Navigating Algorithm Shifts & AI Overviews - #SMXNext

How have Google updates and releases taken us here? What’s the impact in traffic to brands, retailers and publications? What should we do to succeed? I go through this and more in this presentation.

Transcript

1. Navigating Algorithm Shifts & AI Overviews BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI & SEOFOMO
2. Hello, I’m Aleyda Solís SEO Consultant & Founder ❏ International SEO Consultant & Founder at Orainti ❏ Creator of the SEOFOMO & AI Marketers Newsletters ❏ Maker of LearningAIsearch.com & LearningSEO.io Speaker & Author ❏ Author of SEO, Las Claves Esenciales ❏ Spoke at +200 events in +30 countries BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI & SEOFOMO
3. Welcome to the state of Google SERPs in 2025
4. Powered (mostly) by AIOs and SERP Features AI Overview Video Carousel via by YouTube
5. SERPs with AIOs, SERP Features and also organic positions giving a high share of visibility to UGC, especially YouTube and Reddit, and Google own services
6. But how is this happening? How is it affecting sites? Let’s compare 2025 vs 2023 SERPs 2025 2023
7. 2025 2023 AI Overview Brand Publication Publications Ads Informational SERPs have been taken by AIOs above the fold, with less visibility for publications
8. 2025 2023 Product Packs Brand Ads Brand Product commercial queries feature product packs, with a decrease of brands and publications
9. 2025 2023 Filter By Sidebar Product Packs Retailers Retailers Transactional product queries are also powered by product packs, with less visibility to retailers
10. Not even SEO is safe! With AI Overviews taking spots previously ranked by publications 2025 2023 AI Overview Publications Publication Publications
11. How have Google updates and releases taken us here? What’s the impact in traffic to brands, retailers and publications? What should we do to succeed? Google Updates & SERPs shifts AI Overviews & SERP Features Brands & Retailers Publications
12. https://www.advancedwebranking.com/free-seo-tools/google-ai-overview Let’s start with AIOs steadily increasing in the last year for informational & commercial SERPs
13. https://www.advancedwebranking.com/free-seo-tools/google-ai-overview Although with a higher share of AIOs in certain verticals like Finance, Health or Technology
14. https://www.advancedwebranking.com/free-seo-tools/google-ai-overview And a much lower share of AIOs in others like Ecommerce or Entertainment
15. https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-overviews-international/ AIOs are now shown for +20% of SERPs in the US, and even more in other countries
16. Similarweb AIOs are also the main entry point to AI Mode that still had only 3% of daily usage in the US, and 3.5% in the UK in late August but can drastically change when it integrates further in main SERPs
17. https://www.advancedwebranking.com/free-seo-tools/google-serp-features There’s also a growing inclusion of other Google SERP features: Videos, PAAs, Images & Products
18. https://www.advancedwebranking.com/free-seo-tools/google-serp-features In particular, Product Packs in Ecommerce are shown in +80% of desktop & 50% of mobile SERPs
19. For product commercial queries Google SERPs have become a marketplace, with product packs triggering product knowledge panels
20. See how these AIO’s and SERP features end up keeping users engaged in SERPs until the very end of their journey
21. https://blog.google/products/search/ai-search-driving-more-queries-higher-quality-clicks/ It’s why Google says that AI in Search is driving more queries and higher quality clicks, because they keep users in their own SERPs and own sites like YouTube or partners like Reddit
22. https://www.seroundtable.com/google-explains-the-great-decoupling-39609.html Despite this, you’ve probably faced a negative traffic impact from these AIOs and features shifts
23. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aleyda_liz-reid-from-google-says-that-ai-in-search-activity-7358961904796557312-yWCU/ It’s the third-party, smaller independent sites that end up getting less traffic than before with them
24. https://searchengineland.com/google-ai-overviews-drive-drop-organic-paid-ctr-464212 There’s a real CTR traffic drop across verticals due to AIO’s, and not only for organic, but also paid so far
25. Sistrix In parallel, UGC platforms like Reddit and YouTube have grown in SERP visibility too
26. This is happening both via traditional rankings, SERP features and AI Overviews as well
27. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content This is aligned with Google’s “people-first content” principle, looking to reward results that show authentic experience or expertise
28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3M_tal884c Which is the reason Google want UGC, brands or providers, rather than aggregators or publishers
29. BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI & SEOFOMO This is why in the last Core Updates, like the June 2025 one, brands like Under Armour increased in visibility for terms like “compression shirts” vs retailers
30. Why overall authoritative brands in a sector, decreased in rankings for niche queries vs other more specialized brands, like “school management software” for Zoho
31. Or why specialized publications, even if authoritative like Nerdwallet, decreased in rankings for queries like “debt consolidation” vs actual banks or credit cards brands
32. https://www.aleydasolis.com/en/search-engine-optimization/hubspot-blog-rankings-drop-analysis/ It’s also why Hubspot stopped ranking for generic queries and grew for topically aligned ones
33. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies This principle is also the reason why Google updated its spam policies to avoid featuring sites manipulating a domain reputation and generating content with little value at scale
34. Financial Advice Site See how many sites affected by the August Spam Update had been already hit by other updates
35. Recipe Site These tend to be aggregators/publishers with ads and/or affiliates as business model
36. Many of which are becoming a commodity due to Google’s own SERP features or AIO’s answers Lyrics Site
37. A few of these sites were also featuring content with little “added value” and giving a poor user / page experience with an excess of ads
38. Similarweb The outcome is visible at an organic search traffic level, eg. for the “best antivirus” top queries, a brand is now the most clicked site, not a publisher
