Hey there, welcome back to Marketing Qualified. We hope you had a great week! Let’s cap it off with a couple of marketing topics:
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AI overviews are eating search. What B2B marketers can do about it.
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Don’t assume subscribers read subject lines. Do this instead.
🔍 AI overviews are eating search. What B2B marketers can do about it.
Google’s AI Overviews are changing how search works. For marketers, the biggest shift is how they impact visibility. A new study from Authoritas analyzing 10,000 keywords found that AI Overviews appear in 30% of searches, especially for problem-solving and question-based queries.
If you’re in B2B, that matters. These are exactly the types of searches potential buyers use to research solutions, compare options, and figure out what they need.
The kicker? AI Overviews push traditional organic listings further down the page. On desktop, an expanded AI Overview moves results 220 pixels lower, cutting visibility for anyone who isn’t included.
On mobile, things get even tighter. Only one or two organic results might be visible before a user has to scroll. Rough.
But before you start worrying that SEO is dead, here’s the good news: AI Overviews still rely on third-party sources. They’re just selective about who they surface.
What the data actually says.
The study found that AI Overviews don’t appear for every search and don’t just pull from the highest-ranking pages.
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AI Overviews show up most frequently for problem-solving (74%) and specific question (69%) searches. Good if you publish helpful content. Bad if your site relies on random traffic from vague search terms.
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They are far less likely to appear for broader topic research queries (3.37%), meaning deep-dive industry content still has a place. Nice.
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Pages that already rank for Featured Snippets have a 63% chance of appearing in an AI Overview. That makes Snippets more important than ever.
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Google favors authoritative, research-backed sources. Finance, SaaS, and telecom publications are regularly featured. But, user-generated content (Reddit & Quora) is mostly absent. Makes sense, but still, bummer for community-driven content.
So, the real takeaway isn’t that AI Overviews are stealing all the traffic. It’s that they’re rewarding certain types of content while filtering out the rest.
If you want to stay visible, your content strategy has to align with how Google is curating information.
How B2B marketers can adapt.
#1 – Optimize for featured snippets
The overlap between Featured Snippets and AI Overviews is significant. If you’re already ranking for a Snippet, your chances of appearing in an AI Overview go way up. Structure content with clear, concise answers, use Q&A formats and focus on direct responses to high-intent queries. No fluff, no meandering explanations.
#2 – Prioritize authority & trust.
AI Overviews aren’t surfacing just anyone. Google is favoring content from established sources. If your site isn’t already recognized as an expert, build credibility with original research, case studies, and expert commentary. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck watching the big names take over.
But this isn’t anything new. If you’ve been in the SEO game a long time, you know this has already been important for years.
#3 – Target mid-funnel commercial queries.
AI Overviews show up in 33% of non-brand searches but only 19.6% of brand-related queries. That means if you want to appear in AI-generated results, focus on commercial-intent keywords that compare solutions, evaluate options, or answer buying questions.
#4 – Monitor your industry’s AI overview trends.
Not all industries are affected equally. The study found that telecom (56%) and business services (41%) have high AI Overview penetration, while beauty (14%) and fashion (19%) barely see them. Some industries will be swallowed up by AI results faster than others. Keep an eye on your space.
#5 – Adjust paid search strategies.
AI Overviews push both organic and paid results further down the page. This makes it harder for ads to get visibility. In industries like SaaS, paid ads only appear above AI Overviews 30% of the time. If PPC performance is slipping, reallocate budget to high-intent queries where AI-generated results are less common.
The Bottom Line
AI Overviews are shifting attention away from traditional rankings, but they aren’t an organic traffic killer. At least not for marketers who adjust their approach.
Google is prioritizing structured, authoritative content that directly answers search intent. If your content strategy already focuses on clarity, expertise, and trust, you’re in a strong position. If not, now is the time to shift. Otherwise, get ready to watch your organic traffic drop while AI Overviews take your spot.
📰 In the news this week.
🏈 Has the Super Bowl always been this important to marketers?
▶️ LinkedIn’s latest video updates.
💸 Digital ads cost more, convert less: Frustration to blame.
🍎 Is Apple losing its advertising touch?
👀 Threads drives 73.6% more engagement than X.
🙅 Don’t assume subscribers read subject lines.
A lot of marketers treat their subject line like the opening sentence of their email. Feels logical, right?
But plenty of people don’t even read the subject line before diving in.
Some open based purely on the sender name. Others skip around their inbox using navigation arrows, sending them directly inside.
If your email relies on the subject line for context, a chunk of readers will have no idea what you’re talking about.
This is where a lot of emails go wrong. The first line assumes the reader already knows what’s going on. They get dropped into a topic with zero context.
Don’t do that. Repeat the key idea inside the email even if it feels repetitive from your subject line.
It’s not redundancy. It’s clarity.
😂 Marketing meme of the week.
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