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SEO in the Age of AI Overviews

Eli Schwartz
Growth Advisor, Product-Led SEO
RECENT
The Shift

AI Overviews:
The Death of the Click?

AI OVERVIEW ANSWERYour #1 ranking resultYour #2 ranking result
"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

TOP FUNNELAI OVERVIEWMID FUNNEL
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.
Based on Eli Schwartz's episode on Lenny's Podcast. All ideas on this page are from the episode.Watch on YouTubeFollow @5le on X
GO DEEPER IN THE EPISODE
02:10 The impact of AI on SEO strategies11:34 Understanding search intent15:30 Real-world impact and structured vs. unstructured data20:19 Top-of-funnel vs mid-funnel SEO strategies22:57 Case studies31:29 Steps for getting started with SEO35:20 Examples of when not to focus on SEO39:17 Evaluating SEO investment44:00 Understanding the tradeoffs in marketing channels46:23 SEO conversion metrics and expectations52:09 Understanding the time horizon of SEO59:37 The role of AI in content creation01:05:26 AI overviews01:07:40 Brand building and SEO01:09:51 Programmatic vs. editorial SEO strategies01:16:06 Insights from the Google antitrust verdict01:20:36 Google’s dominance in search01:23:52 The future of SEO and user choice01:26:28 SEO myths debunked01:36:58 Forecasting SEO success01:44:18 The need for SEO expertise01:46:26 Lightning round and closing thoughts
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