The rise of AI has led every tech company, from the smallest startups to the largest corporations, to adopt this remarkable technology. Google is no exception, having integrated AI into its major products, namely Google Search and Google Maps. Google’s new AI Overview (previously known as the Search Generative Experience) utilises artificial intelligence to provide a more robust, personalised, and intuitive experience to its users. This represents the most significant shakeup in how Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are presented to users in years, heralding a major change in how information is retrieved and displayed. All Google users, from marketers to everyday consumers, will need to adapt to these changes in search dynamics.
Google’s AI Overview is an AI-powered programme designed to offer a more “natural” way to conduct research or delve deeper into a topic. It provides comprehensive overviews of topics directly in the SERPs, reducing the need to click through several different web pages to find an answer. The goal is to simplify the search process, allowing users to phrase queries as they would in natural conversation, as if they were speaking to another person. Google’s Gemini Language Processor then delivers results based on assumed intent, providing immediate answers, products, and other information that the AI identifies as relevant to the specific user.
Practically, the AI Overview will appear when Google believes it can provide a succinct answer to a user’s query without needing to direct them to any blue links. Google utilises its Gemini natural language processing to present generative AI answers. Ads will also be displayed alongside these overviews, with a preference for those from which the AI can extract additional information.
Advertisers do not need to take any action for their existing paid ads to be included in AI Overviews. Current Search, Performance Max, and Shopping campaigns are automatically eligible to appear. When an ad is relevant to both the search query and the AI Overviews, it will be featured within that overview in a “sponsored” section. The prioritisation of these ads is a blend of regular ad buys and organic AI Overview snippets.