SEO & AI Search
Google is now showing full AI answers for definition searches by default and testing a move of source links to the foot of those answers. UK businesses should check which of their searches are affected before drawing conclusions about lost traffic.
Two changes to Google's AI answers
Google has made two changes to its AI Overviews, the AI-written answers that sit above the normal results. Search Engine Roundtable reports that AI Overviews for definition searches now open in full by default. Searchers no longer need to click "Show more" to read the whole answer. Google already expanded some AI Overviews depending on the search. This change applies the same treatment to all definition searches.
Search Engine Roundtable also reports that Google is testing a new spot for the source icons, the small links that show which websites an answer drew on. Until now they appeared at the top of the AI Overview. In the test they sit at the very bottom. This is a test. Some searchers may see it and others may not, and Google may change it or drop it.
Google's test layout, with the source icons placed at the bottom of an AI Overview. The blue outline marks the small row of source icons under the answer, marked by the red arrow, and the pop-up list of links opened below it. Screenshot published by Search Engine Roundtable.
Why it matters for clicks
Both changes affect the same thing: whether a searcher reaches your website. A full answer that opens straight away gives the reader more on the results page. Source links at the bottom sit further from where the reader starts. Someone who gets what they need from the answer may never scroll down to them.
That makes some drops in traffic hard to read. A business that sees fewer visits from a set of searches may assume its rankings slipped. The cause may instead be a fuller AI answer on those searches, or source links that now sit lower down. The two problems need different fixes, so it pays to know which one you are looking at.
The clearest way to tell is to sort your searches into groups. One group shows a full AI answer. Another shows an AI answer that cites your site. A third shows the usual list of links. Then compare each group's traffic with the same group's traffic before the change. Comparing all your traffic with last year in one lump hides where the change happened.
What this means for UK businesses
- Know which searches get an AI answer. Definition and question searches are the ones affected here. Check the searches that matter most to you by hand.
- Check whether you are cited. A full answer that names your site still offers a route to you. One that names other sites is where to focus.
- Compare like with like. Measure traffic for each group of searches against that group's own recent past.
- Treat the icon move as a test. Watch for it, but plan around what Google has confirmed.
- Make your pages easy to quote. Clear, short answers near the top of a page make it simpler for any search tool to use and credit your content.
Analysis compiled by Sayu (sayu.co.uk)
