The Future Of Digital Marketing: How Google AI Overviews Will Change SEO and Digital Marketing Strategy For Small Businesses

I’m pretty lax when it comes to writing blogs but this one has been brewing in the back of mind for a few months now. As a digital marketing specialist who does a lot of work in the search engine optimisation (SEO) space, there are changes happening right now that should reshape how every small business owner approaches their SEO and digital marketing strategy. In every client meeting I’ve had recently, I’ve been discussing the impact of artificial intelligence in SEO and digital marketing, as the level of change we’re seeing is unprecedented.

I’m going to break down some of the key changes we’ve already seen, such as what Google AI overviews means for SEO, as well as highlight what we might expect in the coming months and what you should be doing now to protect your business growth. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rewriting the rules in just about every facet of society right now but not more so than in digital marketing. We’re living through the greatest and fastest period of change in living memory. So strap yourself in and let’s get started.

What Are Google AI Overviews?

AI Overviews are a Google organic search feature that provide an AI generated ‘snapshot’ summary in response to a user's query. They appear at the top of the search engine results page (SERP), above all the other search results.

The answers are generated by collating information from different sources on Google, usually websites that Google already considers trustworthy and helpful and are already ranking well for these queries. Links to the sources that are used in Google AI Overviews are also usually provided both in the text and on the right hand side of the overview.

They are more likely to be generated for ‘informational’ queries using longer search terms. In fact, according to a study by SEMRush, 88% of queries that trigger an AI Overview are informational.

And What Is Google AI Mode?

Google AI mode hasn’t yet been launched in Australia at the time of writing this (July 2025) but its arrival isn’t too far away. AI mode will be a new tab in Search that takes a step further than Overviews by providing a ChatGPT style ‘conversational’ interface.

AI Mode will allow you to ask follow up questions based on the responses given by the tool and deliver detailed responses to user’s prompts, including links to relevant websites. Drawing from sources across the internet including websites, blogs, user reviews, Google Business Profiles, Google maps and more, it completely does away with the usual list of blue links to websites that we’ve become accustomed to.

The Rise Of The LLM

That heading sounds like the title of a sci-fi movie but we can’t really talk about AI in digital marketing without talking about LLMs or Large Language Models. LLMs have become a buzzword that inspires fear and curiosity in almost equal measure.

Can you believe that it’s been just 2 years since ChatGPT became a mainstream tool used by millions? In fact, it was the fastest growing consumer application in history in 2023, adopted by 100 million people in just 2 months after its launch.

Since then more players have emerged in the market including Claude, Gemini, Llama and Grok, along with tools like Perplexity AI, which is an AI powered search engine. Whatever you think of them, they are here to stay and the applications for these tools are going to explode even further.

How Is AI Changing Digital Marketing, SEO and Content Marketing?

The reality is that while AI search is very much here to stay and will continue to develop and grow, if you’ve already been investing in SEO, digital marketing and building content then your strategy doesn’t need to change drastically. It simply needs to evolve and be guided by the latest data and results. In fact, for local businesses I’d say the immediate impact will be even less noticeable because localised search terms are currently less likely to trigger AI responses.

What Has Been The Google Search AI Overview Impact On SEO So Far?

Google search has certainly changed with the introduction of the AI Overview but, as I mentioned earlier, one of the most obvious initial impacts has been that AI Overviews are predominantly being generated for ‘informational’ searches, rather than commercial, transactional or location based queries.

SEO keywords are generally classified according to ‘intent’ under 4 categories:

• Informational - searchers want to gain knowledge about a specific topic

• Commercial - searchers are researching specific brands, products or services

• Navigational - searchers want to find a specific website

• Transactional - searchers are ready-to-buy a product or service

These classifications help us to formulate a content funnel that broadly aligns with a marketing buyer journey e.g. Awareness, Consideration and Decision.

