In the wake of AI Overviews, new SERP features, and ever-ephemeral Google algorithms, the search sky isn’t falling. 

In the AI-impacted search landscape, publishers are finding new tactics to optimize for search in ways they never thought possible. 

All this fueled a lively conversation on a recent Right About Now business podcast with WordPress VIP CEO Nick Gernert and host Ryan Alford.

Are Google’s AI Overviews really that bad for SEO?

AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear in some search queries, reducing the need to click through to individual websites. 

While they improve the user experience, they pose challenges for publishers who rely on organic search traffic.

But despite initial concerns that AI-generated summaries might decimate Google referral traffic, our Parse.ly network data analysis suggests otherwise.* 

“We sit on a lot of analytics data that we have access to by virtue of products we provide. We’re seeing referral traffic [over the past 20 months] from Google increasing [8 percent] across the websites we look at with hundreds of millions of daily visitors,”

Nick Gernert, CEO—WordPress VIP

*Nonetheless, some publishers are seeing declines in Google Search traffic. Could Google Discover be responsible for the overall uptick in Google referral traffic that we found? Some publishers think so.

Publishers go on the SEO counteroffensive

Google referral traffic is up, for now. But what about tomorrow and beyond? 

Google Search remains a full-time challenge for publishers, who must scramble to stay abreast of trends and algorithm updates—in fear of seeing traffic drop. Prescriptive tactics like targeting bottom-of-funnel keywords and enhancing content for AI readability can help in the short term. But what about the long term?

Says Nick: “I think there’s a healthy, well-earned skepticism toward Google. ‘How much should I rely on them for traffic?’ As a platform that directs people to us, I think that’s fair.” 

But how do you avoid becoming overly dependent on one particular technology or platform for eyeballs? “Like a social platform, ChatGPT, or anything else that might help you in a six- to 12-month time horizon but hurt you over a multi-year trajectory?” asks Nick. “It’s chilling to think that it can easily be cut off.”

To future-proof their business, savvy publishers are weaning themselves from third-party platform dependency. 

Instead, they’re focusing on their own web properties, rather than third-party channels like search and social media, to build direct relationships with audiences through the home page, newsroom, self-hosted videos, and podcasts.

Owned channels are finding their moment in the SEO sun

“There’s never been a better time to reassess your investments in your owned web and digital space,” says Nick. 

“Some of our most successful customers are the ones that five years ago, even pre-pandemic, were making a big investment in the channels they own and the content they drive to them—all to own more of a relationship with their customers.”

Nick Gernert, CEO—WordPress VIP

Running your business on a CMS platform built with SEO in mind will also help you shape your content to attract more visitors from search engines while improving your Core Web Vitals to rank even higher on Google.

“WordPress has had SEO as part of its core since its earliest days,” says Nick. “We see folks migrate to the platform and immediately [realize] a dramatic SEO improvement because of all the care and attention that’s gone into how documents get structured and delivered.”

Data gold: integrating GSC with content analytics 

While AI is increasingly seen as a crucial tool in making content more accessible and engaging, having good, actionable content and search performance data is just as important.

“One of the things we’ve been working on from an SEO standpoint is integrating Google Search Console into our products so our customers can start to feed their GSC account data into an [analytics platform],” says Nick. 

By bringing often difficult-to-access GSC keyword data and content performance metrics into one easy-to-understand dashboard that everyone in the organization can access (not just data scientists), more writers and editors can make data-driven content strategy decisions based on search performance rather than instinct. 

Result? 

Content is optimized. Search rankings improve. Stories resonate better with readers.

Note: Learn more about leveraging GSC-to-content analytics integration to up your SEO game by watching our on-demand webinar​​, Maximizing Search Traffic: Strategies and Techniques for Getting More From Google.

Speaking of helping content and SEO 

Going deeper into how VIP products impact SEO, Nick teases the Content Helper, which works inside the WordPress Editor to give writers easy-to-understand, search-based performance data and bespoke content suggestions.

“If you want headlines or titles that perform better, [the Content Helper] can write those in your business tone, based on search performance,” says Nick.

This AI-driven tech also automatically surfaces top-performing posts on similar topics and inserts high-authority smart links to related content. It helps media teams create and optimize search-friendly content, enhance the visibility of their websites, and improve audience engagement.

“We’re here to help you have a stronger owned presence on the web,” says Nick, calling out the “beautiful simplicity” and “superpower” of WordPress for brands looking for a better way to CMS.

Listen now to the Right About Now business podcast.