IS IT GAME OVER FOR SEO IN 2025?

How Google’s AI Overviews Are Rewriting the Rules for Business Visibility Online

Ranking high on searches done by people looking for a specific product or service has long been a predictable way for a business to ‘meet’ their customers and show them what’s on offer and why they should be chosen. Most business owners will be familiar with the marketing techniques used to achieve success with this matchmaking process. But is this now all changing? Will businesses need to find different ways to see this revenue in the future? This shift follows a significant Google Search update in 2025 that’s reshaping how customers find businesses. How do we all prepare for the changes?

This post explores just that and attempts to make sense of it for business owners in the United Kingdom.

What Are Google’s AI Overviews?

Google’s AI Overviews in the UK are changing the game for websites and business visibility online. Google first introduced this new feature to the search experience in the UK in August 2024 and is now rolling it out more widely.

You may have seen that you now get good answers to some of your search queries directly on the search results page. And that these answers can be lengthy, thereby significantly reducing the space available for websites to rank high and attract traffic. If the answer satisfies your needs, then there is no need for you to take any further action. Both SEO specialists and marketers are keeping an eye on what this may mean for businesses and websites in general and whether the tactics deployed in the past will remain an effective part of the overall marketing mix for a company in the future.

For now, searches for information are most affected, with 88% of searches triggering AI overviews. Specific high-trust sectors seem to be impacted more than others, according to a recent AI Overviews Study conducted by Semrush:

‘Science (+22.27%), Health (+20.33%), People & Society (+18.83%), and Law & Government (+15.18%) are the industries experiencing the largest share growth of AI Overviews—indicating a rapid shift in how users get answers in these high-trust, information-dense categories.’ - Semrush AI Overviews study.

Here is what an AI overview triggered result page looks like:

Example: AI overview result page

Why Should Small Businesses in the UK Care about AI Overviews?

As you can see from the AI overview example above, the new AI overview feature is taking up significant space that previously would be filled by information from websites.

The way people find information about services and products is changing (again!). Certain businesses have reportedly seen a drop in clicks and traffic. This could significantly impact a business’s ability to maintain the volume of new potential customers it attracts and, ultimately, its revenue.

Will businesses need to find different ways to reach customers and protect revenue in the future of search marketing in 2025 and beyond?

Yes, but for smaller companies, these changes also open up a range of opportunities. Well-written and structured content will still matter, but having a broader online footprint through building a brand presence beyond search by using, for example, social channels is also essential. And if you’re a local business, strengthening your local SEO strategy in 2025 will also be important.

It is an area worth keeping an eye on, and when time and budget are available, prepare and start adjusting accordingly.

Have questions about how to protect your visibility or rethink your search strategy for 2025? I'd like to help - please drop me (Mariann Fairley) an email.