Introduction
Google has been synonymous with search for 25 years now; a lot of users will say that Google is search. You might argue it’s an exaggeration, but it is tough to imagine using the Web without Google’s services. That said, a recent development surrounding the company’s search functions has brought forth both anger and derision in equal measures.
The development is Google’s latest addition to its search ecosystem- AI Overviews.
Powered by Gemini, these AI Overviews scans the top results for any query and presents a distilled and more digestible answer. This, the company believes, is the future of the search experience.
First shown off at the I/O on May 14, it came just 1 day after arch-rival OpenAI’s launch of their cutting-edge GenAI tool, GPT-4o. AI Overview is still being tested and doesn’t appear in ~95% of all searches. The AI-generated summaries – or Overviews – are designed to deliver quick and relevant information, reducing the need to sift through several search results.
It’s true that as with any new technology, it was reasonable to assume that AI Overviews would promise benefits and face notable challenges. But Google might have rolled it out too early, given the fallacious (and often hilarious) results the new feature doles out.
AI Overviews are not going away, however. Let’s explore its potential impact on how search will change, and how businesses & digital marketing strategies will have to cope.
An Overview of Google’s AI Overviews
Google AI Overview is part of the company’s ongoing effort to integrate AI much more deeply into its search engine. The King of Search wanted to leverage advanced machine learning algorithms to generate summaries tailored for search queries. This summary would appear at the top of the search results page.
In theory, this snapshot of the most pertinent information would be an advancement of what it calls Search Generative Experience or SGE.
Behind the scenes of AI Overview is natural language processing (or NLP) and an immense database of indexed content. When you type out something in the search bar, the AI dives into this database, identifies the most relevant results & information, and presents it as a coherent summary. The entire AI Overview experience is in real-time, which is very impressive, and taps into newsfeeds to ensure every detail provided is updated.
Google AI Overview can handle extremely complex queries & understands context and nuance over and above simple keyword matching. The result is a finely refined and relevant summary plus a superior understanding of the subject matter.
The AI Overview feature is Google’s new and improved take on user-friendliness and accessibility; placing it on the top means more savings in time and effort.
This sounds great on paper, but AI Overview has had some serious roadblocks.
A For Accuracy or Anomaly?
The reason many tech experts and industry watchers labeled May 14 as Google’s ‘Day Zero’ was the mistakes it made. From explaining how many rocks one should include in one’s diets to advising how to ensure cheese sticks to edible items, these summaries became the butt of jokes and memes.
It is well-known that AI is prone to hallucinations or factual errors despite all the sophisticated algorithms and extensive data sources. Complex queries can often be misunderstood.
One more challenge that AI Overview faced was a very real potential for bias in the summaries. The AI works using data mined from indexed troves of data, and any inherent biases in the source material can be reflected leading to skewed, incomplete, or downright offensive information and search results.
The latter part is particularly problematic when sensitive or controversial topics are being searched for.
Google’s Response
Naturally, the search giant sprang into firefighting mode. Its spokespersons stated that misleading results were less than 1 in every 7 million queries and blamed the poor quality of data that was used to train the LLM that drives the Overview feature. Elizabeth Reid, VP and Head of Google Search, weighed in as well, stating how complex queries could puzzle the search mechanism.
Other experts also blamed the training data used and the possible lack of human intervention. Suzan Verberne, NLP expert & professor at Leiden University, was quoted in the MIT Technology Review as saying that analyzing complicated (and often contradictory) data and generating a summary were 2 separate processes which were difficult to handle.
Most experts agree that one of the biggest digital marketing trends will be the doubling-down of AI Overviews as Google takes care of the glitches. Going forward, more queries will have summaries sitting atop.
How AI Overviews Can Help Businesses and Digital Marketing for SMBs?
Yes, the feature has a long way to go; it’s not even available in all countries now. Here are several ways this technology helps & can be leveraged by businesses globally:
> Enhanced Visibility and Reach
For businesses, appearing in Google AI Overviews can drastically improve visibility. When people see the AI selecting content from your business’s website for the summary, they instantly identify your company as an authoritative source of correct information. Obviously, more visibility equals a rush in web traffic and greater brand recognition.
> Improved User Engagement
Google rolled out AI Overviews for a better search experience, and it helps small and medium businesses improve user engagement by providing quick answers to common queries. This sense of immediacy is very helpful, as visitors are more likely to stay on those websites which address their needs and are more appealing.
If a potential customer keys in “best digital marketing strategies,” and the AI Overview features content from a certain business’s blog, user engagement figures will skyrocket, as will potential leads.
> Targeted Content Creation
One way to create foolproof plans for digital marketing for SMBs is making out which keywords & contexts trigger AI Overviews. These insights will help businesses like yours to up their content strategy. This means a keen focus on creating high-quality & relevant content in sync with guidelines like EEAT, among others. A targeted approach to superior content means niching down and crafting effective content marketing campaigns.
> Enhanced SEO Strategies
The introduction of AI Overviews necessitates a complete overhaul of your 2025 SEO strategies. In the age of generative AI, you need to invest in, and plan Generative Engine Optimization of GEO. Meaning, planning for traditional search algorithms & AI summarization. The age of ‘zero-click searches’ might soon be here, and your website must have clear, concise, and superior content that’s easily accessible.
The better you get at GEO, the more your chances of getting that seat at the top!
> More Efficient Customer Support
For customer service-oriented businesses, AI Overviews are one way to come up with quick responses to FAQs. Over time, it reduces your customer support team’s workload. Even the simplest and most common queries (“how do I return a product” or “do you offer refunds on returns”) take up valuable time getting addressed.
One of the more noticeable digital marketing trends emerging is AI Overviews of every conceivable question being taken care of.
> Competitive Analysis
What are your competitors doing that you are not? What are their strategies you can seek inspiration from? These – and a lot more – can be taken care of by the feature. The summary of points will be industry-specific, helping you understand and refine your own strategies to better compete on the Big Wild Web.
> Adapting to Algorithm Changes
Google frequently tweaks its search engine algorithms, and major (or core) updates are rolled out almost every year. Companies abreast with these updates (and there will be more now that GEO and AI-powered searches are here) tend to be at the forefront of search engine visibility and user engagement.
This brings us to the next point.
The Remote Resource Advantage
Dodgy food advice, questionable dietary discourses, and downright wrong historical trivia have made for laughs. But Google understands that it cannot afford to make mistakes and will work on bettering its AI Overviews.
You will need to modify your digital marketing strategy and keep an eye on what’s changing on the technical (mostly algorithmic) front to stay competitive. These are things you should delegate to experts, and this is where remote staffing solutions enter the equation.
As Google AI Overviews overcomes its teething issues (“we will get better”, the Mountain View, CA giant has stated), get in touch with Remote Resource and access the most brilliant minds in the field. Let our specialists leverage this technology to enhance your business’ online presence, improve user engagement, and stay ahead of the curve.
