AI search is rewriting the rules of visibility.
Google’s AI Overviews aren’t just another rich result or algorithm update.
They are cutting into clicks, pushing ads into unpredictable spots, and leaving both SEO and PPC teams with incomplete data.
Success now depends on breaking down silos:
Sharing insights.
Aligning strategies.
Moving together when the old playbooks no longer work.
The black box of AI Overview performance
Many brands are already seeing drops in paid CTRs, Quality Scores, and clicks across terms that once performed well.
Even though ads are now showing in AI Overviews, Google Ads doesn’t provide a clear way to track them.
Just as SEOs can’t see performance for these results in Google Search Console, PPC marketers are also blind to placement data.
Here’s how the gaps show up for paid search teams today:
Ad placement is a black box: Ads can show above, inside, or below the summaries – but Google offers no breakdown of impressions, clicks, or conversions by placement.
Same auction rules, new environment: Ads in AI-generated summaries still run through the standard auction, so bids, Quality Score, and relevance all matter – but the context is shifting.
All the data gets lumped together: Just like Search Console, Google Ads aggregates everything. If your ad appears in an overview, the clicks and impressions are reported under the general “Top Ads” bucket, with no segmentation and no clarity.
With visibility this limited, SEOs have an opportunity to step in and add value.
By sharing what we’re seeing in the SERPs, we can help paid media teams make smarter decisions, faster.
AI Overviews are hurting clicks, especially from top-of-funnel queries.
Featured snippets and zero-click results were the warm-up.
Now, we’ve entered a new reality where sometimes it feels like the entire first page of Google is condensed into AI-generated summaries.
You’ll even spot People also ask answers generated as AI Overviews.
It’s not just SEO that’s evolving.
AI Overviews are changing paid search too, and giving SEOs a bigger role in supporting and amplifying campaign performance.
“Great SEOs have been aligned with paid media teams for a while now. I think that the difference now is that the search journey has shifted so that there is less top of funnel traffic, meaning that more ‘SEO’ happens on bottom of the funnel pages,” explains Crystal Carter, head of SEO communications at Wix.
“Since those pages need to work well for paid and organic search users, there are a lot of opportunities for collaboration between teams. As there should be.”
We’re seeing this shift echoed across the industry, too.
“AI Overviews are reshaping the funnel, handling a lot of top and mid-funnel education, then accelerating buyers straight to purchase. That means SEO and paid can’t just run in parallel anymore; they have to collaborate around intent. SEO feeds the LLMs and builds brand trust across the journey, while paid captures the transaction when it matters most,” shares Amanda Valle, global director of organic search at Liquid Web.
“We’re testing, learning, and reallocating together, building a playbook that aligns content and spend to our ideal customer profiles so we show up wherever the buyer decides.”
This kind of collaboration isn’t a nice-to-have anymore.
It’s table stakes for success in our new AI-dominated landscape.
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AI Overviews are blurring the lines between organic, paid, and AI search results.
The best SEOs are already helping PPC teams:
Understand what’s causing changes in keyword performance.
Craft ad copy that mirrors how users are engaging with AI results.
Determine how they can shift spend toward higher-impact keywords.
Spot new competitors before they show up in your CPC data.
1. Track AI Overviews at the paid keyword level
Not all keywords trigger AI Overviews yet. But for the ones that do, your paid team needs to know.
Offer to set up a tagged keyword list in your keyword tracking tool of choice (e.g., Semrush, Ubersuggest, Ahrefs) where you track the most important keywords in your paid campaigns.
The sooner you set this up, the better, as it can be tedious to backfill AI Overviews visibility for untracked/untagged keywords.
Start flagging which terms are generating AI overviews, and what the brand’s visibility looks like against competitors.
Sure, tracking all of your paid keywords might mean a small added cost, but these insights can help paid media teams:
Reallocate budget away from low-performing AI-dominated SERPs.
Adjust bids for terms with dropping CTRs.
Explain Quality Score shifts with data-backed context.
Determine the best strategy for high-intent keywords.
To maximize the impact of earned and paid in AI search, Cassandra Gucwa, founder and CEO of Menerva Digital, explains:
“We focus on purchase-intent prompts where competitors appear, but our client doesn’t. Then we evaluate whether it’s more efficient to capture visibility through earned strategies or paid placements.”
2. Use AI copy patterns to improve ad relevance
More than quick answers, AI Overviews are curated summaries built to feel useful, and users are starting to trust how they read. That’s a signal.
It tells you exactly how to write ad copy that feels relevant and helpful in the same moment.
Think of AI Overviews as free market research, or a live feed of what Google thinks users want to see. Watch for:
Recurring phrases: What language keeps coming up?
Tone: Is it formal, casual, or expert level?
Brand mentions: Are competitors being cited?
Now, use those insights and start testing ad copy that mirrors what’s already winning Google shelf space.
If AI Overviews surface phrases like “fast acting,” “top rated,” or “budget friendly,” your ads may perform better if you echo that tone.
3. Flag zero and low-click queries early
Google is making it easier than ever for users to get answers without clicking, and that trend is not going away anytime soon.
SEO teams have access to a wealth of helpful data from tools like Google Search Console and keyword tracking tools.
We should:
Flag which queries are consistently being answered directly in the SERP through AI Overviews.
Highlight those dominated by other click-reducing features like featured snippets and People Also Ask.
Share helpful data from Google Search Console, such as which high-intent queries show the lowest and highest CTRs.
We should also flag keywords that aren’t consistently triggering AI Overviews, as that can help paid media teams focus on those potentially higher-impact keyword opportunities.
With all of these organic insights, paid media teams can consider if they want to test:
Pausing low-performing keywords that no longer justify the spend.
Focusing on higher intent queries with more click potential.
Shifting messaging to go beyond what’s commonly in AI answers.
This kind of data sharing fuels better testing and a smarter search strategy on both paid and organic.
“AI search has forced our clients to rethink their budgets. Clients are dedicating more budget to optimize for AI search from an earned perspective while setting aside additional testing budgets for paid media,” Gucwa shared.
4. Monitor competitor mentions in AI results
One of the biggest missed opportunities in SEO and paid media collaboration is competitive intelligence.
SEO teams are already monitoring the SERPs, sometimes daily, and can help paid media teams spot brand mentions, shifts in content types, and new players faster.
Watch for patterns with top competitors and new brands that weren’t on your radar before, as well as the different types of content and user intents being met.
Use this data to:
Prioritize conquest campaigns against highly cited competitors.
Adjust positioning to stand out against AI answers.
Spot new players emerging before they appear in Auction Insights.
It’s also worth noting that this type of competitive intelligence isn’t just helpful for AI Overviews.
These days, SEO teams are monitoring AI visibility by topic across platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and more.
I’ve seen AI visibility insights introduce brand new competitors to teams, and give them a totally new way to think about their competitive disadvantages.
Collaboration is the competitive edge in AI search
AI search is shaking up our paid and organic playbooks and giving us a new, exciting edge.
SEOs have access to real-time SERP shifts, AI copy trends, and competitive visibility insights. Paid media teams have the agility and data to act fast and capitalize on those trends.
Together, SEO and paid media teams can build smarter strategies that thrive in an AI-dominated landscape.
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