TL; DR :
Google’s new SERP layouts featuring AI Overviews are disrupting traditional SEO visibility and rank tracking models. Here’s what you need to know.
Google has recently rolled out a significant update that introduces AI Overviews to both mobile and desktop search results.
These changes are now visible to all users, no longer requiring a login, and are set to significantly alter how search engine results pages (SERPs) function.
These updates will disrupt traditional ranking models, making it harder to determine (or at least agree on) which page ranks number one.
Let’s dive into what’s changed and how we can adapt.
Background to AI Overviews
When Google announced it was rolling out AI Overviews worldwide at its Google I/O developer conference in May 2024 - the SEO world waited eagerly and nervously for its world to be turned upside down.
What we got instead, was a less than perfect product launch that was widely panned by the mainstream press and the SEO community.
I am sure this 'feedback' contributed to the subsequent rollback of AI Overviews. Meaning that in the period since 'launch' and now, AI Overviews were only displayed for a limited number of logged-in Google account users and for a limited number of long-tail, complex queries in a limited number of topics.
As recently as last week, AI Overviews were showing for ~15% of all queries for logged-in US accounts.
In the UK, AIO presence has also started to grow steadily.
The rollout of course varies widely across different sectors — penetration rates are around 40% in Health and 30% in Finance, while Food and Entertainment are still below 2%.
So, What's New with AIOs?
Well, this time it looks like Google is finally rolling out AIOs more fully.
In its recent announcement, Google stated that it was:
- Rolling out to 6 new countries: United Kingdom, India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico and Brazil – including local language support in each country.
- A new right-hand link display for AI Overviews on desktop – also accessible on mobile by tapping the site FAV icons on the upper right.
- Testing the addition of links to relevant web pages directly within the text of AI Overviews
Google also mentioned that these new layouts would be rolled out opted-in users in the 120 countries in the Search Generative Experience beta and these 'SGE' users would also see new 'save' and new 'tap to simplify' features.
I'm not going to dive into any of that, because the most important change that's likely to cause some consternation amongst SEOs is the new layout on both desktop and mobile devices.
The new layout now begs the question, "Who's now ranking number 1?" - and well, the answer is not really clear.
Who's now ranking number 1?
As you can see from the following screenshots - the answer is not that straightforward anymore.
New Mobile SERP Layout with AI Overviews:
For mobile devices, AI Overviews appear at the top of the SERP, with the following structure:
AIO Summary: A block of AI-generated text split into paragraphs, each accompanied by 1 to 3 citations - for now I am calling them "AIO Citations." These AIO Citations link to the sources Google's LLM used to generate the content.
AIO List: At the top right-hand side (RHS), a set of colourful FAV icons represents a list of up to 10 unique pages. Clicking on these icons reveals an overlay containing the full list of pages ranked in order—this is the "AIO List."
Here's an example screenshot for the query "Why do tomatoes split?"
Google returns a SERP with an AI Overview at the top.
Clicking on the 'Show More' link expands the AI summary to show a large scrollable text area with a number of paragraphs of text.
Each paragraph of text has a set of 1 to 3 citations that relate to it. I believe the citations for each paragraph link to the sites that Google's custom Gemini LLM has determined was the source for its generative summary.
If there are 3 citations, then a horizontal scrollbar is added so a user can see all the citations. This means that the third citation under each paragraph will be hidden for most mobile users.
These citations match the full list of web pages linked to from the new colourful icons at the top of the AI summary.
Clicking on these icons shows you an overlay containing a list of unique pages that rank for the content summarised and displayed in the AI Overview.
The problem with this new layout is that it completely messes up traditional keyword ranking models which have always looked for the first topmost listing on the page and called it number 1.
There are a number of factors here which make a determination of which is the top-ranking site difficult:
- The sites referenced on the left-hand side of the page are not identical to the sites referenced in the overlaid list.
- Whilst all the citations that appear in the main body of generative content on the left-hand side appear in the full list of URLs ranked in from the top icons; not all the URLs that are ranked in this list actually are cited in the left-hand body content. e.g. Marthastewart.com is ranked second in the overlaid list but is not cited in the main body content - so is this page ranking second or not at all?
- Furthermore, the order of results is different.
- Oh, and the top icons list contains 10 unique listings, whilst the body content can cite the same site multiple times.
- When you click on the AIO Summary paragraph icons, the AIO Citations overlay the AIO List, making it difficult to determine which page is ranked highest based on x/y pixel position alone (which is how traditional ranking models worked)
- So far, no sites are actually visible to users until they click 'show more' or the icons - this differs from the desktop implementation.
As you can see this makes determining which is the number 1 ranking site in the AI Overview subjective at best!
One can argue that the overlay list that appears contains the 10 ranking URLs in order of importance or relevance if you prefer.
But one could also argue that the citations are designed to be read in conjunction with textual body content, so the order they appear in the body content is more important (even if it means some URLs would be missing from the rankings).
But, before we determine which list to use for our rankings, let's consider the desktop implementation.
New Desktop SERP Layout with AI Overviews:
On desktop, the layout is different and more complex:
AIO Summary: Similar to mobile, with paragraphs and AIO Citations.
AIO List: A new feature on the right-hand rail, that initially displays the top 2 ranking URLs from the AIO List, which can expand to ~10 with additional clicks. This right-hand rail produces a list of pages that is identical (as far as I can tell) to the AIO List overlay seen on mobile when you click the top Nav icons.
