Google’s “AI Overviews” unlikely to affect contractors — for now

Google in mid-May launched “AI Overviews” — snippet-like, quick search results — causing SEO uncertainty across industries, including HVAC. 

The big picture: Google aims to enhance the search experience by reducing the effort involved.

• “Sometimes you want a quick answer, but you don’t have time to piece together all the information you need. Search will do the work for you with AI Overviews,” writes Liz Reid, Head of Google Search.

Details: Launched in the U.S. on May 14., AI Overviews provide quick answers from different sources at the top of the page, mostly for question-based searches like, “What is the biggest lake in the U.S.?” 

• Google plans on expanding to local searches, too, such as, “Find the best yoga studios in Boston and show details on their intro offers and walking time from Beacon Hill.” 

• Initially, AI Overviews were displayed in over 80% of searches, but new data suggests that they now appear in just 15%. 

What they’re saying: Since Google is now "doing the work," there are concerns over how its algorithm decides which pages to source from when generating overviews.

• Plus, Leap Partners’ Alex Malone tells Homepros, “With how they have designed a priority on quick answers, it now minimizes the need for a user to click through to a site, which will likely lower any website's ability to convert.”

What about HVAC? AI Overviews will eventually impact local searches, but according to SEO platform BrightEdge, it’s “very unlikely” for now.

• For example, searching “AC repair near me” in Charlotte, NC, doesn’t return an AI Overview.

• “I think it's far too early to tell what impact it will have… It's possible some brands who have hit blogs about specific things like "how to fix x, y, z" could be more immediately impacted, but right now I don't see a whole lot,” says SearchLight’s Jonathan Torrey. 

The bottom line: The rest of 2024 will be a “rollercoaster” as Google irons out the kinks, Relentless Digital’s Josh Crouch predicts.

• In the meantime, Search Engine Journal recommends tracking searches that trigger AI Overviews to find content opportunities, among other tactics.

• “This is just a glimpse of how we’re reimagining Google Search… Soon, Google will do the searching, simplifying, researching, planning, brainstorming and so much more,” says Reid.