Why AI Overviews Make Every Click Matter More

Why AI Overviews Make Every Click Matter More

Sep 21, 2026

Reading Time: 4 minutes
AI overview

If you’ve looked at your analytics lately and seen fewer clicks from search, you’re not alone. It’s a concern we’ve heard from multiple clients over the past year.

As Google’s AI Overviews answer more questions directly on the search results page, users often don’t have to click anymore to get the answer to their search, which means fewer clicks for websites, even when rankings haven’t changed. A 2025 study from the Pew Research Center found that Google users who saw an AI summary clicked on a traditional search result in 8% of visits, compared with 15% when no summary appeared.

Fewer clicks don’t necessarily mean less business, though. Many of the visits that AI Overviews take away from websites were from users who weren’t intending to buy, anyway; they just wanted a quick answer to their question. The people who do still click through to your site want more and are typically more likely to convert into actual customers.

Which Searches Are Losing Clicks to AI Overviews?

The searches that are losing the most clicks to AI Overviews tend to be the simple, informational ones:

  • Definitions: What is a Roth IRA?
  • Quick facts: How long does a water heater usually last?
  • How-to questions: How do I reset my router?
  • Timelines: How long does teeth whitening last?
  • General costs: How much does it cost to board a dog?
  • Maintenance and frequency: How often should I rotate my tires?
  • Simple comparisons: What’s the difference between a will and a trust?
  • Yes-or-no questions: Can you paint over wallpaper?
  • Explanations: Why are my muscles sore two days after a workout?
  • Warning signs: What are the signs of termites?

which searches are losing clicks to AI overviews

Pew’s research also found that 60% of searches that started with a question word like “who,” “what,” “when,” or “why” produced an AI summary, compared with 18% of searches overall. These types of questions are generally easy to answer in a few sentences, so Google now answers them without users ever having to leave the SERP. That does take away some traffic, but honestly, people asking these questions usually weren’t ready to become customers anyway.

What Searches Still Send Traffic to Websites?

Searches from people who are comparing options, making a decision, or ready to act still tend to lead to clicks, such as:

  • Finding a local provider: Emergency plumber near me
  • Comparing options: Best CRM for small businesses
  • Checking reputation: Is Chewy legit?
  • Getting a quote: Roof replacement estimate in Denver
  • Booking or scheduling: Dog groomer open Saturday
  • Ready to buy: Ergonomic office chair free shipping
  • Looking for a specific business: Home Depot hours
  • Personal situations: Do I need a lawyer for my divorce if we agree on everything?

 

An AI summary can’t book an appointment or show someone what working with you is actually like, so users making these searches still tend to land on your website. That’s what makes these clicks so valuable. The people most likely to become customers are still finding you.

How to Make the Most of High-Intent Visitors

Because the users who click through tend to be farther along in their decision, your website should be set up to help them take the next step.

Go Beyond the Basics

#1: Go Beyond the Basics

AI Overviews already cover the basics, but that information has to come from somewhere. Answering common questions clearly can help your content become one of the sources AI Overviews cite, putting your brand in front of searchers even when they don’t click. Then build on those answers with what AI can’t provide, like your own expertise and the specifics of how you work.

#2: Make the Next Step Obvious

Whether it’s requesting a quote, making an appointment, or getting in touch, the next step you want visitors to take should be both obvious and easy to do on every page. The right call to action also depends on the page. Someone reading a service page may be ready to talk, while someone reading a blog post may want to learn more first.

#3: Build Trust Right Away

Visitors who click through are often comparing you with other options, so they may be looking for reasons to trust you quickly. Reviews, examples of your work, clear service details, and easy-to-find contact information help visitors feel confident choosing you. Plus, author bios on your content show readers there’s real expertise behind what they’re reading.

#4: Remove the Friction

A page that takes forever to load can lose a visitor who was ready to buy. So can a pop-up that covers up the content they came to read. Friction like this has always hurt user experience, but it costs you more now that each visit carries more weight.

Turning Fewer Clicks Into More Customers

AI Overviews may have changed how people search, but they haven’t changed what drives business. The users who still click through have already seen a quick answer and chosen to look further, so they arrive better informed and more ready to act.If your website can meet their needs with real expertise and a clear next step, you can turn fewer clicks into more customers. 

