Google’s AI is killing small biz traffic. Here’s how to fight back

The search landscape is shifting beneath our feet, and many small and medium businesses are at risk of being blindsided. If you still think SEO is all about chasing rankings in Google’s “10 blue links,” it’s time for a serious rethink. Why? Because Google’s AI Overviews – those sleek, AI-generated summaries that answer queries right on the results page – are fundamentally rewriting the rules of visibility and traffic.
In my experience advising brands as well as businesses through the Government-funded Digital Solutions program on SEO strategy, one thing is clear: if your business is not showing up in AI Overviews, you’re effectively invisible to a vast swathe of potential customers. It’s like a nuclear missile heading straight for your business – and the impact is only going to get worse.
From clicks to answers: How AI overviews are changing search behaviour
Until recently, when a user searched on Google, they were presented with a list of website links. Users would click through, explore and do their own research. This was the classic SEO playground: rank high in the blue links and you got the clicks, leads and sales.
Now, with AI Overviews, the experience is drastically different. Instead of offering a menu of links, Google’s AI aggregates information from multiple sources, synthesises an answer, and serves it directly on the search page – no click necessary.
Consider this example:
Imagine a customer bought a coffee table from IKEA but isn’t happy with it and wants to return it. Traditionally, they might have searched for “Ikea returns policy” and clicked through to Ikea’s website for details.
Today, they might ask their voice assistant or type, “Hey Google, I bought this coffee table from Ikea last week, can I still return it?” and Google’s AI Overview will deliver an immediate answer.
The customer never visits IKEA’s site. IKEA loses a valuable click. That lost click represents lost engagement, lost opportunity and ultimately lost revenue.
This shift from search-and-click to ask-and-answer is a tectonic change that businesses must urgently understand and adapt to.
The small business impact: Why SMEs are most at risk
This change affects all businesses, but the damage will be felt hardest by small and medium enterprises. Why? Because unlike global brands with massive recall and direct customer loyalty, many small and medium businesses still rely heavily on organic traffic – the clicks that come from people discovering them through Google’s links.
When AI Overviews snatch those clicks away, traffic drops. And with it, leads and sales.
Take, for example, Bunnings, compared to a small, local hardware store in a small town.
If a customer searches “How to fix a leaking tap,” Google’s AI Overview now provides a concise, step-by-step answer right on the search page, often pulling snippets from authoritative sources like Bunnings’ DIY guides or popular home improvement forums.
The user gets the answer instantly and doesn’t need to click through to any website.
For Bunnings, this might be manageable due to their strong brand presence, broad product range, and diversified marketing channels. But for the local hardware store, which previously relied heavily on organic traffic from such queries, this means a critical loss of visibility and foot traffic, because those potential customers no longer visit their website or store.
If the small store hadn’t optimised their content to appear in AI Overviews or create highly specific, localised answer content, they might never even show up in these new AI-driven search experiences.
For businesses still clinging to the old SEO playbook, fixated on backlink counts, keywords, and ranking in the 10 blue links, this disruption could quietly put them out of business.
The content funnel under siege: TOFU and MOFU content are eeing eaten alive
It’s important to note that this disruption is not uniform across the funnel. AI Overviews hit the Top of Funnel (TOFU) and Middle of Funnel (MOFU) content the hardest.
TOFU and MOFU content are designed to attract and engage users early in their research journey. Think blog posts, guides, FAQs and other educational content that draws visitors in by answering broad or semi-specific queries.
AI Overviews aim to answer these queries within the search results themselves. This means that much of the effort businesses invest in content designed to pull users in early on risks being bypassed entirely.
Bottom of Funnel (BOFU) content, which is focused on direct conversions, brand differentiation, and sales, remains critical but is not immune to this broader disruption.
The old SEO playbook is broken, here’s why
Traditional SEO strategies were built around ranking in the 10 blue links. But AI Overviews sidestep those links altogether.
Generic, broad-brush content is increasingly irrelevant. Businesses must now think like answer providers, not just information hosts.
Content must be:
- Laser-focused on specific questions users might ask, rather than broad keyword topics.
- Tailored to directly solve pain points rather than vaguely inform.
- Structured so that AI systems can trust it as a definitive source.
An excellent resource here is Google’s “People Also Ask” box, which offers a window into the actual questions people search for. Answering these with precision is key.