So essentially Google AI overviews are being shown for many ‘top of the funnel’ educational or informational queries. The ‘answers’ to search questions are now collated directly from a range of websites (maybe including yours) where people have built content to drive awareness of their expertise, product or service. This is why many people have seen their blog traffic decline and what has become known as ‘zero click searches’.

What Is A Zero Click Search?

Basically, what this means is that when you Google a term that generates an AI overview (e.g. “What is SEO?”) the information this generates answers the search query so definitively that you don’t need to click a link and visit a website to read a blog or an article on it. In fact, some studies suggest that AI overviews have reduced website clicks by more than a third.

Traditionally, content marketers and bloggers have written ‘top of the funnel’ thought leadership articles on relevant topics in their space, to educate and inform people. The aim of this content is to build awareness for their brand and demonstrate E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness).

E-E-A-T is Google’s framework for evaluating the quality, credibility and reliability of web content. However, initial studies have suggested that many of these articles have been ‘mined’ by Google to feed AI overviews. So if your content gets featured in an AI Overview you benefit from increased brand visibility and authority but your website traffic may decline.

What Types Of Search Queries Don’t Currently Trigger AI Overviews?

It’s important to highlight that Google AI Overviews aren’t currently triggered for all search queries. In fact, for now at least, AI Overviews don’t consistently show for:

• Local search queries e.g. ‘small business marketing consultant brisbane’

  Google still shows Google Business Profiles, Maps and Local pack listings for localised search terms so Local SEO is more important than ever (see below).

• Branded or navigational search queries e.g. ‘Brisbane Small Business Marketing’ or ‘SEMRush login’

  This makes building a recognisable, well-trusted brand that people are likely to search directly for more important

• e-Commerce or transactional terms e.g. ‘buy new apple laptop’ or ‘sign up for netflix’

  These are terms that indicate someone is ready to make a purchase or sign up for a specific service.

What Does AI Mean For My SEO Strategy?

So while this might all sound quite drastic, the advent of AI in SEO is evolution not revolution. It’s really just another shift in how we use technology, albeit one that is changing quite quickly.

It should come as no surprise that websites that have strong organic search traffic also get mentioned more in AI search. The fundamentals of SEO really haven’t changed but we need to adapt to changing user behaviour as the playing field shifts. What does this mean in reality? Well, you still need:

1. A well structured, fast, crawlable website

The technical fundamentals are probably more important than ever:

• Mobile-first responsive design

• Fast loading pages

• Pages that can be crawled and indexed by Google

• Good navigation with clear url structures

• Strong internal linking

• Effective heading structures and hierarchies

• XML sitemap

• Schema markup applied correctly

2. Content that is high quality, regularly updated, unique and original

This has always been a prerequisite to rank well in Google’s search results and will continue to be vital. Your content needs to:

• Be written by a human, not just churned out by ChatGPT

• Be written for your customer, not for a search engine

• Demonstrate real expertise. Remember E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authority, trust) is crucial

• Be updated regularly. Remove or redirect content that can’t be updated or duplicates existing pages or posts. There is evidence that Google has already started de-indexing ‘thin content’ pages that haven’t been updated in the last couple of years and don’t have internal links pointing to them

3. Strategic Keyword Targeting & Usage

Keyword research has always been fundamental in SEO management but with AI it actually becomes even more critical. You need to:

• Understand user intent - what results is a user expecting to find when searching for a keyphrase?

• Think like your customer - what would they search when trying to find a solution to a problem you can solve?

• Ensure your product and service pages are optimised for the commercial and transactional keywords that are going to drive conversions

• Invest in thorough keyword research and create commercial keyword clusters so you can write content that supports your main products and services

The Future Of SEO: What AI Overviews Means For SEO

So what is the future of SEO? And what do AI Overviews mean for SEO moving forward? You may have already seen a few new terms being thrown around in the SEO space: AEO and GEO. AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation while GEO is Generative Engine Optimisation.

Put very simply, AEO relates to how to optimise for your content to appear for ‘answer’ style content such as Google AI overviews, featured snippets and People Also Ask. GEO is the process of making your content more visible to generative AI tools or LLMs such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.

