How to Optimise Your Content for Google’s AI Overviews and Get Featured

The familiar page of ten blue links is undergoing its biggest transformation in a decade. Google's search results are now topped with AI Overviews—comprehensive, AI-generated answers that aim to satisfy a user's query directly.

For startup owners, this isn’t just another passing trend. It’s a fundamental shift in how your customers find you, learn about your business, and make purchase decisions. The stakes are high: win visibility in AI Overviews, and you can shortcut your way to top-of-funnel attention. Miss out, and even strong SEO might not save you.

This guide gives you a clear, no-nonsense plan to adapt your strategy and secure that coveted top spot.

What Are Google AI Overviews and Why Should Your Business Care?

The familiar page of ten blue links is undergoing its biggest transformation in a decade. Google's search results are now topped with AI Overviews—comprehensive, AI-generated answers that aim to satisfy a user's query directly.

For startup owners, this isn’t just another passing trend. It’s a fundamental shift in how your customers find you, learn about your business, and make purchase decisions. The stakes are high: win visibility in AI Overviews, and you can shortcut your way to top-of-funnel attention. Miss out, and even strong SEO might not save you.

This guide gives you a clear, no-nonsense plan to adapt your strategy and secure that coveted top spot.

From SEO to AEO: A New Strategy for a New Search Era

Think of AI Overviews as a concierge for the search engine. Instead of just giving you a list of websites, Google now summarises the best information from multiple sources into a single, easy-to-digest snapshot at the very top of the page. It can pull in text, images, and links to the sites it considers most authoritative.

The implications are huge. Being featured in an AI Overview positions your brand as a definitive source of information, driving highly qualified traffic to your site. Conversely, being ignored means losing visibility on the most valuable digital real estate on the internet.

Understanding Google AI Overviews for business isn’t just about SEO; it’s about future-proofing your online presence.

Actionable SGE Optimisation Tips to Become a Trusted Source

So, how do you get your business featured? There's no magic button, but a focused strategy can significantly increase your chances. Here are the core SGE optimisation tips to get started.

1. Build Unshakeable Authority with E-E-A-T

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It's Google's framework for measuring content quality, and it's more important than ever. To show Google you're a credible source:

• Showcase your expertise: Create detailed author biographies that highlight credentials and real-world experience.
• Provide unique insights: Publish original research, case studies, or customer testimonials that can't be found elsewhere.
• Be transparent: Make your contact information, company history, and policies easy to find. This is fundamentally how to become a source for Google AI: prove you are a genuine expert in your field.

2. Structure Your Content for AI and Human Readers

AI models, much like busy humans, prefer content that is well-organised and scannable. Simple formatting makes a world of difference.

• Use a logical hierarchy: Employ clear H1, H2, and H3 headings to break up your article.
• Break up text: Short paragraphs, bullet points, and tables help both people and algorithms.
• Answer questions directly: Include FAQs that mirror real search queries. Phrasing questions the way a user would ask them is especially effective. Tip: Write your content so that each section could be lifted out and still make sense on its own—that’s often how AI systems extract snippets.

3. Target Conversational, Long-Tail Keywords

People are now asking Google full questions, not just typing “startup funding.”

Your content needs to reflect this shift. For example:

• Old SEO keyword: startup funding
• AEO keyword: what are the best ways for a new startup to get funding in Australia? This conversational approach matches the query style that triggers AI Overviews. It also ensures you’re speaking to the exact intent behind the search.

To find these queries:

• Use tools like AlsoAsked or AnswerThePublic.
• Scan Reddit or industry forums for how people phrase their problems.
• Add “people also ask” questions from Google directly into your keyword strategy.

4. Prioritise Factual Accuracy and Citing Sources

Trust is the currency of the new search landscape. AI-generated answers must be correct, and Google’s systems prioritise sources they can verify.

• Check your facts: Outdated stats or broken links will damage credibility.
• Link out wisely: Reference government sites, academic journals, and well-regarded industry bodies. Outbound links to trusted sources actually strengthen your authority.
• Keep content fresh: Update blogs annually (or more often in fast-moving sectors). Google rewards freshness.

5. Create Multimedia Content

AI Overviews often pull in images, charts, or videos alongside text. This gives you multiple pathways to be included.

• Optimise images with descriptive alt text and captions.
• Create short explainer videos hosted on YouTube (Google owns it, so it favours it).
• Design charts or infographics that present data clearly and can be embedded elsewhere. Startups can stand out by packaging information in visually engaging ways.

6. Focus on Topical Authority, Not Just Keywords

Google rewards depth. Instead of publishing dozens of surface-level blogs, build clusters of content around your expertise.

Example for a startup law firm:

• Core guide: How to set up a startup in Australia
• Cluster posts: Choosing the right business structure, Understanding founders’ agreements, Common startup compliance mistakes. Together, this signals to Google that your site is an authority on startup law. The more context Google has, the more likely it is to feature you in AI Overviews.

7. Monitor Performance Differently

Classic SEO metrics—rankings and clicks—still matter, but they no longer tell the full story. Track:

• Visibility in AI Overviews: Tools like SEMrush and SISTRIX are beginning to track this.
• Engagement quality: Is traffic converting at higher rates, even if volumes shift?
• Content resonance: Check user behaviour—time on page, scroll depth, bounce rate—to ensure your answers genuinely satisfy intent. For startups, this focus on conversion quality over raw traffic can be a blessing.

Case Study: How a Startup Can Leverage AI Overviews

Imagine you run a SaaS platform for remote team productivity. Previously, you might have tried to rank for “best remote work tools.”

Now, with AEO in mind, your strategy could be:

• Write a detailed guide: What are the best tools for managing remote teams in 2025?
• Include original data: survey results from 500 remote workers.
• Add a comparison table of tools (including yours).
• Provide practical steps: e.g., onboarding checklists.
• Publish a short video walkthrough.

This positions you not just as “another tool,” but as the expert resource Google wants to highlight.

Future Trends: Where AI Search is Heading

1. Personalisation at scale: AI Overviews may soon reflect not just general consensus, but personalised context (e.g., location, previous queries).
2. Voice integration: With AI-powered voice search, being the top answer could mean being the only spoken answer.
3. Generative commerce: Expect product and service recommendations to be increasingly embedded directly in Overviews, changing how e-commerce startups approach SEO. Startups that adapt early will have a competitive moat.

Final Thoughts

Thriving in the era of AI Overviews comes down to a simple principle: be the best answer. By focusing on genuine expertise, creating clearly structured and helpful content, and prioritising trust and accuracy, you align your business with exactly what Google's AI is designed to find. This isn't a threat to your visibility; it's an opportunity to prove your value.