AI Overviews vs. Traditional SEO: How Brands Can Keep Ranking in 2025

Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode are reshaping search. Instead of relying on clicks, users get AI-generated summaries that may surface fewer links

blog.googleaccelerateddigitalmedia.comblog.google+1accelerateddigitalmedia.com+1pmg.com+8en.wikipedia.org+8business.google.com+8digitalads.io+6wsj.com+6blog.google+6.

For brands, this trend poses a new challenge—and opportunity. 

The Situation: 

• Publishers like HuffPost and the Atlantic have already seen >50% drop in link traffic since Overviews launched wsj.com+1en.wikipedia.org+1. 

• While Google stresses it prioritizes credible sources, many informational queries now return AI-overview results with no link clicks—reducing referral value. 

What You Need to Know: 

• SEO isn’t dead—it’s evolving. Brands that rely purely on ranking will lose the opportunity in AI-powered answers. 

• The solution? Optimize for featured snippets, schema, topic authority, and brand recognition that Overviews still cite. 

BrandSweet’s Strategic Playbook: 

1. Earn schema citations (e.g., FAQ, How-To, Events) so AI Overviews surface your brand. 

2. Build content hubs focused on high-value search queries—each formatted for clarity, depth, and discoverability. 

3. Combine SEO + Paid Search for hybrid dominance. If organic loses visibility, paid can fill the gap. 

4. Convert attention to action by capturing higher funnel intent—e.g., “could AI replace advertising?”—with gated content or chat tools before users bounce. 

Why This Matters: 

Users may not click through, but they’ll remember the source. If your brand is included in AI-generated summaries, that visibility is potent for authority, credibility, and conversion.