39. Reddit and YouTube have become the most clicked domains for the most popular “best travel” queries rather than a publisher Similarweb
40. A brand and YouTube have become the most clicked sites for the top vitamins queries rather than Amazon and a specialized publisher Similarweb
41. How can websites keep growing via SEO and AI search despite these Google search shifts?
42. It’s the brand sites offering their own products or specialized retailers and publishers that have heavily invested on building a brand and high topical authority in a vertical that keep winning
43. https://sparktoro.com/blog/an-anonymous-source-shared-thousands-of-leaked-google-search-api-documents-with-me-everyone-in-seo-should-see-them/ Remember how this was one of the big learnings from last year’s Google Doc leaks: Google tracks and take into account brand / entity signals
44. Brand visibility, like branded searches are used in Google quality scores at a subdomain level
45. Affiliates growing show brand characteristics: real expertise, topical authority, great UX
46. And actual searches of users looking for their brand as a destination
47. It’s not about replacing brand or product marketing but optimizing these efforts for search
48. https://botpenguin.com/glossary/brand-positioning Understand your brand positioning to focus your efforts: How do you want to be recognized? By which audience? How do you differentiate vs competitors? Why should you be chosen over them?
49. https://lookerstudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/1Fm7x1vc0vLokRhGf0WqaMd52mw7wjaSI/page/6zXD Assess your rankings & traffic shifts after updates: What topics & pages have grown & dropped?
50. https://lookerstudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/1Fm7x1vc0vLokRhGf0WqaMd52mw7wjaSI/page/p_hkyx1q7std For which queries are you still ranking in top positions but bringing little traffic due to AIOs?
51. Ahrefs Which sites have improved for “on topic” queries you’ve dropped? What are their characteristics?
52. https://www.aleydasolis.com/en/seo-flowcharts/#2 Use this flowchart to decide if it’s worthy to grow or recover rankings you’ve dropped for, in case they’re meaningful to connect with your audience
53. Establish a comprehensive topical authority, targeting the full customer journey with helpful, multimodal, information that highlights your USP and helps customers Consideration * Reviews & Testimonials * Studies & Research * Comparison & Alternatives * Product Q&As * Community & Forum Content Decision * Comprehensive Product Description * Documentation & Manuals * Pricing & Plans Pages * Case Studies * Compliance content * Knowledge base articles * Troubleshooting Guides & FAQs * Community & support forum * Video tutorials Post-Purchase Support * Products How-To Guides & Tutorials * Thought Leadership & Expert Advice * FAQs * New product releases Awareness
54. Industry Insights Research, Stats & Trends, Surveys, Case Studies Product Insights Products descriptions, features comparisons, FAQs Business & Product Related UGC Reviews, Q&As, Help Center, Forums Many don’t want to invest in non-transactional content anymore, but you need to establish topical authority and a recognizable brand to rank in traditional SERPs & AI search
55. You can’t expect users to trust you over others to click on you in “crowded” SERPs (and convert), if they have helped them first and don’t recognize you
56. Semrush This content will not only establish topical authority, brand recognition but attract backlinks
57. You can integrate informational content into your commercially targeted areas, in a helpful way too
58. https://ahrefs.com/ai-content-helper / https://www.keywordinsights.ai/ Use content optimization tools to ensure topical coverage based on the targeted intent and goal
59. Be careful when leveraging AI for content creation. Don’t use it on autopilot and/or at scale. Real human expertise and/or experience is a must.
60. Instead, it’s key to show who’s behind the site: The brand team, values, why they should trust in you, who the brand ideal customers are, establishing overall EEAT
61. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12-F9Z4NzDADOFRQtOiN-CtjY2aaqj-R5CcrJNCuTha4/edit?gid=0#gid=0 Use this EEAT checklist to ensure your content is up-to-date, well-structured, factual & authoritative
62. Beyond the content: Is your overall Web experience also “on brand”? It’s about aligning and amplify your brand through your overall site information, design and experience
63. Digital PR Positive coverage, citations, backlinks from Media Sites Community Management Positive mentions from relevant social platforms and communities Link Building Backlinks from related, authoritative sites reviewing relevant businesses Branding Mentions, promotion, visibility alignment with brand positioning and voice Growing your brand authoritativeness also means link building, with community & digital PR efforts
64. It’s about optimizing every “brand” related activity, on your site and outside, for recognition
65. https://lookerstudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/3ff3c140-e191-46bb-872a-66cf6c45eb1d/page/6zXD It’s also time to start tracking, assessing and incentivizing branded searches, rankings & traffic
66. Seotesting.com Unsure about the impact and cost effectiveness of these actions? Adopt a ongoing testing approach to maximize a positive ROI
67. It’s the alignment of all these actions that will establish a brand that’s so authoritative in its sector Google can’t overlook & users will click even if not in first position
68. https://speakerdeck.com/aleyda/seo-for-brand-visibility-and-recognition-number-zagrebseosummit Want to learn more? Take a look at my SEO for Brand Visibility and Recognition presentation
69. https://speakerdeck.com/aleyda/how-to-build-an-ai-search-optimization-roadmap And how this will also help you to set the base to win in AI Search
70. From now on, every time you take an SEO related action, there’s a new question to ask Is this on brand?
71. Thank you! Questions? SEO Consultant & Founder ❏ International SEO Consultant & Founder at Orainti ❏ Creator of the SEOFOMO & AI Marketers Newsletters ❏ Maker of LearningAIsearch.com & LearningSEO.io Speaker & Author ❏ Author of SEO, Las Claves Esenciales ❏ Spoke at +200 events in +30 countries BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI & SEOFOMO