01What Google AI Overviews SEO is and how it works

Google AI overviews SEO is the work of getting your website shown and linked inside the AI answers at the top of Google. Google's AI writes an answer first, then picks which sites to mention, where to put them and how big they look.

A year ago the goal was simple: rank at the top and get the click. Now there is a new layer on top of that. Julian Goldie explains that the spot your link holds inside the AI answer is the new spot that matters.

The scale is large. AI mode passed 1 billion users a month by May 2026. Reports put AI overviews at more than 2.5 billion users.

On October 15, Google changed where links show up inside its AI answers. If your business gets customers from Google, this decides whether people ever reach your website.

  • Zero click search: someone searches, reads the answer on Google and never visits a site.
  • Why it hurts: no visit means no call booked, no sale, no email signup.

02The five link changes in the Google AI Overviews update

Google made five changes to how links appear in AI answers. Two are upgrades of things launched in May. The post came from Google's Vice President of Product Management.

  • Inline links moved higher. These are clickable words inside the answer itself. Google says they show up more often and will now sit higher.
  • News carousels spread. These rows of article cards are going to more countries, more languages and more kinds of searches.
  • Bigger links at the end of answers. They now get image thumbnails and a larger, more clickable design.
  • Clickable creator names. Testing began the week of October 12 on video results in AI mode.
  • An official website box. Google is testing a new box at the very top of some answers.

Google did not share a single click number for any of these changes.

03The official website box and why it matters most

The biggest change is the test of a new section at the top of some AI answers. Google says sometimes there are only one or two official places on the web to get a task done. It will show those links in their own section with a short note on why each is useful.

Google showed an airline refund search as an example. The top of the answer points straight at the airline's own refund page. Google already shows a brand's site first when you search the brand name.

This goes further and covers tasks like refunds, renewals, forms and bookings.

This puts almost all the attention on one or two sites. Say 100 websites wrote about airline refunds. Before, they all had a shot.

Now the airline's page sits in the top box and the guides sit below.

  • Google did not say how it decides which sites count as official.
  • It did not say how big the test is, where it runs or when it starts.
  • It did not say if how-to sites will show next to the official link.

04How to get started with Google AI Overviews SEO

Julian Goldie points to three areas that matter right now: being cited high in AI answers, being picked as a preferred source, and being the clear official place for your own services. These steps follow from the update.

  1. Check where your site shows up in Google AI mode and AI overviews today.
  2. Make your key pages clear: booking, pricing, contact and policies. Nobody else is the official source for how to book a call with you.
  3. Explain each task on your own pages in plain words so you are the obvious pick for the official box.
  4. Aim to be the source the AI reaches for first, near the top of the answer.
  5. Publish fresh content often, so your newest posts can land in news carousels.
  6. Ask readers to pick your site as a preferred source.
  7. Watch your inbox. Google began emailing some site owners their preferred source count on October 6.

05How preferred sources work and why they matter

Preferred sources is a Google feature where you pick the websites you trust most. Google then shows you those sites more often in your results, with a little badge.

Google says use of the feature has grown more than seven times since January. It did not say how many people used it in January, so the size of that growth is unclear.

The number of sites people have picked is clearer:

  • December 2025: nearly 90,000 websites.
  • May 2026: more than 345,000 websites.
  • August: more than 600,000 websites.

That is more than six times growth in about eight months. Google also says people click a preferred source about twice as often, but it did not say compared to what.

Preferred sources also feed the news carousels. If a reader picked your site, your articles stand out in that row. This helps anyone who publishes new content often.

Google began emailing some site owners their count on October 6, with a short survey asking if it should live in Search Console.

06What the data says about clicks and AI overviews

The numbers tell a clearer story than Google's blog post. Julian Goldie walks through four data points.

  • The 1,065-person US study: with AI overviews on, clicks out to websites dropped 39.8%. Searches with no click rose 34.5%.
  • Clicks per search: 0.62 with AI overviews hidden, 0.37 with them showing. That is about 25 fewer clicks per 100 searches.
  • Ahrefs-style data from Atress: in February 2026, top ranking pages lost 58% of their click rate when AI overviews showed. In April 2025 it was 34.5%. It got worse, not better.
  • Google's side: Nick Fox, who runs search, said in July that Google sends billions of clicks to sites every week from AI features. He did not say billions out of how many.

So outside studies say clicks are falling. Google says it is adding links, but has not shown that those links bring clicks back. The sites that win will be the ones in the spots Google is making bigger and higher.

07Tips, limits and things to watch

Several parts of this update are still unclear. Knowing the gaps helps you avoid wrong moves.

  • Creator name catch: clicking a creator's name goes to their Google search profile, not their website. The profile collects articles, videos and social posts. Google did not say if this adds a step or replaces a direct click.
  • Profile limits: profiles launched in the US on June 4, 2026. You need about 300,000 TikTok followers or 100,000 on Instagram or X, and must be at least 18.
  • Missing details: Google did not list the new countries and languages for carousels. An example was seen running in India.
  • Opt-out: in July, Google added a Search Console setting to opt out of AI overviews and AI mode fully. It was still rolling out to some sites.

Do not treat any single stat as proof of what the changes will do. Google gave no numbers on how many answers have inline links or how much higher they moved.

08Who this is for and why it matters

This matters to any business that gets customers from Google. If people stop at the AI answer, they do not book, buy or join your list. They do not even learn your name.

  • Local and service businesses: your booking, pricing and contact pages can be the official pick.
  • Publishers: fresh daily content can win a place in news carousels, especially with preferred source picks.
  • Creators: clickable names give a new place to be seen, with search profiles as the landing spot.

Julian Goldie's Goldie Agency does SEO for clients every day with about 70 people on the team. The question they hear most is whether a site will even be seen in AI answers. Google is now shaping who gets seen: early sites, reader favorites, official sites and creators with profiles.

Julian offers a free SEO strategy session at JulianGoldie.com, and more training in the AI Profit Boardroom.