A Repeatable Approach to Earning Visibility in Google’s AI Overviews

Search visibility has changed.

As AI Overviews sit between a search query and a click, answers appear earlier. Decisions happen sooner. Some brands gain exposure without a traditional top position, while others lose ground despite strong historical performance.

Rather than speculating on what this might mean for the future of SEO, we focused on watching how it plays out in practice. What types of searches trigger AI Overviews? What kind of sources are referenced? And, importantly, where are the opportunities for brands to consistently be cited by AI-driven search results?

The Opportunity: Where AI Overviews Reward Clarity

The queries most likely to surface AI Overviews are the ones that signal clear intent and come paired with complexity or uncertainty. Regulatory detail. Safety considerations. Installation requirements. Decisions where the cost of getting it wrong is high.

In those moments, AI Overviews consistently favoured sources that reduced friction quickly. Not pages designed to cover everything. Not content optimised for raw audience volume. The sources being cited addressed the specific uncertainty behind the search and did so with practical, locally relevant detail.

That observation shaped our approach. Rather than chasing inclusion broadly, we focused on identifying these moments of uncertainty and responding to them with precision. The final execution of that strategy varies by industry, but the opportunity follows the same logic each time.

The Method: One Strategy, Applied Across Industries

Create resources that resolve a specific uncertainty cleanly, reflect local context accurately, and answer the question without unnecessary distraction.

That principle guides our approach. It prioritises clarity over scale and usefulness over reach, reflecting how search engines assess value when someone just wants a straight answer.

Evidence Across Different Search Contexts

Westsun Energy: Business Solar Rebates in WA

Search behaviour around business solar rebates shows clear commercial intent, paired with regulatory complexity and frequent changes. Businesses want to understand eligibility, timing and what support is actually available in Western Australia.

This query aligned closely with the opportunity we had identified. After publishing a focused resource addressing those points directly, Westsun Energy began appearing in the AI Overview for the search term “business solar rebates WA”.

Steven Murphy Electrical Contractors: Power Pole Replacement

Searches related to power pole replacement are driven by responsibility and uncertainty. Users are often unclear on who is liable, when replacement is required, and what the process involves, particularly where private infrastructure is concerned.

By addressing those uncertainties clearly and within a local context, Steven Murphy Electrical Contractors became a cited source in the AI Overview for “electrical power pole replacement”.

No Birds Car Rental: Hiring a Car on P Plates

Searches for hiring a car on P plates tend to centre on eligibility. Rules differ between providers, conditions are often unclear, and users want a direct answer to a specific question.

By addressing that question clearly and upfront, No Birds Car Rental secured inclusion in Google’s AI Overview for the query “Can I hire a car on P plates?”, reinforcing the same clarity-led approach across a very different search context.

These examples show a repeatable pattern. As AI Overviews become more prominent, visibility goes to content that answers specific questions clearly and without friction.

Search will continue to evolve. The strategy underneath remains the same: clarity earns visibility.