Welcome to our May Digital Digest!

This month, we’re taking a look at the continued impact of AI on global search, including the rise of AI Overviews and the impact of these self-contained search experiences, and we’ll also be taking a look at how users are optimising their content to appear in search results – even zero-click searches.

Google AI Links to … Google?

Google’s is now the most linked-to website in AI Overviews.

The launch of Google AI Overviews came with a promise that visibility would be determined by relevance and that all websites would have an equal chance of appearing at the top of search results.

Just a few months later, achieving top ranking now feels more inaccessible than ever, as recent data reveals that 43% of all AI Overviews now link to Google’s own search results. These Overviews reportedly include an average of four links to Google, creating a self-contained search experience that is reshaping search behaviour in real time.

Ask Me Anything!

Answering questions is the best way to be featured in AI Overviews.

It might feel like AI Overviews pop up for every single search, but they are almost always triggered by a search query or direct question. According to Ahrefs, AI Overviews are generated in response to informational search intent keywords 99.2% of the time, so it is no surprise that we are seeing a push towards online content that answers common questions related to its subject matter.

In fact, most AI software driven by LLMs delivers information as answers to questions, so if you want your content to be cited by these popular platforms, its structure really does matter. Use informational keywords within questions and then answer them with lists, short paragraphs, and clear explanations that LLMs can easily crawl, understand, and cite in their AI-powered search results.

Zero-Click Searches

SEO may no longer be about driving clicks, thanks to the rise of zero-click searches.

A majority of Google searches are now zero-click searches, as almost 60% of all search-related activity ends without a single link being clicked.

The biggest reason for this is that users simply don’t have to click on results anymore. A zero-click search happens when the search results show a user the direct answer to their search query, so that they instantly get all the information that they need without having to search around for it.

This information can be delivered through AI Overviews, direct answer boxes, local listings, featured snippets, and ‘People Also Ask’ boxes – the list goes on and on! Yet whilst the majority of these listings include the page’s title and URL, users are very rarely following these links through to the original content to find out more.

Bridging the Digital Skills Gap

Could AI be the unexpected solution to the UK’s digital skills gap?

With 52% of UK adults lacking essential digital skills, let alone advanced ones, AI could be the tool that bridges this ever-widening skills gap. The mass use of AI is already changing the way organisations operate and proficiency in using AI tools is becoming a required skill across industries, so those without the relevant skills risk being left behind – unless AI itself can provide a solution?

When used as a learning resource, AI tools can support digital literacy and give those without technical experience access to digital learning tools and self-directed online learning. This does not replace the need for these essential skills but instead builds digital fluency and unlocks new opportunities in an ever-growing digital job market as demand for these skills continues to rise.

Optimising Existing Content

Refresh useful and relevant content for top ranking results.

As search engines continue to crack down on irrelevant, outdated, and hard-to-read content, it has never been more important to go back through your website and refresh your content to provide a renewed value for users.

Our websites can quickly become cluttered with unnecessary, unoptimised content, so don’t let valuable content go to waste any longer. Refreshing old content to answer questions will improve the likelihood of it showing up in search results and AI-generated overviews, so go back through your website and update your pages with new keywords, internal links, and up-to-date information that provides relevance for users and search engines.

The Digital Digest

The search landscape is continuing to shift in front of our eyes and it’s clear that digital content must be optimised for a range of touchpoints, from search engines to AI chatbots.

Users are finding content in more places than ever, so contact our team for support connecting with your audience wherever they are, and don’t forget to come back next month for all the latest updates from across the digital marketing industry.