Why I'm Done Chasing Google Rankings
I spent three years following every SEO playbook I could find. Keyword research, content pillars, backlink campaigns—the whole nine yards. We'd celebrate when articles hit #1 like we'd won the lottery.
Then Google's AI Overviews launched, and I realized something depressing: our top-ranking articles were completely invisible to the AI. All that traffic we were so proud of? It was like being the best dancer at a party where everyone had moved to a different room.
The Problem Nobody Talks About
Most SEO advice treats Google like a vending machine. Put in the right keywords, format everything perfectly, and out comes traffic. But here's what changed: Google's AI doesn't care about your keyword density or your perfect schema markup. It's looking for something else entirely.
My team got tired of guessing what that "something else" was, so we analyzed 75,000 AI Overview citations. The results were brutal. More than half the time, the AI was quoting content that wasn't even on the first page of traditional search results.
Think about that. We're all fighting for the #1 spot in a race that doesn't matter anymore.
What Actually Gets You Quoted
After looking at all that data, a pattern emerged. The content that gets cited isn't necessarily better—it's just easier for an AI to work with. Here's what actually works:
Update Your Best Stuff Instead of Creating More Junk
This surprised me. The average article cited by AI is about three years old, but 55% of citations came from content updated in the last year. The AI wants your evergreen content, but it wants it fresh.
That remote work guide you wrote in 2022? It's probably still solid, but it needs current stats, new examples, and maybe a section on hybrid work tools. Same foundation, updated details.
Write Like You're Explaining Things to a Smart but Impatient Friend
AI reads like a speed-reading robot. It scans for structure, not beautiful prose. If your content is a wall of text, the AI will find an easier source.
Content that gets quoted has obvious structure:
Clear subheadings that actually describe what's in each section
Lists and bullet points the AI can easily extract
FAQ sections (literally questions and answers)
TL;DR summaries at the top
Be the Most Credible Source in the Room
AI is obsessed with trust. It loves quoting established sources like BBC or The New York Times. You can't build a century-old brand overnight, but you can signal credibility.
Two ways to do this: publish original data if you have it, or curate the best existing information. Link to government sites, academic studies, and other trusted sources. Show the AI you're part of the serious conversation.
A Real Example
I had a customer onboarding article from 2022. It ranked well but got ignored by AI. I spent one afternoon on it:
Added a 5-point summary at the top
Turned a long paragraph into bullet points
Found a new university study to link to
Updated two screenshots
Two weeks later, we started showing up in AI Overviews. The AI literally lifted my summary and bullet points. It wasn't magic—I just made the AI's job easier.
The Bigger Picture
This isn't about finding a new hack. It's about accepting that your audience has changed. You're not just writing for humans anymore—you're also writing for their AI assistant.
When someone asks a question in your field, you want to be the answer the AI gives them. That's the new finish line.
Where to Start
Pick your 5 most important articles
Add a clear summary to each one
Break up long paragraphs into lists where it makes sense
Find one authoritative source to link to in each post
Wait and watch what happens
That's it. No growth hacking or 10x content strategies. Just making your best stuff clearer and more trustworthy.
The Bottom Line
The old SEO felt like gaming a system. This new approach works when it doesn't feel like optimization at all—when your content is so clear and well-organized that an AI has no choice but to quote you.
And that's not something you can fake. It's just being the most helpful, organized answer in the room.