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Artificial Intelligence

How to Get Your Content Featured in Google’s AI Overviews (AIOs)

Ryan

• 4 min read
How to Get Your Content Featured in Google’s AI Overviews (AIOs)

If you’re not optimizing your content for Google’s new AI Overviews (AIOs), you’re missing one of the biggest SEO opportunities of 2025.

Today, I tuned into an insightful webinar hosted by NP Digital that broke down exactly how to get your content mentioned in AIOs; Google’s evolving search experience powered by generative AI. Below is a breakdown of the key takeaways, actionable strategies, and a few standout tactics you can start using immediately.

Shoutout to the team at Neil Patel Digital for delivering next-level insights in today’s session. 🙌

What Are AI Overviews (AIOs)?

Google’s AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries shown at the top of some search results. They pull in key insights from multiple sources and provide users with instant answers. These overviews:

  • Favor long-tail, informational searches
  • Prioritize skim-friendly content, step-by-step guides, and videos
  • Offer citation opportunities that can massively boost visibility and brand authority

In short: AIOs are the new zero-click battleground, and getting cited in them can elevate your SEO game in a big way. Here's a great breakdown of what an AIO looks like in Google Search:

Credit: NP Digital. Anatomy of an AI Overview
Credit: NP Digital. Anatomy of an AI Overview

Key Insights from the Webinar

1. AIOs aren’t just for keywords — they're for topics

Google is no longer simply matching exact search terms. It’s matching semantic meaning and intent. That means:

  • You must cover a topic comprehensively and clearly
  • Website structure matters... poorly organized sites will struggle
  • Content depth + clarity = visibility

2. Industries with the most AIO opportunity

If you're in health, wellness, beauty, or how-to content, AIOs are wide open. Why? These niches often align with educational, non-commercial searches where users want instant insights.

Bonus: Google is increasingly citing YouTube videos directly in AIOs, making video content more valuable than ever! Research from NP digital shows that health and home are the industries that are currently benefiting the most from videos in AIOs. Over 50% of search results in those industry have an AIO! If you're business is in these categories, honing in on video content is key.

Credit: NP Digital. Distribution of AI Overviews across industries.
Credit: NP Digital. Distribution of AI Overviews across industries.

Right now, the big opportunity with AIOs is in brand building because they mostly appear on top-funnel, informational type searches. So the strategy is to basically establish an expert authority on a specific topic in your businesses niche, then you'll be featured in AI overviews (AIOs) ➡️ therefore making consumers more likely to buy from brand recognition.

📈 How to Optimize for AIO Mentions

Here’s the 11-step framework Neil Patel Digital recommends:

✅ Step 1: Know Your Audience Inside and Out

  • Understand search intent: what’s our target market looking for? What’s their intent? What's most critical for their shopping journey?
  • Map content to shopping journey stages
  • Use tools like Google Trends to identify trends and Answer the Public to drill into long-tail keywords for those searches.

✅ Step 2: Create Content That’s Actually Worth Clicking

  • Aim for unique perspectives
  • Make it skim-friendly with bullet points, lists, and headers
  • Follow this checklist to make it worth clicking:
    • Provide context & analysis
    • Include visual and video content
    • Use data to back your claims
    • add value that Google (or AI) can easily replicate

✅ Step 3: Publish Timely, Relevant Content

  • Recency matters.
  • Keep an eye on current trends to support with relevant blog and video content.
  • Regularly update content and blog posts.

✅ Step 4: Target Long-Tail Keywords, these are Low-Hanging Fruit

  • Focus on top-of-funnel (TOFU) informational searches in your niche to get traffic.
  • Use AnswerThePublic to find long-tail questions
  • Leverage “People also asked” sections for content ideas.

✅ Step 5: Align Content With the Funnel

  • Build TOFU content that also supports commercial searches.
  • But don’t ignore bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) queries — AI search will likely evolve here soon. A well structured site with optimized product pages will drive the sale from here.
  • AIOs still value domain authority.
  • Get cited by reputable sources, industry blogs, and publications.

✅ Step 7: Stick to SEO Best Practices

  • Technical SEO still matters.
  • Use clean structure, fast-loading pages, and clear headings.

✅ Step 8: Keep It Simple

  • Simplicity helps AI understand your content better.
  • Format content for easy scanning. Pro tip: an app like Hemingway to check readability.
  • Use natural language and avoid jargon.

✅ Step 9: Make Video a Core Part of Your Content Strategy

  • Create and embed YouTube videos — Google increasingly features them in AIOs.
  • “How-to” content in video form is highly favored (at 22% containing video in AIO answers).

✅ Step 10: Build Brand Authority

  • AIOs favor trusted, recognizable brands.
  • Use PR, influencer partnerships, and industry leaders to build awareness.

✅ Step 11: Optimize for Local SEO Too

  • Local business profiles matter — especially for AI search
  • Make sure your Google Business Profile is up to date with strong reviews

📊 New KPI to Watch

In addition to rankings and clicks, start tracking:

  • Citation frequency in AIOs
  • Visibility across different AI-generated sections

Bonus Tips from the Q&A

  • Embed relevant YouTube videos on your site to support AIO visibility (as long as site speed isn’t affected).
  • Small businesses can still win if content is niche-specific, genuinely helpful, and deeply relevant.
  • PR efforts that build off high-value content are a powerful way to earn citations.

Final Thoughts

Google’s AI Overviews are a major shift, but they’re also a massive branding opportunity. By focusing on intent-driven content, leveraging video, and optimizing across all stages of the funnel, your brand can start getting cited in these prime AI-powered spots.

👏 Big thanks again to Neil Patel Digital for the valuable insights shared today.

Want help turning your content into AI-optimized assets that actually get featured in Google’s new results? Subscribe below, we’re geeking out on this stuff daily!

#SEO #GoogleAI #AIO #SearchMarketing #ContentStrategy #DigitalMarketing