Most small businesses don’t need to worry about the nuances around these terms and whether you need to adopt different strategies for them. What I’m seeing is that if you’re doing the SEO fundamentals well and adapting to changing user behaviour in online searches, you still have the best chance of being found across all search engine types. In fact, Gary Illyes from Google confirmed that normal SEO works for AI at a Google Search Central Live event just last week (25th July 2025).

So what practical steps should you now take to support your existing SEO strategy?

4. Structure Content For AI Comprehension and Visibility

AI is training us all to be more conversational online and ask questions rather than just use a short query. The way we search online is changing and that means the way that we create content should change too. AI overviews are pulling segments or chunks from your content, not the entire page. You should use:

• Logical heading hierarchies

• Structure content in clear sections

• Answer specific questions: think like your customer or client would. What questions would they be most likely to ask and search for answers for?

• Include bullet point lists that make it easier to identify the points being made

• Apply any missing schema markup and structured data to help AI tools better understand your content e.g. FAQs, local schema markup, customer reviews etc

5. Invest In Local SEO

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is more important than ever if you’re a small business targeting local areas. You need to:

• Claim and optimise your business listing

• Ensure your name, address and phone number (NAP) are consistently used

• Grow your local listings (citation management) e.g. Yellow Pages, True Local and industry-specific directories.

• Gather as many positive Google reviews as you can to build trust with Google and your potential customers

• Post your articles to your Google Business Profile

• Add local landing pages to your website to showcase how you can support potential customers in specific locations

6. Optimise for Multiple Modalities

AI Mode supports voice and image search and AI tools are also delivering multi-modal content in the responses they give to queries. This includes images, tables, charts and videos. So make sure that:

• Images have descriptive alt text

• Videos have transcripts

• Voice search is supported by conversational language.

How Does AI Change My Content Strategy?

If you’re just churning out content that’s been written by ChatGPT, you need to stop! Apart from the fact that it is so obvious to people who work with content every day what has been written by AI, it will also completely fail the E-E-A-T test.

Please also note: If you're using AI tools and content to help you make important business decisions, you need to be VERY careful! The quality of the information being churned out is frequently debatable. Just because it pulls information from multiple sources definitely doesn't make it more trustworthy or reliable.

Quality is now far more important than quantity.

7. Create High Quality, Authoritative Content Using The E-E-A-T Framework

This has been a reality in SEO forever so there is nothing new in this concept - it has just become that bit more important now. Ensure that:

• You create detailed, helpful content that answers questions your customers might have

• You build topical authority: demonstrate your knowledge, true expertise, experience and credibility by writing in-depth content on specific topics relevant in your space

• Your content is accurate, original and offers genuine value to the reader

• You don’t write generic content that demonstrates no expertise, genuine insights or critical thinking.

• Structure and optimise your content for easy readability and ‘scraping’ by AI tools

8. Focus on Content That Drives Conversions

The main shift that I would recommend in terms of content strategy is to shift your focus towards creating content that actually brings in customers or clients. This means really understanding your target customer: their wants, their needs, their fears, their aspirations, their potential sales objections, their emotional triggers AND the language they might use.

• Focus on re-optiming the ‘money’ pages on your website.

  This means your main product or service pages that convert prospects to customers. Make your core product and service pages comprehensive including e.g. FAQs, detailed product and service descriptions, price guides, case studies etc.

• Then build content for the middle and bottom of the funnel (the ‘consideration’ and ‘decision’ stages of buyer decision-making) that support these pages.

  Create content that funnels to your product and service pages - this is where your internal linking strategy becomes really important. This means understanding the search intent of keyword phrases and creating commercial keyword clusters focused on specific topics and/or niches to build your authority in that space.

9. Update Existing Content That Already Ranks In Google Search

I’ve also noticed that many pieces of older content are being pulled into Google’s AI overviews, probably because they have previously ranked well in the search results. Lean into this and re-work existing blogs and landing pages:

• Update with more relevant facts, figures, data and references

• Re-work headings and the overall structure for better AI crawlability and comprehension e.g. lists and summaries

• Add FAQs with appropriate schema markup to give your content a better chance of being featured in AI ‘answer’ responses.

