Definition
The official rollout of AI Overviews by Google, announced at Google I/O in May 2024, marks the biggest transformation of the search results page in years. After an experimental phase under the name Search Generative Experience (SGE) launched in May 2023, Google integrated AI-generated responses directly into search results for billions of users. AI Overviews appear at the top of SERPs and synthesize information from multiple web sources to provide a direct answer. The initial US rollout in May 2024 was progressively extended to other countries throughout 2024-2025. This evolution has a major SEO impact: an estimated 15-30% drop in organic CTR for informational queries, but creates opportunities for sites cited as sources in AI Overviews.
Key Points
- Official rollout in May 2024, after the 2023 SGE phase
- AI responses synthesizing multiple sources displayed above organic results
- Major organic CTR impact: -15 to 30% for informational queries
Practical Examples
Impact on informational traffic
A recipe site sees a 25% organic traffic drop on its recipe pages because Google now displays the steps directly in an AI Overview, reducing the need to click.
Citation opportunity
A personal finance blog sees its traffic increase by 10% because it is regularly cited as a source in AI Overviews for complex financial queries, benefiting from increased visibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
Produce authoritative, factual, and well-structured content. AI Overviews preferentially cite sources recognized as experts in their field. Strengthen your E-E-A-T signals, structure your content with Schema.org structured data, and acquire quality backlinks to reinforce your authority via LemmiLink.
No, but they transform SEO. Transactional queries and searches requiring in-depth exploration are less affected. Strategy must evolve toward GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) in addition to classic SEO, aiming to be cited as a source in AI responses.
Go Further with LemmiLink
Discover how LemmiLink can help you put these SEO concepts into practice.
Last updated: 2026-02-07