Informational content still matters, too, because it builds your visibility and authority, even when it doesn’t earn the click. The end goal of SEO was never meant to be just getting more clicks. It was always about converting clicks into business.

That’s the strategy behind UX-based SEO. If you’re ready to make every click count, contact BrainVine to talk about how we can help you.

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Why Technical SEO Is Really About User Experience

Why Technical SEO Is Really About User Experience

Aug 17, 2026

Reading Time: 4 minutes
technical seo

Technical SEO is often thought of as the behind-the-scenes part of search optimization. Page speed, site structure, security settings, and mobile usability can seem like boxes you have to check for Google’s benefit, while the “real” SEO work happens in the content and keywords.

Technically, technical SEO may not be visible to users, but its effects are felt by the people who visit your site. Google rewards websites that are fast and easy to navigate because people prefer using them. Visitors are quick to leave sites that load slowly or have menus that don’t work on a phone.

That means that at their core, most technical SEO problems are actually user experience problems.

What, Exactly, Is Technical SEO?

Technical SEO is everything that goes into making sure a website’s infrastructure works well for the people who use it, as well as for both search engines and AI platforms. Content SEO focuses on what a page says, while technical SEO focuses on how the site delivers it.

How Does Technical SEO Affect User Experience?

You might never think about a site’s redirects or image file sizes, but you’d definitely notice if something went wrong with them. This is how each part of technical SEO actually shows up for people visiting your website.

technical SEO Speed and Performance

Speed and Performance

  • Page load speed: Visitors expect pages to load quickly, and many won’t wait around for a slow one.
  • Image optimization: Large, uncompressed images are one of the most common reasons pages load slowly, especially on phones.
  • Page stability: You know the moment. You go to tap a link, the page shifts, and suddenly you’ve opened something else entirely.
  • Responsiveness: A button that takes a few seconds to react feels broken, even if it eventually works.
  • JavaScript: Heavy or poorly built scripts can slow pages down or keep content from showing up at all.
  • Server reliability: The best content in the world won’t help if the site is down.

Usability and Accessibility

  • Responsive design: Nobody wants to have to pinch and zoom just to read a paragraph or tap a button.
  • Intrusive pop-ups: Most of us have tried to close a pop-up on our phones and hit the ad instead. It’s not a great first impression.
  • Accessibility: Proper headings, labeled forms, and alt text help visitors using screen readers and other assistive tools, and they help search engines understand your pages, too.

Navigation and Site Structure

  • Site architecture: Visitors should be able to find what they need in a few clicks instead of hunting for it.
  • Internal linking: Links between related pages can guide visitors to more information and, ideally, to the next step you want them to take.
  • Broken links: Nothing says “no one’s paying attention” quite like a “page not found” error.
  • Redirects: Good redirects keep old links and bookmarks working. Long chains of them just slow everything down.
  • URL structure: A URL like “/services/seo” is a lot easier to trust (and share) than one full of random numbers and symbols.

Trust and Security

  • HTTPS: A secure connection protects visitors’ information, and browsers may warn people away from sites that don’t have one.

Search Visibility

  • Crawling and indexing: If search engines can’t find and read a page, users won’t find it either.
  • Duplicate content and canonical tags: These help make sure searchers land on the right, current version of a page.
  • Structured data: It can help your pages show extra details in search results, like reviews or prices, so searchers know what to expect before clicking.
  • International targeting (hreflang): For sites in more than one language or region, it helps visitors land on the version meant for them.

Why Technical SEO Matters Even More in AI Search

Technical SEO matters even more in AI search because each visit now carries more weight, and AI systems need to access your content before they can use it. With AI Overviews answering simple questions right there on the results page, the visitors who do reach your site tend to be further along in their decision-making process, so a slow page or broken menu costs you more. Plus, AI tools rely on crawlers to find content, and a clear, well-built site is easier for them to understand.

Why Technical SEO Matters

Start With the Fixes Your Visitors Will Notice Most

Every item on the list above affects users visiting your website in some way, but some are more noticeable than others. A contact form that doesn’t work on phones can cost you leads right away, while a missing tag might have a smaller effect that builds over time. If your site has technical issues, the to-do list could be long and, honestly, a bit overwhelming. But it’s best to focus on the problems that most affect your visitors first, like page speed on mobile devices.

 

If your site could use a technical tune-up, contact BrainVine, and we’ll help you figure out where to start. 

