The New Search Paradigm: Why 47% AI Overviews Signal a Tectonic Shift in SEO
Google’s AI Overviews now appear in 47% of searches, replacing blue links with direct AI-generated answers. As users stop clicking through, traditional SEO is becoming outdated. Brands must adapt by tracking visibility in AI answers and optimizing for this new search paradigm.
Max van der Vloet•June 29, 2025
- The Future of Search is Chat-Based
- Measuring Answer Engine Visibility
- Adapting Your (SEO) Strategy with our platform
- Get Started
In May 2024, Google quietly rolled out one of the biggest changes to its core product in decades: AI Overviews, generative answers that sit prominently at the top of search results. Later that year, data showed these AI Overviews are appearing in 47% of all Google searches. Ciao blue links, hello AI mode.
The Future of Search is Chat-Based
After decades of navigating through blue links Google's AI mode represents a fundamental shift in how users interact with search engines. Users no longer have to shift through the websites that a search engine presents to get an answer to their question, but can now read an AI synthesized answer to their query. Anybody who has used ChatGPT, perplexity or another AI Answer Engine was waiting for this to happen with Google of course. Yet, this is the most tectonic shift in UI since Google's founding in 1998.
With the click-through rates plummeting because users get their answer directly in Google's UI traditional SEO metrics like ranking positions and click through rates are becoming less relevant fast. Brands have to shift their strategy to remain visible in these AI answer engines and track new metrics.
Measuring Answer Engine Visibility
With this shift in traditional metrics becoming less important brands need to adapt and track different metrics:
- Brand mentions: How often is your brand cited in AI-generated responses?
- Website citations: Is your content used in AI synthesized answers, and is it properly cited?
- Competitive positioning: How does your brand visibility compare to your competitors in AI-generated answers?
Prompttracker allows you to monitor your brand across AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and AI overviews. By tracking these new metrics, brands can understand their digital presence in this new paradigm of AI-first search.
Adapting Your (SEO) Strategy with our platform
To succeed in this new search paradigm, brands need to optimize for AI-generated answers. Our platform offers:
- Brand mention tracking across AI search platforms
- Monitoring website citations and competitive intelligence
- Actionable insights to create AI-Friendly content
Get Started
Ready to track how your brand appears in Google AI overviews and other AI search engines? Prompttracker provides the key AI visibility metrics you need to succeed in this new search paradigm.