The landscape of search engine results pages (SERPs) has changed significantly in the past year, driven by the rise of generative AI and user-driven platforms like Reddit and Quora.

These shifts are forcing businesses to rethink how they compete for attention online, especially in the SaaS space. One major element in this evolution is the emergence of AI overviews.

SEO/Organic As An Acquisition Channel

SEO professionals have spent years working on and selling SEO as a way of getting a certain set of metrics understandable.

Now that we’re moving into an AI-powered ecosystem, we have to work on client education and understanding that to achieve the very same end goals and objectives: sales, MRR, ARR… SEO as a channel can’t be judged on the same metrics we’ve been hammering home for the past two decades.

We need to educate clients on how to understand this new Search ecosystem. Search engine optimisation isn’t going away, but the definition of what a search engine is is changing quickly.

How AI Overviews Are Changing SEO

AI overviews are changing the top of the user funnel.

With more open-ended user queries, these AI-written summaries can influence users through quick answers or information that alters the usual search experience. This affects SEO strategies in two major ways: first, through “zero-click” searches.

When an AI summary fully answers a user’s query, the search journey may very well end right there. While businesses still get impressions in tools like Google Search Console, they don’t correspondingly see the clicks they once could count on. A second impact is brought in by how such user journeys get disrupted.

AI summaries introduce new brands, products, or information that alter how users go about their search. For example, if somebody searches for HR software or a VOIP provider, they may have traditionally seen the top listings from G2 or even Reddit.

Today, AI-driven results might steer users towards one brand or another, altering users’ buying behavior.

Adapting Your SEO Strategy

In this more powerful era of AI-driven search, businesses have to do more than track traditional metrics around traffic and rankings.

Of course, these will always be indicative, but understanding your users’ full journey is becoming vital, as organic traffic should be viewed as a touchpoint channel.

An isolated focus on bottom-of-the-funnel keywords and conversion-driven metrics like clicks runs the risk of missing upstream changes.

If AI overviews are diverting users from traditional paths, then marketers need to know about this diversion in the user journey and modify their ways of dealing with them.

What SaaS Companies Should Do Next

To win in this new AI search environment, SaaS firms should first have a very deep understanding of segments and user journeys, since when you know how users find your brand and where friction exists, you can fine-tune your tactics accordingly.

It will afford you the opportunity to discuss with SDRs and product teams and understand the big picture.

Secondly, businesses should monitor the overviews presented via AI. Since these pop up at different points in the funnel, you need to know where and how they’re impacting your audience.

Identify AI-driven search terms and optimize your content to appear within or near those summaries. While AI overviews and generative AI certainly raise a significant challenge for traditional methods of SEO, they also offer opportunities for those businesses that take advantage of them.

This means SaaS companies have the potential to rise to the top as long as they pay continuous attention to the whole user journey and keep an eye on how AI will influence search behavior.