Google’s AI Overview Is Rewriting the Rules of Paid Search: Are You Ready?

What Is Google’s AI Overview?

Google’s AI Overview (previously known as Search Generative Experience or SGE) is Google's response to the generative search revolution. By synthesizing information into direct answers above traditional results, and in many cases, above paid ads, it offers users an accelerated, conversational information experience.

Unlike traditional search rankings that deliver a list of links, AI Overviews generate summaries, recommendations, and citations in real time using large language models. The net effect? Ads and even organic listings are pushed lower, often below the scroll cut.

This threatens the decades-long foundation of Google Ads, where positioning and bidding strategies centered on top-of-page prominence.

What It Means for B2B Marketers

• Less above-the-fold space for ads
• Fewer opportunities to intercept high-intent traffic
• More emphasis on informational queries and mid-funnel journeys
• A shift from direct conversion pathways to engagement-based micro-actions

From Transactional to Informational: The New Search Journey

Think of your current PPC campaign structure like a traditional broadcast antenna, optimized for one-directional visibility. You transmit ads, users click, conversions follow. Simple.

But AI Overview demands a different model. Instead of broadcasting, you need conversational visibility, being the expert voice that appears during a customer’s “Q&A” journey. This involves adapting to more exploratory search behavior and aligning your messaging with an informational, not just transactional, mindset.

Example: A query like “best enterprise data management solutions for healthcare” may now trigger a generative summary listing several providers (curated by AI), with ads buried beneath that output. If you’re not optimizing for how and where your assets surface in this journey, your campaigns could be invisible, regardless of your bid.

Decline in Above-the-Fold Visibility: The Numbers Tell the Story

Even in early A/B testing, Marcel Digital has observed impression increases by 25% but clicks dropped by 26%, and CTR fell by 41% on once-reliable head terms, especially on previously reliable phrase and exact match keywords where informational queries are now consuming traffic share. Across our clients in tech, finance, and healthcare verticals, we’re seeing traffic patterns shift toward more fragmented journeys.

Key Trends Impacting B2B Paid Search Include:

• AI Overview CTR drop across top-funnel and bottom-funnel keywords
• Increased impressions but lower qualified traffic
• Growing search saturation by generative content (LLM summaries)
• Reduced certainty around what placements will trigger
• Decrease in clicks across top performing keywords

Common Missteps in Adapting to AI Overview

Too many marketing teams are still optimizing for yesterday’s SERP. Here are frequent mistakes we’re seeing:

1. No campaign structure updates.
Failing to revise campaigns for generative search output leads to wasted budget. AI Overview rewards flexible, intent-aligned targeting.

2. Misaligned content and copy.
Informational queries demand content that anticipates questions, not just sells solutions. Many B2B ads still lead with demos or downloads, missing the opportunity to engage earlier.

3. Ignoring Performance Max implications.
Asset grouping and Performance Max structure greatly influence how and when content appears in AI-generated search results, yet many advertisers haven’t updated these formats.

4. Viewing SEO and Paid Media as separate.
Google’s AI Overview doesn’t differentiate between paid and organic as cleanly. A siloed approach to search will tank your total visibility.

5. Underestimating the shift in query types.
Searchers are asking more complex, conversational questions and Google's AI is responding before they ever see your ad. If you're only bidding on traditional “solution” terms, you're missing how people now search for problems first

Marcel Digital’s Strategic Framework for Optimization

At Marcel Digital, we’ve built a future-ready approach to help B2B organizations optimize for AI Overview and the evolving nature of paid visibility.

Here’s how we do it:

1. Campaign Restructuring: Bid & Match Type Modernization

Our audits focus on match type recalibration, moving away from over-broad strategies and toward tailored groupings based on intent-tier mapping. Keywords in informational phases get supported by Performance Max creative and CPC minimization, while core transactional terms focus on tighter exact match control.

2. Performance Max Asset Revamp & AI-Responsive Structuring

We reconfigure Performance Max campaigns to surface assets in AI-recommended blocks. Think modular copy, visuals aligned with LLM-friendly formats, and audience targeting that mimics persona story arcs.

3. Intent-Based Funnel Mapping + A/B Creative Testing

We align ad content to personas across the research journey, especially as B2B buyers ramp up due diligence. This includes multi-asset experiments that emphasize thought leadership (not just demo CTAs).

4. SEO & SEM Cross-Functional Strategy

Our Paid Search team works in tandem with SEO to ensure visibility across the full surface layer of the SERP, including AI-generated citations, organic inclusions, and hybrid visibility paths.

5. Real-Time Reporting on AI Overview Impact

We track AI Overview visibility specifically. Our reporting benchmarks CTR adjustments, crawl prominence, and Performance Max signal use to determine what’s surfacing and what’s vanishing.

Future-Proof Strategies: What to Prioritize in Q3 and Beyond

To win in the next evolution of paid Google Ads, your roadmap should include the following strategic shifts:

• Enable and test AI Max strategically
• Realign campaign segments by intent tier (Early, Mid, Late)
• Shift messaging from Features → Conversational Led Engagement
• Audit current SERP positioning in generative output
• Adapt match keyword strategy to protect CPC efficiency
• Collaborate between SEO and Paid Media teams weekly
• Use PMax campaigns strategically, not as a “catch all”
• Redefine success metrics: influence + visibility > clicks alone