As part of the large trend we have seen in AI-summaries tools, Google is sometimes replacing its rich results with its new AIO or (ai-overview). Initially, when Gemini was first announced, as Google Search’s AI tool, the idea was that the AI would act as a simple chatbot, scanning the internet for answers to questions and answering them in conversational language. However initial mishaps mixed with many users complaining that the tool spoke effectively but often answered questions inaccurately led to an uptick of users avoiding Google’s new tool. Google has updated the tool to instead show both an AI summary and a list of links to the pieces of content that are related to that summary. So naturally, many webmasters are looking into strategies to show up in these summaries.
How Is Google AIO Different From The Local Pack Or Rich Results?
This is by no means the first time Google has updated its SERPs (or search engine results pages) to be more convenient for users. Oftentimes if the answer to someone’s Google search is to show a list of local businesses, Google will display its local pack, which shows a Map and three Google My Business profiles. The algorithm behind the local pack is extremely impacted by geo-targeting. The exact location of a user, when they make their search, will often change the outcome. However, AIO is significantly different. AIO will show whenever Google feels that an answer can be easily summarized.
This is similar to Google’s Rich Results or featured snippets. These tools would often be embedded in search results at the top or mid-page and would show specific content taken from other websites that specifically answered the question. So for example, if a user Googled “how do I tie a tie” before you saw any websites, you would see a YouTube tutorial as a featured snippet followed by a FAQ featured snippet. Understanding these results could often impact a website’s digital strategies. Understanding that Google is referencing video content first can definitely help a website plan what content it should make if it wants to show up for that search.
The same can be said for Google AIO. The new format of these AI overviews is to show a summarized answer with a sidebar that links to three “sources”.
How Do I Get My Content To Show Up in Google AI Overviews?
First and foremost, the key to showing up in AI overviews is understanding Google’s philosophy on SEO. SEO writers often get bogged down by the concept that they are appealing to an algorithm, or trying to get the answer picked up by a robot. At Google’s core, Google wants their search engine to be valuable to end users. Human-first content is key to showing up on Google Search Results. Beyond that, it is important to do two things. First; discover the types of questions your website should answer and write compelling and definitive content. Second; make sure it is easy for Google to index this content and understand how this content could help the search engine. Understanding EEAT principles in content writing, and how schema markup can provide a quick shortcut for Google’s algorithm, are both important tools in showing up in AI Overviews.
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Here at Boston Web Marketing, our content writers are constantly staying on top of new changes to Google Search. This includes understanding how to write valuable content for our clients that Google wants to rank. If you are interested in getting a content plan or a free website audit, please contact our team.