As AI-powered overviews and Large Language Model-driven platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity flood the digital landscape, marketers are left staring at the once-solid but crumbling foundation of what SEO used to be, asking the only question that matters: What’s really happening to SEO? The old playbook, filled with keywords, backlinks and search rankings, is not dead, but it is not entirely working either. It’s evolving fast, and industry leaders are watching the data to understand their next moves.
Let’s be honest, the SEO landscape doesn’t look like it used to. The rise of AI Overviews is changing the game, and not everyone is ready for it.
You have probably noticed that your website is getting more impressions recently. Websites that consistently publish strong, search-optimized content are seeing a 16% increase on impressions¹, but clicks are a different story.
Overall click-through rates are slipping and are often below 1% across the board. In some cases, clicks are down by as much as 57% when AI Overviews show up in the search result². Even if you’re ranking #1, you’re likely being seen but not chosen. AI Overviews have made the results page the destination, rather than a gateway to your content. Users are getting what they need, and moving on.
The number of queries that trigger these AI-generated summaries has jumped 50% since early 2025. Meanwhile, LLM-powered tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude are growing fast, with traffic up 3-5x just in 2025¹. These platforms are no longer alternatives, as they are becoming the first and increasingly last stop for many searches.
Traditional link building is losing its edge. While backlinks still signal authority to classic search engines, the rise of AI-powered overviews and LLM-based tools is reshaping what matters most.
In this new ecosystem, mentions of your brand in highly credible sources are becoming just as, if not more, important than links themselves. AI models aren’t reading your link profile. They’re extracting facts, brand names and context from reliable sources, such as news journals and trade publications, that show up in their training or retrieval pipelines. Getting your brand mentioned in these environments increases the chance you’ll be pulled into an AI Overview or a chatbot response.
Our clients are starting to see that referral traffic from AI tooling is small but steadily climbing. It’s a signal for what is to come. We are seeing in Google Search Console that impressions are up, but clicks are either stagnant or declining. Brand identity is no longer subjected to just links and clicks. You need to show up everywhere you search.
Why is Being Cited in AI Overviews Suddenly So Crucial?
AI Overviews plant a flag for brands. It builds recognition. People see the name and they remember it. The hope is that, more often than not, they come back around. That is long-term value, not just short-term metrics.
Search is evolving to become like other channels where users consume content in-platform without clicking through, similar to how social media posts drive pipeline without website visits³.
How Should Content Change for AI and Next-Gen Search?
Don’t just write for rankings. Write to provide answers. The AI bots are looking to strip down your article for parts to use in their own creation. Giving clear and direct answers in your article will allow the bots to easily discover and source your article.
Homepages and FAQs are also becoming increasingly important to your website. Including FAQs in your content breaks your topics into clean, logical cuts, allowing no detail to get left behind.
AI is also looking for reputable information. It wants credibility in your article. Sourcing and referencing other reliable information in your article will increase the likelihood that AI will use your content. AI ignores opinions, as it is wired to trust evidence.
Format also matters. Lead with questions people are actually searching for. Finding long-tailed keywords and putting them into your article will give you the best chance of being the go-to source for an answer. You should also keep your content structure tight with clean subheadings and scannable sections so search engines and LLMs locate your content.
How Can You Best Adapt to an AI-Powered Search Future?
Rankings still matter, but they are only half the picture now. Measure your visibility in AI Overviews, LLM search results, and classic organic rankings⁴. If you’re not showing up in both, you’re losing ground to your competition.
Write for people and machines without losing your edge. Keep your content human by using clear, useful and trusted sources, but structure it with question-driven headings and long-tailed keywords.
The future of discovery is filtered, summarized and served by algorithms. Just make sure they are pulling from you.
Contact us to see how we can help you build content that wins in both AI-driven and traditional search and check out our AI Whitepaper Blog for deeper strategies that you can use.
Will Shepard is a Digital Marketing Specialist at Adcom, where he focuses on Search Engine Optimization and Marketing Automation initiatives that help brands grow their online visibility and convert more leads. A graduate of Ohio University with a degree in Strategic Communications, Will combines his experience in digital strategy with a strong background in journalism, bringing a sharp eye for both data and storytelling.