According to a new analysis by Authoritas, the website rankings on Google AI Overviews are more unstable than rankings on classic Google searches. The study by this eCommerce SEO platform also found that 70% of the rankings on AI Overviews changed within two to three months. Even though Google’s organic search rankings have always been unstable, the rankings on AI Overviews seem more unstable, with a volatile score of 0.68 within 8 weeks and 0.73 within 13 weeks. On the other hand, the volatile score of Google's organic search ranking was 0.49 within 8 weeks and 0.55 within 13 weeks.
The analysis also mentioned that ranking in the top ten organic search results doesn’t mean that your website will also rank on AI Overviews. Both have different criteria and systems and are independent in the way they work. However, the analysis has found that the top ten results in organic search appear 60% of the time on AI Overviews, while a page that isn’t ranked in the top ten appears 40% of the time on AI Overviews.
The text snippets on Google AI Overviews are also unstable and tend to change over time, even though the sources that are cited there remain stable. Monitoring these changes is the best way to see the trends in user intent. It is important to monitor AI Overviews because it is here to stay, so keeping up with its changes is the best way to make your website get cited there. It is very different from traditional SEO, so monitoring AI Overviews for keywords you care about is a good move.
The volatility of AI-generated rankings varies across industries, with sectors like marketing, non-profits, and real estate experiencing the most fluctuation. Compared to organic search, generative results show consistently higher instability, highlighting the unpredictability of AI-driven visibility. Categories such as healthcare and finance exhibit comparatively lower volatility, suggesting more stable ranking patterns. Understanding these variations is crucial for businesses aiming to maintain search visibility in an evolving digital landscape.
Read next: Fewer People Clicking on Google Search Results Because of AI Summaries
The analysis also mentioned that ranking in the top ten organic search results doesn’t mean that your website will also rank on AI Overviews. Both have different criteria and systems and are independent in the way they work. However, the analysis has found that the top ten results in organic search appear 60% of the time on AI Overviews, while a page that isn’t ranked in the top ten appears 40% of the time on AI Overviews.
The text snippets on Google AI Overviews are also unstable and tend to change over time, even though the sources that are cited there remain stable. Monitoring these changes is the best way to see the trends in user intent. It is important to monitor AI Overviews because it is here to stay, so keeping up with its changes is the best way to make your website get cited there. It is very different from traditional SEO, so monitoring AI Overviews for keywords you care about is a good move.
The volatility of AI-generated rankings varies across industries, with sectors like marketing, non-profits, and real estate experiencing the most fluctuation. Compared to organic search, generative results show consistently higher instability, highlighting the unpredictability of AI-driven visibility. Categories such as healthcare and finance exhibit comparatively lower volatility, suggesting more stable ranking patterns. Understanding these variations is crucial for businesses aiming to maintain search visibility in an evolving digital landscape.
Read next: Fewer People Clicking on Google Search Results Because of AI Summaries
