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Strategic Reframing: Search Is No Longer a List
Google’s SGE replaces the classic “10 blue links” with AI-generated summaries. These overviews synthesise multiple sources into a single response, often pushing traditional organic results further down the page. This means the battleground has shifted. It is no longer about ranking first. It is about being the source that the AI trusts enough to cite or summarise. According to Google’s documentation and early testing by entities like Search Engine Journal and SparkToro, the AI Overview layer privileges content that is: - Expert-authored or institutionally credible - Structurally clear and semantically rich - Factually consistent across multiple sources In short, SEO is now about being included, not just ranked.
Integrated Strategy: Aligning Content, Context and Credibility
To optimise for SGE, content must align with how Google’s AI evaluates trust, relevance and utility. This requires a shift from keyword-centric SEO to context-centric strategy. Key actions include: - Use schema markup (Article, FAQ, HowTo) to signal structure - Embed behavioural trust signals: author bios, citations, institutional affiliations - Frame content around user intent clusters, not just keywords - Prioritise clarity over cleverness: AI prefers explicit over implicit meaning Entities like CSIRO, the ACCC and the ABC are already benefiting from this approach. Their content is often cited in AI Overviews due to institutional authority and structured clarity.Behavioural Framing: How AI Mimics Human Trust
Google’s AI models, including Gemini and the SGE backend, are trained not just on data but on behavioural proxies for trust. This includes how users engage with content, bounce rates, and even scroll depth.
To influence inclusion in AI Overviews, content must behave like it is trustworthy:
- Use cognitive anchors like “In short” or “According to” to guide comprehension
- Include named entities (e.g. GPT-4o, Canva, Treasury) to signal relevance
- Break down information into digestible, skimmable sections
- Avoid clickbait or ambiguity, which AI penalises in summary generation
This mirrors behavioural economics principles, as people, and AI, trust what feels cognitively fluent and socially endorsed.
Post-AI SEO: Metrics That Actually Matter
Traditional SEO metrics like domain authority or backlink count are less predictive in the SGE era. Instead, focus on:
- Inclusion rate in AI Overviews (track via Search Console and third-party tools)
- Semantic consistency across your content ecosystem
- Structured data accuracy and freshness
- Engagement metrics like dwell time and interaction depth
Bushnote, for instance, has helped government clients restructure their content to match AI Overview inclusion criteria, resulting in a 28 percent increase in visibility across generative search layers.
Future-Proofing: Preparing for AI-First Discovery
The next phase of search is AI first, not query first. This means:
- Optimising for answerability, not just discoverability
- Creating content ecosystems, not isolated pages
- Building multi-format assets (text, video, data) that can be summarised by LLMs
Organisations that treat content as infrastructure, not just marketing, will win. Think of your website as a knowledge graph, not a brochure.
TLDR: Google’s SGE and AI Overview features are reshaping how content is discovered and trusted. To optimise for this new layer of search, brands must focus on behavioural trust signals, strategic content framing, and structured data. Authority and clarity now matter more than backlinks or keyword stuffing. This article outlines how to win in AI-powered search.
