What are Google AI Overviews?
AI Overviews are the AI-written summaries Google shows at the top of many search results. Instead of just listing ten blue links, Google reads pages across the web, writes a short answer, and links to a handful of sources underneath. For the person searching, it's convenient. For a business owner, it means one simple thing: some questions now get answered before anybody visits your website.
They matter because they're not a niche feature any more. They show up on a large share of informational searches — the "how much does…", "what is…", "how do I…" queries your customers type every day — and Google has been expanding them throughout 2025 and 2026.
Why your clicks can fall even when your ranking doesn't
This is the bit that confuses people. You check your position in Google: still page one, still top five. Then you check your analytics: fewer visitors than last year. Nothing's broken — the search results page simply has less reason to send people through. When Google answers the question directly, some searchers never scroll down to you.
The searches most affected are general information ones. The searches least affected — and this is the good news — are the ones with money behind them: "web design Leeds", "accountant near me", "emergency plumber Headingley". People comparing local businesses still want to click through to a real website. Local and service searches remain where small businesses win.
Five things that keep you visible in AI answers
You can't opt out of AI Overviews, but you can make sure your site is the one they quote — and that you still win the clicks that matter.
1. Answer real questions clearly, near the top of the page. AI summaries pull from pages that state things plainly. If a customer asks "how much does X cost?", and your site answers it in one honest paragraph, you're quotable. If the answer is buried under six paragraphs of marketing, you're not.
2. Keep your local SEO tight. Your Google Business Profile, reviews, and consistent name-address-phone details feed straight into local results — and AI Overviews lean on them heavily for "near me" searches. This is ground we've covered before in our guide to getting into Google's Map Pack, and it matters more now, not less.
3. Say specific things, not generic ones. AI summaries are built from facts: prices, locations, services, opening hours, process. A page that says "we offer tailored solutions for all your needs" gives an AI nothing to work with. A page that says "websites from £79/month, live in 14 days, based in Leeds" gives it everything.
4. Be worth citing. Google's AI tends to reference sources that other people trust — pages with genuine depth, real expertise, and a proper structure. Thin pages written for search engines are exactly the kind of content AI Overviews replace. Write for the customer who'll read it, and the machines tend to follow.
5. Don't let slow pages sink you. When fewer clicks are available, each one counts more. A fast, mobile-friendly site converts the visitors you do get — a slow one wastes them. Speed and clean code have always been worth doing; now they're non-negotiable.
What this means for Leeds businesses specifically
Leeds is a competitive local market — whichever trade you're in, you're up against dozens of businesses fighting for the same searches. That's actually an advantage in the AI era. AI Overviews hit general information searches hardest, and "general information" was never where a local business won its customers anyway. Your customers find you through local search, your Google profile, your reviews, and word of mouth — all things AI Overviews draw from rather than replace.
The businesses that lose out are the ones whose entire online presence is a few vague pages of brochure-speak. The ones that do well have clear answers, real prices, genuine local proof, and a site that works properly on a phone. None of that is a trick — it's just a well-built website with something honest to say, which is what we've been banging on about since our first guides on why websites don't bring in enquiries.
One more thing worth knowing: if your site has an AI chat assistant, you're already in the habit of answering customer questions directly. The same instinct — answer clearly, honestly, specifically — is what makes a website quotable by Google's AI too.
If you'd rather someone else kept on top of all this, that's literally the job: tell us about your business and we'll look at where you stand — we reply within 2 hours during business hours. And if you want to dig deeper yourself, our Map Pack guide is the best free starting point.