• Update your internal linking to make sure it funnels to your commercially focused product and service pages

How Do You Demonstrate E-E-A-T?

I’ve mentioned the E-E-A-T framework multiple times already but not really explained how to practically apply this. There are a few key elements that can significantly help you demonstrate E-E-A-T. It’s about demonstrating personal and brand credibility and can include:

• Adding author bios, certifications, accreditations etc

• Building your testimonials, reviews

• Developing case studies

• Updating your content regularly to ensure factual accuracy and relevance

• Citing reputable sources in your content including research, expert opinions etc.

• Being transparent and ethical, don’t make claims you can’t substantiate

What Does AI Search Mean For Small Business Digital Marketing?

Well, first off, it’s important to say that the fundamental principles of marketing still apply. Knowing your target customer and finding the right channels to reach them is, and always will be, the single most important foundation of marketing.

The Importance Of Local SEO

Is SEO still worth it for small business? For me, the answer is still a firm 'yes'. The SEO strategy for businesses targeting local areas should remain firmly focused on applying the fundamentals of local SEO. Why? Because with local SEO it’s not all about your website. It’s about being found on Google’s maps for relevant searches AND because, right now at least, Google still shows Google Business Profiles, Maps and Local pack listings for localised search terms e.g. ‘business marketing consultant brisbane’ or ‘small business marketing brisbane’.

What Are The Fundamentals Of Local SEO?

• Ensuring you have a Google Business Profile that is fully optimised

  • Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number)

• Gather as many positive reviews as possible for your business

• Grow your local listings (citation management) e.g. Yellow Pages, True Local and industry-specific directories.

• Create local landing pages for specific areas you service

Do I Need To Change My Digital Marketing Strategy Because Of AI?

The reality for most businesses who have already been investing in SEO and content marketing as part of their digital marketing strategy is that the fundamentals haven’t changed. The same strategies that have helped you appear in Google search will also help you appear in Google AI Overviews and other AI engines like ChatGPT.

What is becoming more evident and more critical right now is that putting all your eggs in one basket, so to speak, presents a far greater risk to your marketing than it ever has.

Investing in just one channel to build your brand and drive your sales and leads presents too great a risk for all businesses now.

More than ever, you need to be present on the channels that your target customers are most likely to be hanging out on, whether that’s Facebook, Google, Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube or Reddit etc. To do this you need to:

10. Know what channels your target customer is using most regularly and engage with them there.

Engage and share relevant content with your customers across multiple digital channels. Even better, build your own community online. If you're not already using these channels in your digital marketing strategy, I highly encourage you to build these in to your plan:

• Email marketing: one of the most important digital channels

• Paid ad channels e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Google, LinkedIn

• Organic social channels

• Online forums

11. Develop content in a variety of formats that can be repurposed for use on multiple channels

Google AI overviews and AI Mode are using content in a variety of formats so it doesn’t just make sense to re-purpose your content from an efficiency perspective so you can use it on different channels but also to position you for AI opportunities. Longer form content like a blog post can become a video of you talking about the topic and salient points could be used to create infographics, tables, charts or images.

12. Build Your Brand

The stronger your brand is, the more you are likely to benefit from direct search (where someone searches for your business by name) and the likelier you are to feature in the AI tools because you obviously have some credibility, authority and trust. It also makes you less susceptible to big changes in traffic sources and less reliant on a single channel should things change radically.

13. Analyse Your Data

This is one of the biggies for me because people don’t spend enough time digging into their digital marketing analytics and making rational decisions based on the findings. Don’t just focus on the vanity metrics. Look for patterns in website traffic, engagement and conversions. What channels are working for you? What terms are people using to find your website? Which pages are converting the best? What does the data tell you about content gaps? Or the search terms people are now using online? How do you become the answer to your potential customer’s question?

