So Google AI overviews, and I think maybe I’ll start saying that the landscape for digital marketing this year, without overstating things, is going to change in ways that we haven’t seen in 20 years. Maybe since the invention of Google itself. There’s a real chance that this year Google could lose significant market share. People are going to start asking questions of the web, looking for answers in ways that they never have before. And this is because of AI.
So a harbinger of this is these Google AI overviews. And you probably see as you’re doing searches on Google, it sometimes summarizes an answer at the top of the search results. So the result of this is that you’re not going to scroll down and click on those links that you traditionally would. Now it just gives you an answer. So the result for brands for doctors, for example, who want to be seen in search, is that they’re going to get fewer clicks for a lot of searches, particularly for informational searches.
So, what are Google AI Overviews?
Google AI overviews are a radically different way that Google is now giving answers to people’s questions. Instead of Google giving you that list of 10 search results, the 10 websites it would traditionally give you on the Google results page, now it just gives you an answer. It’s an AI generated answer. And people are much less likely to click on the links below because they’re just going to get the answer from Google’s AI.
The biggest change, and we’re seeing this already according to one study for informational searches, where people just want an answer to a question, we’re seeing up to an 85 percent drop off in clicks on the links that are below. I mean, that is tremendous.
What should businesses dependent on Google do?
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. So optimize your content for AI overviews. Do what we can to get Google to incorporate our information into the AI overview.
And as a result, they will then create a citation to your website. And we see the people who are getting those citations are actually getting significant traffic from that. So we do that by making clear answers to questions, concise, clear headings, bullet points. A lot of the things that we’ve been doing for a while, but it’s all the more important now that we have these AI overviews.
We want to get our information incorporated into the AI overviews. And you do that by just making the content all the more accessible.
And then you also do it by giving better answers from the next website. You go into more depth, show that you are the authority on this topic.
You can also do it by leveraging trending topics, staying ahead of the curve, so that Google sees you as being out front on these things and incorporates your content into their overviews.
Why it’s risky to rely on solely Google for traffic in 2025
I think there’s kind of two main keys here is that the user behavior is changing and that always there’s a risk of algorithms changing.
So that first part, user behavior is changing. People are going to start using ChatGPT. They already are using alternatives to Google to answer their questions. And if they leave Google’s platform and you’ve been optimizing for Google, they’re not going to see you on Google.
And then the other thing is something we’ve dealt with forever, which is algorithm shifts. Google, in its fickle whims, can change the way that it prioritizes what gets seen. And it has done this forever, but it’s always been small tweaks. But now that there’s a real, frankly, threat to Google’s market dominance, they’re making big swings. They’re making these big changes, like showing the AI overview on the top of their page.
And, for example Reddit. Now, any question you ask of Google, they start showing you results for Reddit. That wasn’t the case a year ago, but now they’re trying to incorporate all of this user generated content as a hedge against all of the AI content. If they wanted to, they could just change your algorithm again, and Reddit just goes away. So you don’t want to put all of your eggs in Google’s basket. You never did. And now more so than ever.
What are the best alternative channels to Google to drive traffic?
It used to be safe to just optimize for Google, essentially, because Google had 95 percent market share for search. People have questions, they go to Google. That could be changing rapidly and you want to be prepared for it.
One of the solutions is going to be diversifying where your content is distributed online.
So for example social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn. Review sites, Yelp, for plastic surgery, RealSelf, Healthgrades. And then newsletters, using your email marketing to build a direct audience. We’re not just doing this to respond to the chance of Google going away or being less visible, but also by diversifying where we are on the web, we increase the likelihood that the chatbots, the LLMs, are going to see us when they’re scraping the entire web for content. If you’re in lots of places, more likely it’s going to see you. And then it’s going to say, Oh, this site, this brand, this surgeon must be reputable because they’re everywhere. So we’re going to include them in our chatbot results.
How to get brand recognition when your content is being cannibalized by AI
So if your content is being just ingested by AI and being spit out, and maybe they’re including a citation, but maybe they’re not. I think it’s just important that we, say our brand name when we’re creating content. So here at Wax Plum, we recommend that you create short form video content and distribute it to multiple channels. So mention your brand, talk about yourself, and those things will be included in the AI overviews.
Some strategies to grow direct traffic
Particularly when we’re less sure about Google and things are shifting, it’s more important than ever to build up your own direct connection to your customers, to your clients, to your patients.
Email marketing. Build and maintain a subscriber list, drive direct visits to your site. More and more as we go to websites, a little email you know, sign up for our newsletter pops up, save 10 percent on your first order. The reason that they do this is because it is much easier to get an existing user to return than to try and get a new user to come to the site. In the same way that McDonald’s tries to upsell you when you’re in the drive thru and they say, you can supersize your meal. Rather than try and find a new customer, it’s easier to sell a current customer more. So grab the people who come to your site, hang on to them and then send them useful, engaging material.
Staying nimble in 2025
The overall message for 2025 is to experiment and adapt. Test new platforms. New social media comes online, check it out, play with it. Try new formats, try video, try audio, try different things to reach people.
I know it’s a lot of stuff to do, but it’s important that we experiment and that we stay resilient. Monitor the performance of these tools and these techniques. Use Google analytics, use the analytics that are built into social media.
But I think the overall message is that digital marketing is changing significantly. AI overviews, zero click searches are reshaping the way that you’re going to get seen. So you’ve got to optimize for AI. You’ve got to diversify your traffic sources. You’ve gotta stay agile to stay competitive in 2025.
And if you’d like to talk about how we can help, you can email me at garth@waxplum.com.