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SEO in the age of AI Overviews

Classic SEO isn't dead — it just needs to be engineered for the AI-mediated search era.

6 min·

Every six months someone declares SEO dead. In 2026, with Google AI Overviews occupying the top of most SERPs, the proclamations are back.

They're wrong — but they're half-right.

AI Overviews pull from organic results. The content that ranks in classic SEO is the same content that shows up as a citation in the AI Overview. If you win SEO, you win the overview.

What's changed is the *traffic pattern*. The overview answers the query, so fewer users click through. Your CTR on #1 is down 30-50% for informational queries.

Solutions:

  • Shift your content portfolio toward commercial-intent queries where the overview still sends traffic.
  • Optimize for citation — become the source the AI cites, even if fewer users click.
  • Build brand demand so users skip the SERP and type your name directly.

    • SEO isn't dying. It's specializing. The generalist 'write good content' playbook is dead. The engineered, funnel-aware playbook is alive and compounding.

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