topics.

To ensure Google understands the information on our clients' websites, we craft content that has:

• Title tags that are short, descriptive, and include relevant keywords.
• Meta descriptions that accurately summarize web page content.
• Short URLs that help Google understand what content is about.
• Proper headings (H1, H2, H3) that break text up into manageable chunks.
• Relevant (and often informal) keywords that reflect user search patterns.

Score Backlinks

The more high-quality content you produce, the more likely others will take notice. They may even decide to link to your content, which Google takes as a signal that other people trust and value what you produce.

This is the essence of backlinking—when other people like your content and link to it on their website.

Our goal is to help our clients make this happen. How? By creating original, human-created content that other people love and share.

Stay WISE with the Help of Our Expert SEO Team

Have concerns about meeting Google quality standards? Want to increase your chances of being included in AI Overview searches? We can help. Our team of SEO experts specializes in helping businesses overcome these challenges and stay one step ahead of the competition. If you have questions about SEO or digital marketing, contact us! We’re always here to help.