E.g. For the same query on a desktop device, Google again shows a preview with a 'Show more' link.
However, unlike on mobile, it also displays the top 2 ranking URLs on the right-hand rail. I'd imagine these links will be sought after as they are likely to get a decent click-thru rate.
Clicking on the 'Show More' link expands the body content to reveal a number of paragraphs.
It also brings one more listing into play on the right rail.
Each paragraph icon contains links to the citations relevant to that paragraph.
Clicking on the icon, overlays the results on the right-hand side with these citations temporarily replacing the original ones.
The URLs cited may appear more than once across a number of paragraphs, but do not ever seem to appear more than once for the same paragraph.
Finally, clicking the 'Show all' button expands the original list of ranking sites on the right-hand side of the page into a vertically scrollable area containing 10 unique results.
So, the desktop layout is more complex, with the left-hand side functioning similarly to mobile, with the addition of a right-hand rail showing a complete list of ranking pages. This rail shows two listings by default and can expand to three and then with another click to ten - each click of course demoting the visibility and ranking of the organic URLs below.
A web page may not appear on both the left-hand side and the right-hand side list of sites referenced.
Citations on the left and right sides may not be in the same order, complicating the traditional ranking model.
Key Issues:
- The right-hand rail’s AIO List does not match the AIO Citations in the AIO Summary.
- Clicking on a paragraph icon overlays the right-hand AIO List with new AIO Citations, replacing the original ones in the same x/y pixel position on the page.
- Determining the top-ranking page is challenging due to the differences between the AIO Citations on the left and the AIO List on the right.
Implications for SEO Keyword Ranking Models
I've always said someone has to be number 1 and for the past 20 years this has held true.
But this is the closest we've come to throwing our hands up and saying it's impossible to say who is ranking first.
One day, I think this day will come. Google has already showcased an example of a SERP layout that's built on the fly using AI in response to a user's query - when this day arrives it might finally spell the end for keyword rank tracking.
The traditional approach of identifying the topmost listing on a page (by x/y pixel position) as the number one ranking no longer holds true with these new AI Overview layouts since the listings can appear in the same x/y position on the page.
You could build a case to only count rankings for the pages cited (AIO Citations) in the AIO Summary text, or, construct an argument for only counting the ranking pages AIO List; or, counting both - but that would demote the top organic result to a 'Universal Rank' of ~20 once the 'Show More' link is clicked and the AI Overview is expanded.
For now, the most important thing is to apply a consistent ranking model so it's clear to SEOs how their sites are performing.
It's also worth noting that these links in the AIO Summary text are experimental and may not be a permanent fixture in the AI Overview.
So, we can still apply a consistent model to determine who is ranking first and second and so on, and more importantly update our current ranking models so we can accurately benchmark and track your SEO performance and highlight opportunities for every keyword that matters in your niche.
So, we propose the following method for determining who ranks first in these new AI Overview SERP layouts.
- For both mobile and desktop SERPs extract the complete list of pages ranking from 1 to 10 in order in which they appear (so far, there seems to be 10 listings max - but this can change). This is the list that appears when you click the top icons on mobile or when you expand the right-hand section on desktop.
- Capture the full AI summary body copy as a list of paragraphs and related citations (up to 3 - but this can also change).
- Show the rankings for each page, whether they are visible or not and their x/y pixel position on the page.
- Record a page's ranking position and also how many times it is cited in the AI summary text.
1. Extract the Complete AIO List**: For both mobile and desktop, extract the full list of pages ranked from 1 to 10 in order of appearance from the AIO List.
2. Capture the AIO Summary: Record the AI-generated content and related AIO Citations for every paragraph separately.
3. Track Visibility: Show the rankings for each page, including its x/y pixel position and whether it's visible or not without clicking.
4. Count AIO Citations: Record how many times each page is cited in the AIO Summary text.
5. Capture SERPs with and without user clicks: By comparing your keyword rankings side by side between a SERP without any user interaction and one where a user's click to expand the AI Overview is emulated you will be able to visually see the impact of an AI Overview appearing for a key search term and relate this to a reported change in Impressions, Clicks and CTR in Google Search Console. (More about this in a future blog post).
This approach should provide a consistent way to track rankings across devices and helps SEOs develop a strategy to optimise for AI Overviews.
This overlaid AIO List contains all pages referenced by Google in the AI Overview - even if they are not cited behind the icon link in the main paragraphs of content.
Existing ranking models for non-AI Overviews SERPs layouts will be unaffected.
Implications for SEO
These changes mean that traditional ranking factors may no longer apply in the same way. The visibility of your content in AI Overviews, particularly on desktop, could depend on its position in the new right-hand rail. This could lead to changes in click-through rates and overall SEO effectiveness.
The citations in the body content are going to be useful clues to help you optimise your content as they will highlight sub-topics or themes where Google's LLM is referencing someone else's content. This should give you an opportunity to analyse your content compared to specific competing pages to see whether you can improve things.
Next Steps
Stay tuned. Expect some more research from us in the coming days and weeks.
We are committed to staying ahead of these changes. We have already rolled out changes to the platform to support tracking your rankings in AI Overviews and this will be rolled-out to all our customers over the next week or so.
If you are concerned about how this might impact your SEO strategy, we are here to help.
Learn more about our AI Overview enabled rank tracker and book a meeting to get some immediate insights into how this is going to impact your business and to ensure your content remains competitive in this new landscape.
