Some Internet users have noticed that the answers generated by Google’s AI often lead back to… Google? That’s not just an impression. A recent study by SE Ranking shows that 43% of AI Overviews, the boxes Google displays at the top of the results, contain links to its own search pages. These automated answers generally include between 4 and 6 links, almost always to Google results. YouTube, Reddit, and Wikipedia are also present, but Google.com remains the most cited source.
This reinforces the “walled garden” logic: the more you click, the longer you stay within the Google ecosystem. And it works. According to Momentic, a user today makes 10 clicks in Google before leaving the site.
Key points:
- 43% of AI Overviews contain links back to Google.
- This means fewer clicks for third-party sites.
- The strategy is to appear in AI-generated responses.
- There are certain settings that influence the appearance of AI Overviews.
An AI that is not so open
The numbers speak for themselves: of more than 140,000 AI Overviews analyzed in five US states, nearly half include links pointing to Google itself. For SEO experts, this is a paradigm shift.
What does this actually change?
- Fewer clicks to third-party sites;
- More “in-site†interactions;
- An SEO strategy to rethink.
It’s no longer just about moving up in the SERPs. You now need to find your place within the AI ​​answers themselves, or in other boxes like “Other questions asked.”
Long and uncompetitive queries favored
AI Overviews aren’t activated for all keywords. According to SE Ranking, 30% of queries trigger this type of response. It’s also worth remembering that France is still one of the few territories not currently benefiting from these summaries generated by Google.
Several factors influence their appearance:
- Long queries ( like “how to resolve a 500 error on WordPress?â€) trigger them more often.
- Terms with medium difficulty (score between 21 and 40) are most likely to be selected (33.4%).
- Highly competitive keywords ( score between 81 and 100) trigger them very rarely (3.7%).
- Themes such as fashion, e-commerce, or current affairs are rarely affected (1.4% to 3.8%).
Another criterion to monitor: cost per click. Queries with a CPC between $2 and $5 often activate AI (32%), while very expensive keywords (over $9) are less affected (17%).
A transformed user experience
From the user’s perspective, Google’s AI seems like a time-saver: quick summaries, visible sources, contextualized answers. But behind the scenes, it’s reshaping journeys.
An SEO consultant or content editor can easily see this: less outgoing traffic. Google is still sending people, 175.5 million visits to third-party sites in March, but with a decreasing ratio: 0.6 external visits per user, compared to 1.4 for ChatGPT.
Two figures to keep in mind
- 99.25% of AI Overviews appear alongside other SERP blocks (including the famous “People Also Askâ€)
- An average AI block is 1,766 characters long, cites 13 sources, and grows longer depending on the complexity of the answer.
In other words: if your site is in the sources, it can benefit from great visibility. But space is limited, and you have to be strategic.
What SEO strategy should you adopt?
In this context, how can we keep our place in an increasingly self-centered engine?
Here are some concrete ideas:
- Working with long and informative queries, which often activate AI Overviews.
- Optimize your content to be cited in AI summaries (clear structure, perceived authority, FAQ format).
- Don’t depend solely on Google: diversify your channels (newsletter, social networks, aggregators).
- Don’t neglect Bing: being present in the Microsoft search engine’s index potentially allows you to appear in responses generated by ChatGPT, Copilot or even Perplexity.
And above all, closely monitor the evolution of generative AI in the SERPs. Because Google hasn’t said its last word, even if it’s mainly to talk more and more to itself.