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Why Topical Authority Matters More for SEO Than Keywords in 2026

Why Topical Authority Matters More for SEO Than Keywords in 2026

Mar 25, 2026

Reading Time: 3 minutes
Why Topical Authority Matters More for SEO
If your SEO strategy is focused predominantly on keywords, you may still be missing the bigger picture. Google hasn’t relied solely on keywords for a very long time, but they still played a large role in SEO strategy. After all, keywords were how Google would match user queries with content.

However, with advances in artificial intelligence leading to Google’s AI overview dominating the top of most search results pages now, the game has changed. Are keywords still relevant at all, let alone as such an important piece of the SEO puzzle? Of course, they are. They just have a different role to play than before, as topical authority has taken over as the most important factor in not just how well you rank but also whether or not your web pages deserve to rank.

What Is Topical Authority?

Topical authority is your demonstrated expertise in a specific subject. Think of it as the network of all of your content on that topic that each individual blog article and web page contributes to. Google isn’t looking at individual pages anymore. Each page or article on that same topic works together to create that network of interconnected, high-quality content that thoroughly covers that subject area from multiple angles.

A website with high topical authority would typically have:

  • Core pillar pages that more broadly address your topic
  • Supporting articles that dive into subtopics
  • Strategic internal links that connect everything together

When done correctly, having a structure like this demonstrates not just to search engines but also to users that you are a trusted authority on that topic.

Why Is Topical Authority So Important?

Google has been shifting away from relying solely on keywords for rankings since the beginning. Its earliest updates were to improve its core algorithm to reward high-quality content and punish spammy, keyword-stuffed, low-quality content with lower rankings. Simply having high-quality content and good keyword research was sufficient for good rankings for a long time after that, but now the SEO landscape has been shifting again, this time at least in part because of generative AI.

Google isn’t necessarily punishing AI-generated content simply because it was generated by AI, but it is punishing low-quality content. On top of that, the AI overview at the top of many SERPs has to pull content from somewhere, and only the most trusted, authoritative content is going to qualify. If you have established yourself as a trusted authority on your topic, then you’ll have a good chance of ranking at the very top.

How Does Topical Authority Connect to E-E-A-T?

Google’s EEAT metrics for evaluating the content quality are not new. If you’ve been creating content with those guidelines in mind since Google announced them, then you’re already in a good place, content-wise. It’s these characteristics (experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness) that Google will be using to determine if content is high-quality. Using EEAT as a standard (and making sure you’ve got a human writer involved in all of your content production, even if AI is used as a tool) will help to make sure that your content is able to contribute to your topical authority.

Are Keywords Still Important in SEO?

Of course, keywords are still an essential component of any good SEO strategy. They’re still how Google connects a user’s query to your content. However, keyword research is a piece of the overall puzzle. It does help users find your content, but if you don’t have the topical authority on a subject, then Google will choose to highlight another website’s content in its AI overview instead.

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How To Optimize for Google’s AI Overviews

How To Optimize for Google’s AI Overviews

Feb 9, 2026

Reading Time: 3 minutes

While Google’s AI overviews aren’t entirely new – they’ve been showing up on SERPs for a few years now – Google is still refining exactly how they work, which means that SEO strategies are still evolving alongside them. The goal is no longer just about ranking on page one, although that is still important. It’s about being one of the trusted sources that Google’s AI algorithm chooses to reference in the overview.

But with the algorithm still adjusting, how do you optimize for ranking in the AI overview? The following tips can help you create an SEO strategy to rank in the AI overview and survive the evolving SEO landscape changes.

 

Tip #1: Answer the Question Immediately

This tip is actually beneficial both for AI algorithms and for human users. AI tends to prioritize content that gets straight to the point. For example, if someone searches for “How do AI Overviews work?” Google is looking for content that clearly and directly explains the answer right away, not a 300-word intro about the history of search engines before finally getting to the explanation.

Start your content with a concise answer in the first few sentences and then expand. Alternatively, you could include a summary or key takeaways at the top of your content. As long as the first thing is a clear answer to the question posed by the title, you can benefit both Google, because it’s easier for the algorithm to extract your response, and because it can help users know right away whether they’ve come to the right place.

 

Tip #2: Structure Content for Extraction

The above advice doesn’t just apply to the beginning of your content; it also applies throughout your content. Google’s AI overview doesn’t pull just from the top of a page, which means that each header and subheader offers another opportunity to ask a question and immediately answer it concisely.

