"Whoever won on that long form piece of content would get that first click. But now that doesn't exist anymore."
Google AI Overviews answer the query directly at the top
Long-form content gets pushed below the fold
First click opportunity vanishes, even for top-ranked pages
Trend is accelerating: launched May 2024, now in 150+ countries
The User Journey
The Funnel Splits: Discovery vs. Deep Dive
The new search flow
User asks → AI gives direction → Then searches deeper
Top of funnel: AI Overviews are perfect for broad discovery questions ("best beach vacations near X")
Mid funnel: Users refine their search based on AI answer ("Cancun hotels with reviews")
The opportunity: SEO now owns mid-funnel research, not top-funnel awareness
The strategy shift: Content must solve specific problems in the buyer journey, not just rank for broad terms
Why this is better UXUsers no longer read six pages of WebMD content when Google can summarize what a headache means in one paragraph. The AI handles generic questions; SEO owns specific solutions.
The Product Playbook
SEO is a Product Problem, Not a Marketing Problem
Reframe: Think of SEO as a PM problem. The question is: "What self-discovery journey does a user take that we can serve?"
Don't just create blog posts. Create product experiences that solve problems: templates (Canva), integrations (Zapier), guides (Quora)
Test the monetization arc: Does your SEO content actually lead to your monetizable product?
Example: Canva's template SEO → users build with templates → premium templates drive revenue. The loop works.
Eli's litmus test
"If there is no product journey for it, there is no user journey. It just stops." — Does your SEO content feed into monetization?
The Quora case study
Showed AI the sitemap of related questions. Search engine could navigate and index all Q&A. Result: 4x traffic. The content structure IS the SEO strategy.
Tactical
Use AI to Build, Not to Spam
AI content is neutral—it depends on the job it does
✗ Don't: Generate 50 blog posts for content's sake
✓ Do: Use AI to write product descriptions, category pages, that serve the journey
✗ Don't: Copy Canva's template SEO without selling templates
✓ Do: Build product-led content that monetizes
Google's official stance"AI itself is not the problem. Helpfulness and usefulness of the content is the problem." Make useful AI content, not volume.
Contrarian
What SEO Experts Get Wrong
✗SEO is about ranking on keywordsINSTEAD →✓ SEO is about positioning for the user's mid-funnel journey. Top-funnel discovery is being absorbed by AI Overviews.
✗More content = more trafficINSTEAD →✓ More useful product-integrated content = more conversions. Traffic without conversion is worthless.
✗AI Overviews killed SEOINSTEAD →✓ AI Overviews redirected SEO to the mid-funnel. The opportunity got better, not worse. Now you can only win with real solutions.
✗Anyone can do SEO with AI toolsINSTEAD →✓ AI tools amplify what was already true: good SEO requires understanding the user's actual problem and your monetization model.