The Click Wars: Winning Brand Visibility in Google’s AI Era

by Analisa Goldblatt, Erica Thomas September 18, 2025

Organic search traffic is slipping, and Google’s AI Overviews (AIOs) are partly to blame. Once upon a time, we optimized for organic clicks, which brought new users to our website for an introduction. Now, people can learn plenty about your brand from an AIO before they even see your homepage.

Search is Changing

AIOs offer a new way to digest the search engine results page (SERP). Instead of scanning dozens of links, users get instant summaries — and often stop browsing there.

As of March 2025, one in five Google searches trigger an AIO, and we only expect to see this number grow.

Conversational Queries

Think about your last few Google searches. Were any of them full-fledged questions? If so, you probably saw an AI-generated response. According to Pew Research, 60 percent of search queries that begin with question words, like “what” or “why,” result in an AIO.

Users are coming to Google with more questions and more words, meaning less one- or two-word phrases. As people get used to conversational interfaces like ChatGPT and Claude, we should expect that behavior to translate to traditional search engines. This means you should prepare your content for highly specific, even personalized, queries.

Google appears to favor the following factors when choosing AIO sources:

Trusted sites (e.g., government websites, reputable media)
Structured content (e.g., Wikipedia)
User-generated content (e.g., Reddit)

These sources also dominate traditional search results. So, if you haven’t optimized your digital footprint with these factors in mind, now’s the time.

The Battle of Brand Discoverability

Your website is still the online “source of truth” for your brand. In an official capacity, it can help train Google and other AI models on what you want the world to know about you.

However, your owned media is just one piece of the puzzle. Forums like Reddit can shape perceptions too — for better or worse.

Embrace the Change

The good news is SEO isn’t dead. At least not yet. At the 2025 One North Assembly, Ryan Shulz reminded us of tried-and-true strategies to stay ahead:

Define Your Brand
Invest in PR and backlink campaigns to boost positive visibility. Make sure your brand expression is consistent and compelling.
Know Your Users
Understand the goals of your audience and create content that answers those questions.
Tell a Sticky Story & Be Unique
Focus on quality over quantity. Google says AIO-driven visitors are more engaged and spend more time on your site.
Innovate
Make your digital content AI-friendly. Your end user is still human, but the mediator is Google’s AI crawler.
Measure Your Work
Adjust your expectations for organic search and keep an eye on SERP impressions.

To stay competitive, you need more than just SEO. You need a strategy that accounts for generative engine optimization (GEO), AI-friendly content, and a digital footprint that speaks for your brand across platforms.

One North can help you stay ahead of the competition. Don’t fall behind — optimize your digital footprint and win brand visibility.

Photo Credit: Wilhelm Gunkel

Analisa Goldblatt

Senior Content Strategist

Analisa Goldblatt is a Senior Content Strategist at One North with a background in content management, platform migrations, and marketing. She enjoys collaborating with clients to help make sense of their content and integrate tailored strategies to improve its production, management, and the end-user experience.

Erica Thomas

Senior Brand Strategist

Erica is a Senior Brand Strategist at One North. She works with clients and other cross-disciplinary strategists to mine information, develop insights, and create stellar branding and marketing strategies that support business goals. Erica brings her unrelenting curiosity to everything she does, from political docuseries to target audience research. She graduated from Aurora University with a bachelor’s in Psychology and a minor in Marketing.