How to fight back: Optimising content for AI overviews
So, how can businesses adapt and thrive despite this sea change?
1) Become the answer authority
Instead of optimising for keyword rankings, optimise to become the trusted source for specific, frequently asked questions in your niche.
For example, a local bakery could create content answering:
- “What allergens are in your chocolate cake?”
- “How long can I keep a sourdough loaf fresh?”
- “What’s your process for custom birthday cakes?”
As opposed to:
- Generic pages titled “Chocolate Cake” or “Our Bakery Products” that list items without addressing common customer concerns directly.
- Broad, keyword-stuffed blog posts like “Best cakes in town” or “How to bake bread,” which fail to provide clear, focused answers to real questions.
- Content that tries to rank for high-volume but vague keywords without solving specific user needs.
By providing direct, clear answers, you increase the chance Google’s AI will pull from your content for its Overviews.
2) Leverage diverse content formats
AI doesn’t just pull from text; it can incorporate video, social posts, forums and more. Look to platforms like Reddit and YouTube, where real user experiences are shared, and create content that taps into those authentic voices.
A furniture retailer, for example, could feature customer video reviews or Reddit threads about product experiences to enrich their content ecosystem.
3) Use semantic and connected schema
Structured data markup helps Google understand your content’s context and relationship to other entities. This is critical to be recognised as a reliable answer source in AI Overviews.
Bad Example:
A small cafe adds generic schema markup like this on their menu page:
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “Menu”,
“name”: “Our Menu”,
“url”: “https://examplecafe.com/menu”
}
While this tells Google they have a menu page, it doesn’t provide any detail on individual items, ingredients, or connections to allergens, which are common user questions.
Good Example:
The same cafe implements detailed, connected schema like this:
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “Menu”,
“name”: “Our Menu”,
“hasMenuSection”: [
{
“@type”: “MenuSection”,
“name”: “Desserts”,
“hasMenuItem”: [
{
“@type”: “MenuItem”,
“name”: “Chocolate Cake”,
“description”: “Rich chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache”,
“nutrition”: {
“@type”: “NutritionInformation”,
“allergen”: [“gluten”, “eggs”, “milk”]
},
“offers”: {
“@type”: “Offer”,
“price”: “6.50”,
“priceCurrency”: “AUD”
}
}
]
}
]
}
This markup clearly defines individual menu items, allergens, prices, and sections, helping Google’s AI accurately understand and pull precise answers. For example:
- “Does your chocolate cake contain eggs?”
- “How much does the chocolate cake cost?”
This level of detail increases your chances of appearing in AI Overviews for highly specific user queries, driving visibility and traffic.
4) Keep brand voice & authenticity front and centre
Optimising for AI answers shouldn’t mean sacrificing your brand’s personality. AI can and will learn to detect authoritative yet authentic content, so stay human-first and clear.
Real businesses are already feeling the pinch
I’ve spoken with several Australian small businesses that have seen a clear drop in organic traffic since Google rolled out AI Overviews, especially when paired with the rise of voice search.
One client in the travel industry, for example, recorded a 15% decline in blog traffic within just three months of AI Overviews appearing on relevant queries. The content wasn’t bad or erroneous; it was accurate, but generic. And that’s the problem: Google’s AI lifted the core facts directly, bypassing the need to click through. The client’s site was effectively demoted to a footnote.
By reworking their content to target specific, user-intent-driven questions and adding customer stories and FAQs, they reversed the trend and are now regaining visibility – proof that adapting works.
The future is now: Don’t wait to adapt
The rise of Google AI Overviews is not a distant threat – it’s happening now. The businesses that adjust first will be the ones that survive and thrive.
If your SEO and content strategy still revolves around chasing rankings without a clear focus on answering real user questions, your brand risks invisibility.
At UR Digital, we help businesses pivot to Search Everywhere Optimisation, a comprehensive strategy that ensures your brand is found across Google’s AI, traditional search, voice, and emerging AI-powered platforms like Perplexity and GPT-driven search engines. If your customers can search it, we can rank it, no matter how Google chooses to serve answers tomorrow.
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Pulkit Agrawal
Pulkit Agrawal is the Founder & SEO Director of UR Digital. Pulkit is a trusted authority in SEO, currently advising the Australian Government and brands such as Nouvelle, PSS Distributors and Forward Travel.
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