If your website traffic from Google has felt a little softer this year, you’re not imagining it. Google’s AI-generated answers now sit above the traditional blue links for a huge range of searches, and they’re pulling clicks away from websites even when those sites are the source of the information. For small business owners, this changes what “ranking well” actually means.
Search is splitting into two games
There’s the traditional game — ranking high enough in classic search results that someone clicks through to your site. And there’s a newer game: getting your content picked up and cited inside AI-generated answers, chat assistants and AI shopping tools, even if the user never technically clicks a link. Marketers are now calling this second discipline generative engine optimization, and it rewards a different kind of content than old-school SEO did.
What actually works right now
- Answer the question early. Structure each page so it answers one clear question near the top, in plain language, before going into detail. AI systems and skimming readers both reward this.
- Clean up thin or duplicate pages. A late-summer core update is expected, and industry watchers are advising businesses to tighten their weakest content before it lands rather than after.
- Keep local listings current. Your Google Business Profile, reviews and location pages still matter enormously for “near me” and local-intent searches, which are far less affected by AI overviews than broad informational queries.
- Don’t abandon organic content. Paid search costs are rising as AI answers eat into free clicks, which makes strong organic content and a well-run Google Ads account more valuable together, not less.
The upside: being found without a click still has value
Even when a searcher doesn’t click through, being the brand an AI assistant mentions by name builds recognition — similar to how a billboard works. The businesses that will do best over the next year are the ones treating both channels — traditional SEO and AI visibility — as part of the same strategy, rather than chasing one and ignoring the other.
If your site hasn’t been audited in a while, now’s a good time. A quick technical and content review can flag exactly which pages are dragging the rest of your site down before the next update decides for you.