Optimising landing pages for the new AI overviews
AI overviews are the next step in how Google presents information in search results. Instead of a list of links, you get an AI-generated answer to your question complete with visuals, links and context. Handy for the user, but for businesses it means one thing. SEO is changing again.
Anyone who doesn't adapt their landing pages now risks a drop in traffic and visibility. But it also offers opportunities. In this article you'll read how to optimise your content for AI overviews, so you stay in the game in this new search environment.
What exactly are AI overviews?
An AI overview is a block of information at the top of the search results that gives an answer to the search query, generated by a Large Language Model from Google. You see text, sometimes video or images, and increasingly links to sources too.
But note:
- The user already gets the answer in the search results.
- The click to your site can no longer be taken for granted.
- Google shows links to several parties, but who appears and in what form varies per search query and per moment.
This means your content:
- Has to compete with Google’s own AI answer.
- Only gets visited if you offer something that goes beyond it.
What does this mean for your landing pages?
The effect on SEO is clear:
- The average CTR drops sharply when an AI overview is shown.
- If you are included, that's positive, but you share your spot with several other sources.
- A lot of SEO content — such as standard explanatory blogs — is no longer distinctive enough.
The purpose of your landing page changes:
From “ranking for a keyword”
To “offering enough added value to still earn a click”.
From “ranking for a keyword”
To “offering enough added value to still earn a click”.
How to adapt your landing page for AI overviews
You have to rise above the AI. Not in position, but in value. Here's how:
Add what AI can't make up itself:
- Real experiences (case studies, customer results, team insights)
- Test data or practical examples
- Expert quotes or interviews
- Interaction such as: quizzes, comparison tools or calculators
- Snippets with a clear promise (“Test yourself”, “Watch the video”, “Download an example”)
Avoid content that only summarises or regurgitates:
- Basic definitions that Google already explains
- Generic step-by-step guides without context
- Explanations you can find in exactly the same form in 10 other places
Structure and formatting – help AI understand you
You can't control AI overviews, but you can make your content easier to read for LLMs. You do this by:
1. Clear structure
- Work with clear headings (H2s and H3s)
- Answer questions directly
- Define terms in a single sentence where the answer calls for it
2. Add media
- Add images with relevant file names and alt texts
- Use videos that explain the information visually
- Add audio clips if they give more context
3. Use E-E-A-T
- Show expertise, experience, trustworthiness and authority
- For example, add an author, cite sources or refer to external publications
4. Structured data
- Use schema.org for FAQs, articles, products or videos
- This helps Google understand your page better and use it in AI overviews
Check your opportunities – what is Google already showing?
AI overviews are not yet live in the Netherlands, but they already are in Belgium, Germany and the US. Want to be prepared?
Use a VPN or SEO tool to see which content is already being shown in your market or field.
Analyse:
- Who is named as a source?
- Which content gets a place in the overview?
- What can you do better or offer in a different form?
What works in the US today is standard in the Netherlands tomorrow.
What BE Digital can do for you
You don't have to tackle this alone. With the BE Digital scan we map out which pages you can prepare for AI overviews, where you can enrich your content with media, practical examples or experts, and how to apply structured data for better visibility.
We also show you how to use AI assistants that help develop content ideas relevant to this new search environment. That way you work purposefully towards landing pages that really compete not only today, but also later when AI overviews are the standard.