7 things nonprofits need to know about AI Overviews
Google have recently launched AI Overviews (AIOs) to the US public – and a small percentage of logged-in UK users – after working on this new search results feature for over a year.
AIOs are AI generated results at the top of search results pages, that summarise information from a variety of sources. They can be seen both as an SEO opportunity and a threat to websites' organic performance.
Google has been testing AI Overviews in the open, allowing US visitors who opt into 'Search Labs' to see experimental search results as part of their day-to-day Googling.
Alongside this test phase (back when Google called AI results 'Search Generative Experience'), we ran our own experiments to figure out the impact of AI answers on charity sites. And we're using our findings to inform SEO strategies and advice for our charity clients on generative AI in search.
Our research study: How AI Overviews appear for charity websites
We designed the experiment to give us a representative view of how AI results appear for charities. We monitored a sample of more than 150 typical "charity" search queries, spanning a wide range of charity types and search intentions.
We wanted to explore the potential impact on:
- Brand appearance
- Raising awareness
- Click-through rate
- Website traffic
- Donations
Google AI Overviews are currently experimental, and in the testing environment we saw SGE results change over time. One example of a feature they tested was how the Overview feature appeared: either fully expanded, collapsed with a ‘Show more’ button, or not-yet-generated with a ‘Generate’ button.
Common themes, however, have emerged from our research and continued monitoring.
Here are some of the things we have learnt so far.
AI Overviews are consistently showing for health queries
When we first started monitoring these keywords, 86% of health queries returned an AI response. Whilst some other types of queries no longer trigger an AIO, we have found that health queries do.
There are even new health results which didn’t appear when we began testing, such as an AI Overview for the term 'anxiety symptoms':
We are beginning to spot common themes across these health AIOs. For many queries relating to signs or symptoms, such as ‘kidney infection symptoms’ and ‘meningitis symptoms baby,’ we see common or important symptoms pulled from 2-5 main sources and displayed as bullet points. There is also often an extra section for other symptoms and information underneath this.
AI Overview for "kidney infection symptoms".
AI Overview for "meningitis symptoms baby"
It is also interesting to note that AI Overviews appear frequently alongside featured snippets and knowledge graphs.
Fundraising queries are not returning AI Overviews
AI results are currently not appearing for fundraising queries, unlike when we first started testing six months ago. Within the fundraising keyword group we tested queries across the themes of: donating money, donating items, donating time, and charity ecommerce:
- ‘donate books to charity’
- ‘charity furniture shops’
- ‘charity fundraising ideas’
- ‘volunteering near me’
Initially, we saw that 51% of our fundraise queries automatically returned an AI response and a further 43% had the option to ‘generate’ an AI response.
However, since the launch of AIOs, we aren’t seeing AI responses to any of these original queries.
You don’t have to rank highly to appear in the AI Overview (but it helps)
In our original research, 77% of AI Overviews cited a source which was also found in the top three organic results. This means it is possible to be shown in the AI Overview without being a top ranking page (as Google took information from lower ranking pages in 23% of cases).
However, for the best chance of appearing in the AI Overview, we recommend aiming to rank in the top three results.
In terms of traditional organic rankings (blue links): AI Overviews are pushing these organic results further down the results page. So, it is more important than ever to aim to rank in the top position (#1).
AI Overviews aren’t taking up as much space on results pages
In our testing, we found that 43% of AI Overviews were collapsed, with a ‘Show more’ button. This was the most common layout compared to the already ‘expanded’ view and the option to ‘generate’ an AI Overview.
Since the launch, we have seen this collapsed layout appear for an even larger share of results. All of the queries which returned expanded results during our initial test, now return collapsed, if at all. This suggests that this layout was Google’s winner in testing.
The desktop view of the AI Overview for "global inequality".
Mobile view of the AI Overview for ‘global inequality.’
Currently on desktop, AI Overviews are approximately 400 pixels in height when collapsed and 1,000 pixels when the drop down is clicked.
Where generative AI is used to answer a search query, we have seen that it always appears above organic search results. Therefore, this collapsed layout is, temporarily, better news for website publishers as it occupies less space on the results page and acts as a smaller barrier between people and organic search results. However, even this smaller layout will push organic links down the results page, and it is likely that this will still have an effect on website traffic.
Featured snippets are still appearing alongside AI Overviews
Our research has shown that featured snippets are still being shown alongside AI Overviews.
AI Overview for "reproductive rights are human rights".
This suggests that it's still important to create content which is snippetable, because this feature will continue to drive traffic to your website. What's more, until AIOs launch in the UK, featured snippets are the top result and so it is still important to optimise for them.
We also believe that it is likely that if you are creating content which Google can easily create ‘snippets’ from, you are more likely to be shown in AI Overviews. This is because when a user inputs a query, Google scans numerous web sources, interpreting the content, and combining it into a relevant summary. By creating ‘snippetable’ content, it is easier for Google’s generative AI technology, Gemini, to pull into the AI Overview. Therefore, we still recommend following recommendations for writing for featured snippets.
Disclaimers are hidden at the bottom of the AI Overview
During our testing we saw a range of different disclaimers, including medical, legal, and financial. However, these disclaimers aren’t as common anymore and often we only see the generic ‘generative AI is experimental’ disclaimer. This could be partially explained by the fact that we just aren’t seeing the same range of AI Overviews as we were in testing.
When these specific disclaimers do appear, they are at the foot of the AI Overview, as opposed to the top like they were in testing.
A screenshot of an AI Overview for "dealing with depression," found last year, with the medical disclaimer at the top of the summary.
An example of an AI Overview for ‘dealing with depression’, outside of labs, with the medical disclaimer at the bottom of the AI Overview.
An example of an AI Overview, outside of labs, with the generic disclaimer at the foot of the summary.
Google Ads are appearing alongside AI Overviews
56% of the time that Google ads appeared during our testing, they were shown above the AI Overview.
On May 21, Google announced that they will start testing Search and Shopping ads in AI Overviews for users in the US. Ads from existing AI powered Search and Performance Max campaigns will have the opportunity to appear within the AI overview in a section clearly labelled as 'Sponsored' when they’re relevant to both the query and the information in the AI overview.
We will be monitoring this as it begins to appear in testing.
AI Overviews are still very much experimental
During our initial testing of keywords, we found that 89% of searches returned an AI response. However, since the public launch, we’re no longer seeing AIOs for many of the queries we originally tested.
This has also been noted by other people in the SEO industry and early data for non-charity specific terms, showed that AIOs appear for only 0.48% of desktop and 0.57% of mobile search results.
It appears that Google has scaled back on AI Overviews in search results. This could be a response to the initial backlash they received for providing nonsensical and often dangerous results. However, it could also signal their effort to only show AIOs where they are deemed more helpful than ordinary results.
Either way, it seems that, for now, AIOs may have less of a dramatic effect on results pages, than was originally anticipated.
How is Torchbox preparing for AI Overviews?
As Google continues to refine AI Overviews, staying up-to-date and adapting SEO practices will be key to maintaining visibility and driving traffic to your website. We will continue to monitor these changes so that we can help charitable organisations to be successful in AI Overviews.
Keep an eye out for more updates as we continue to explore and report on AI developments in search.
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