The digital marketing ecosystem is evolving so quickly. All the tools and major players we have relied on in digital marketing to build brand awareness, win sales and secure leads, like Google and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) are all flexing their AI muscles and testing how to apply this technology to grow their own businesses.

And consumers are adapting to these changes too. The LLMs are training us to adopt more conversational language and we’re re-learning how to search online to find the results that we actually wanted (rather than the ones Google is determined to feed us!)

And as these changes roll out, we will continue to see lots of fluctuations in the traditional KPIs we have used to measure business and marketing success.

FAQs About AI SEO and Marketing

How does the AI Overview affect SEO?

AI overviews are now the dominant result in Google search results, particularly for informational queries, as they appear at the top of the search results page. They are affecting both how users search online and organic traffic because they reduce the need to click through to a website.

Are AI Overviews always correct?

No - it’s important to critically evaluate the answers generated by AI overviews. The results are synthesised from multiple website sources and sometimes these sources can be outdated

How do AI Overviews affect Google click rates?

AI Overviews have resulted in what is known as ‘zero click’ search. This means that the information they generate answers the search query so definitively that users no longer need to click a link and visit a website. Some studies suggest that AI Overviews have reduced website clicks by more than a third.

Do I need to change my SEO strategy because of AI overviews?

Yes - it’s important to be aware and adapt to how AI overviews are changing the way people search and interact with your website. The basics of SEO still apply but the need to focus on user needs and develop high quality, authoritative content that follows Google’s E-E-A-T framework is more important than ever.

What does AI mean for SEO content?

Google has always prioritised high quality, relevant and helpful content and AI makes this even more important, particularly if you want to differentiate yourself and demonstrate your expertise. If you’re just churning out content that’s been written by an AI tool, it will completely fail the E-E-A-T test. You also need to be focused on the search intent of a keyword or phrase so your content aligns with what a user is actually searching for online.

How do I demonstrate E-E-A-T?

E-E-A-T is about demonstrating personal and brand credibility. The content you write should be original, well-structured and, crucially, helpful to your audience. In-depth, accurate content that is well researched and cites reputable sources and studies will help to build your authority, reputation and credibility as an author and a brand.

Why is keyword intent more important in the AI era?

AI tools can differentiate the search intent of a user’s query and ensure that the results delivered fit the context of the search, providing more accurate and relevant results. When you create content that matches user intent you are more likely to rank well, have higher engagement and increase conversions.

Are there any benefits of appearing in Google’s AI overviews?

Yes - if your content gets featured in an AI Overview you benefit from increased online visibility and brand authority. Links to websites that have contributed to the AI overview are provided and some studies also suggest that you may also benefit from higher quality traffic and improved conversion rates.

How will artificial intelligence affect SEO in the future?

As well as improving the efficiency of some SEO processes such as automated content strategies and a greater focus on understanding user intent, artificial intelligence will continue to transform how we actually do SEO. Google's ongoing development of AI Mode alongside the plethora of tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity etc. means a well-developed SEO strategy is more important than ever.

How Can I Position My Small Business To Ride The AI Wave?

You’ve most likely already seen many people claiming to be ‘experts’ in AIO (Artificial Intelligence Optimisation), AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) or GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) or some other acronym ending in O. (And anyone that knows me knows how much I hate industry jargon!) The truth is nobody is an expert in any of this yet. We’re only just at the beginning of this transition so nobody can call themselves an expert in the AI search space.

The most important thing you can do is to work with an SEO consultant who is as invested as you are in getting your small business ‘seen’ online. Any digital marketing specialist worth their salt will be staying on top of the latest industry research and reports, applying the wider learnings that they read about and adapting your strategy to give you the best chance of growing your business.

If you need help understanding how your business should be navigating the changing landscape of AI in digital marketing, SEO and content strategy, book a consultation here.

All the information in this article is correct at the time of writing (July 2025). However, this general guidance and changes are happening all the time so it's important to get the latest advice.