Breaking up your content into sections makes it a lot easier for human readers to understand and find what they’re looking for. But it also makes it easier for AI to parse your content and pull it into an overview. For the same reason, bulleted lists and step-by-step instructions are also AI-friendly.

 

Tip #3: Write in a Clear, Neutral, Informational Tone

AI Overviews tend to pull from content that sounds factual and authoritative. That doesn’t mean your content has to be boring, but you do need to avoid aggressive sales language, clickbait headers, or overly promotional content. What the AI algorithm is looking for is trustworthiness, not marketing.

This style of writing actually makes you read more like an authority on your topic to readers as well. Most people don’t like to be sold to. And while clickbait titles do get traffic, they don’t help establish you as a trusted authority.

 

Tip #4: Build Topical Authority, Not Just One Page

Speaking of authority, the best way to be considered a trusted source is to demonstrate that authority consistently in all content about that topic, not just on one page.

Instead of publishing one blog post about a topic, build a content cluster:

  • Core pillar page
  • Supporting subtopics
  • FAQs
  • Related guides
  • Comparison posts
  • Etc.

The more depth and coverage you provide, the stronger your topical authority signals become. This also helps readers to trust your brand and associate it with useful content about topics they’re interested in.

 

Tip #5: Strengthen E-E-A-T Signals

EEAT has been a major part of SEO content strategy for a long time. It’s what Google uses to determine whether content is high-quality, and it’s been used to determine rankings for years. Although it shouldn’t be new to anyone familiar with the SEO space, it’s important to keep in mind because not only is it important for users, but it’s also something that AI uses to select which content it uses in its summaries.

 

Tip #6: Optimize for Conversational Queries

AI Overviews are often triggered by natural, question-based searches. People on mobile or using voice search frequently search in a more conversational tone. Long-tail keywords and headers phrased as questions are good ways to capture this kind of traffic. This strategy isn’t necessarily new, but it works for AI overviews as well.

 

Optimizing for AI Overviews Is Similar to Optimizing for Users

In many ways, optimizing for the AI overview is very similar to optimizing for users. High-quality, easily skimmable content that also answers the user’s question right away will keep users coming back to your content. At the same time, these are all things that Google’s algorithm looks for in putting together the AI overview. Overall, focusing on the best possible content and structuring it so that it’s easy to read and navigate will help make it ideal for both AI and for users.

 

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Why Human Writers Still Matter for SEO in a World of AI

Why Human Writers Still Matter for SEO in a World of AI

Jan 26, 2026

Reading Time: 3 minutes
In the past, if you weren’t a writer yourself, you had to hire one. Now, anyone with access to an Internet connection can log in to a generative AI platform and churn out a blog or a web page in seconds. Now, the internet is filled with AI-generated content competing with human-written content, and Google has outright stated that it won’t punish AI-generated content with lower rankings.

And while that’s true – AI-generated content can rank – that’s not the whole story.

Why Doesn’t Google Punish AI Content in Search Rankings?

The reason Google hasn’t made a point of punishing AI-generated content in rankings is that ultimately, whether something is human-written, AI-generated, or a hybrid of the two doesn’t matter much for its ultimate goal: high-quality content. Google’s focus has been on connecting users with the best quality of content possible since its beginning, and every update made over the years has been to get closer to that goal.

What this means is that exclusively AI-generated content often gets pushed down in the rankings anyway, even without Google artificially doing so. In many cases, AI content that hasn’t been reviewed and even rewritten by a human writer is just not very good.

EEAT Your Content: Google Rewards Quality

Instead of punishing content simply for being AI-generated, Google instead rewards quality and punishes the lack thereof. This means that any thin, inaccurate AI content will naturally just get pushed down in the rankings anyway. Meanwhile, quality human-written content or AI-assisted content will get rewarded with higher rankings.

This doesn’t mean that AI cannot be used to create quality content. It just means that quality, specifically experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness, are more important than the source of the content.

AI Cannot Recreate Human Experience

AI chatbots may be excellent at generating nice-sounding content, but what they cannot replicate is human experience and human understanding of other humans. AI can also hallucinate, meaning that it can literally just get things wrong. This is why content that’s either human-written or a hybrid of AI-assisted, but with human oversight, tends to rank much better than content that’s just generated by AI wholesale.

