Google’s AI Overviews have fundamentally changed the search landscape. These AI-generated summaries now appear at the top of search results for millions of queries, pushing traditional paid and organic listings further down the page. For paid search teams, this shift represents both a challenge and an opportunity to rethink strategy.
The question isn’t whether AI Overviews will affect your campaigns—they already are. The question is how you’ll adapt your paid search strategy to maintain visibility and drive conversions in this new environment.
Understanding the Impact on Paid Search Performance
AI Overviews occupy prime real estate at the top of search results, often pushing paid ads below the fold on mobile devices. This positioning shift has measurable consequences for click-through rates and campaign performance.
Early data shows that queries triggering AI Overviews see a 15-20% reduction in clicks to traditional results. However, this doesn’t mean paid search is dead—it means you need to be more strategic about where and how you compete.
Start by auditing your current campaigns to identify which keywords trigger AI Overviews. Use Google Search Console data combined with manual searches to map out the landscape. Focus on three key metrics: impression share changes, CTR trends, and conversion rate shifts for queries with AI Overview presence.
Actionable takeaway: Create a separate campaign segment for keywords that consistently trigger AI Overviews. Monitor these campaigns weekly to establish baseline performance metrics and identify patterns in user behavior changes.
Targeting Intent Beyond Information Gathering
AI Overviews excel at answering informational queries. Users searching for