Which Types of Content Will Win Over Google AI Overviews, According to Experts

Since May 2024, Google’s AI Overviews (also called SGE) have changed how SEO works.

Good content has always been important. But now, it’s even more important for your content to be helpful, clear, and easy for Google’s AI to understand.

This brings up a big question: What if Google sees some of your content as no longer useful?

To help with this, we have shared advice on what kind of content works well in this new AI-focused world and what to avoid.

1. Focus on content with a personal touch

AI is smart, but it can’t share personal thoughts or feelings like a human. That’s why content that includes real experiences, new ideas, and personal views is more valuable than ever.

In a survey of over 300 SEO experts and web strategists, 37% said review and comparison content would do well, while 27% said opinion-based and leadership content would also perform better.

One of the experts explains that AI has made it easy to create a lot of low-quality content. So now, Google prefers content that feels real, personal, and written from a human point of view.

For example, when asking Copilot “How to build emotional strength as an entrepreneur,” you get a clear and useful answer—but it lacks real-life feeling.

Now compare that to a blog post where founders share their own stories. One founder, Michael Plisco, talks about how hard it is to separate yourself from your business when things go wrong. He shares advice based on his experience like spending more time with loved ones or doing activities you enjoy.

That kind of advice feels more real and personal.

So, while AI can give fast answers for simple topics—like “top social media platforms” or “questions to ask in a job interview” it can’t share fresh ideas or the emotional side of things.
That’s where your content can stand out.

2. Use first-hand stories

AI can make lists and summaries, but it can’t share how it felt using a product or service. That’s why personal stories will matter more than ever. So instead of writing something like “Top 10

Marketing Tools,” you can say, “I Tried These 5 Tools—Here’s My Favorite.”

This doesn’t just help with rankings it also builds trust with your readers. People like to hear from someone who has actually used the tool or faced the same problem.

Some people worry that personal stories won’t do well with AI tools, but that may not be true. AI can’t fully explain human emotions or real-world situations. And without those real stories, content might lose what makes it special.

3. Show experience and trust (E-E-A-T)

Google uses a system called E-E-A-T to decide if content is good. It stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. This system became even more important after Google added AI Overviews.

Some experts say to focus more on writing content with small amounts of new information—only 10 to 40%—so that it doesn’t seem off-topic.

But if we talk about other websites like HubSpot, their writers do both: they include new ideas and expert quotes, but also make sure the content is clear and easy to follow. And they never overdo it with SEO. They use keywords, but the main goal is to make the content useful for the reader.

4. Focus on Long-Tail Search Phrases

Long-tail search phrases have been helpful in SEO for a long time. If you’re not sure what that means, here’s a quick example: a word like “blogging” is searched by many people, so it’s hard to rank for. But a longer phrase like “how to write a blog post for beginners” is more specific and easier to rank on search results.

That’s why using long-tail phrases in your content can help you get more traffic.

In fact, 45% of SEO experts think guides like “how-to” content will do well, especially now that AI and large language models (LLMs) are becoming part of search engines.

Also, according to a survey by Surfer, AI overviews often use step-by-step lists when showing “how-to” results.

These days, people type long questions into Google just to get quick answers.

And here’s something interesting: AI overview answers are usually only about 157 words long. That means you only have about 984 characters to give a clear answer or make people want to click and read more.

It’s not easy, but it helps you stay focused and avoid adding extra or off-topic info. You need to give users exactly what they’re looking for.

So what does this mean for search engines?

In a survey, 55% of SEO experts said more people are using search engines after Google started showing AI answers. Another 37% said usage stayed the same, while only 9% think it dropped.

Don’t Be Afraid of These Changes — Just Adjust

If you want your content to keep ranking well, you have to be ready to adapt. Google and AI are moving fast, but that’s not a bad thing. You just have to stay prepared and open to change. Your SEO and content team can keep trying out new ideas to see what works best.