Google’s definition of high-quality content includes expertise and experience.

Is AI Replacing Writers?

In some cases, where someone cares more about quantity than quality and doesn’t mind risking lower rankings, then maybe AI could replace a writer. But in most cases, there’s just no replacing the expertise and experience that a real, human writer can bring to the table. Those who are serious about ranking highly should continue to involve humans in that process.

That’s not to say that AI can’t be used to create high-quality content. But AI is a tool, not a writer. Whether LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini ought to be used in writing is an ongoing debate. However, there are plenty of ways that AI can help writers be better and faster without actually generating any of the content. Ranging from assistance with outlining and editing to making research faster, AI can be an extremely useful tool in creating that high-quality content that Google will rank well.

Ultimately, Google’s goal is to reward high-quality content. How you create that content doesn’t matter to Google at the moment, although having human authorship can be a signal of quality to users looking to move beyond the AI content that’s out there. And user signals do translate into the rankings – Google pays attention to what users read and what they click away from.

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How Is AI Changing the Way People Search? (And What Does That Mean for Your SEO Strategy?)

How Is AI Changing the Way People Search? (And What Does That Mean for Your SEO Strategy?)

Aug 26, 2025

Reading Time: 3 minutes
AI has played a huge role in Google’s search engine for decades. It’s what powers the search algorithm and how it connects users to the best results for their search. What’s new is the more public-facing generative AI like ChatGPT, Gemini, Google’s AI Mode, and more. Many of these AI platforms can perform Google searches, and Google has incorporated AI directly into its search engine results page (SERP). But is this changing how people search? And if so, what does that mean for your SEO strategy?

How Is AI Affecting Keywords?

The biggest effect that AI has had on how people search is in the keywords they’re using. Instead of searching for a single word or a short phrase, people tend to treat AI as if it’s another person. They’ll ask full questions, such as “Where is the best coffee shop in Chicago?” instead of “Chicago coffee.” This does mean that keyword strategy can’t just look at words; it needs to involve figuring out user intent and what long-tail keywords would best suit that intent.

What Are Long-Tail Keywords?

Long-tail keywords are longer phrases or even full sentences that are more specific to a user’s search intent. Technically, a longer statement in the style of a shorter keyword may count as a long-tail keyword, but AI’s influence means that most user searches are in the form of a question. This isn’t actually a new thing–long-tail keywords, especially those in question form, have been a part of SEO strategies since people started searching with Siri and Alexa and other voice systems, because they talk to those like they’re people, too. ChatGPT and Gemini are just the first AI systems where you can type the conversation instead of speaking it.

What Is Actually Changing in User Search Behavior?

Even though long-tail keywords have been around for a while, thanks to voice searching, generative AI has still changed the way people have engaged with those keywords. Making a search with Alexa typically involves asking just one question at a time. Searching via ChatGPT or Google’s AI Mode actually allows for follow-up questions. Searching with generative AI is part of a conversation, with back-and-forth between the user and the AI platform. This means that your SEO strategy needs to involve not only thinking about what questions users may be asking but also what follow-up questions they may have.

How Can You Optimize for Long-Tail Keywords?

To make sure your SEO strategy takes into account how search behaviors are changing thanks to AI, you can do the following:

Optimize for Questions

Assume that users will be asking questions of AI engines. It’s important to know exactly what questions people are asking, so looking at the “People also ask” section on Google’s SERP is a good free way of incorporating questions into your keyword research. There are paid tools, like AnswerThePublic or AlsoAsked, that can help as well.

Don’t Ditch Core Keywords

Just because users are searching in a longer question format doesn’t mean you should abandon shorter core keywords altogether. These traditional keywords can help Google to classify your content and determine its relevance, authority, and more. They can still have an impact on your rankings, because Google expects that content about a certain topic will include certain keywords.

Structure Your Content for Layered Searching

Your content should be structured so that it’s layered with possible search questions. A table of contents with jump links can help users to more easily do deeper dives once they’re on your page. But each header is an opportunity for a keyword, and smaller headers can be opportunities for the follow-up questions that are becoming more common.

Look for Ultra-Specific Queries in Search Console

When you’re doing keyword research, keep an eye out for ultra-specific, or even downright weird, questions. Don’t treat these as outliers to be ignored; think of them as opportunities for reaching more of your audience with content that they’re looking for.

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