Google Is Pushing Organic Search Results Down. Another Reason SEO Alone Isn't Enough.

A strong SEO strategy has long been important for making sure you show up when people search for information, but the way people search is changing. Audiences are increasingly turning directly to AI platforms for answers, and now Google itself is changing what people see when they search on their platform.

As Search Engine Roundtable recently reported, Google is testing expanded AI Overviews that show a fuller AI-generated response, along with an "Ask anything" box that encourages users to continue their search through AI. For some searches, that means organic results are being pushed even farther down the page.

Ranking well on Google still matters. People just aren't always getting to those organic results anymore.

Ranking well doesn't tell the whole story

Your website may rank well and the media coverage you've worked to secure may show up prominently in organic results. An AI-generated answer could still be what someone sees first on Google. When someone starts their search on an AI platform instead of Google, traditional rankings then may not be part of their experience at all. That means you also need to know what the AI answer says and which sources are shaping the response.

SEO still plays an important role here. Your website, earned media and other third-party content can all help influence AI answers. Rankings alone though don't show you how that content is actually showing up in the answers people are getting.

Why this matters

This is particularly important for public affairs, advocacy, government affairs, communications, political campaigns, crisis management and investor relations. In these spaces, what people find when they search can directly shape how they understand an organization, candidate or issue.

AuthoritivAI gives visibility into what AI platforms are saying, which sources are shaping those answers and where there are opportunities to strengthen a misaligned narrative.

People are already going directly to AI platforms for information. Now Google is also putting more AI-generated information ahead of its own organic results. For organizations trying to shape what their audiences find and understand, both need to be part of the strategy.