How Google’s SGE Is Changing Everything About Search
Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is no longer in beta—it’s live. That means AI Overviews are now front and center in many search results. And if you’ve noticed a drop in rankings or traffic recently, you’re not imagining things.
Welcome to the AI-first search era.
Your content, your visibility, and your bottom line are all being affected. But here’s the good news: you’re not powerless. In this post, we’ll break down what’s happening, what not to panic about, and what to focus on if you want to keep growing.
Why Are Rankings Dropping?
The short answer? AI Overviews are crowding the traditional search space. Instead of showing 10 blue links right away, Google now serves an AI-generated summary that often answers the query before a user ever clicks.
Here’s how that’s impacting rankings:
- Fewer clicks overall. Even if you rank #1, users may not scroll down to see it.
- More competition above the fold. AI pulls in content from multiple sources (not always yours).
- Search behavior is changing. People are scanning summaries, not hunting down links.
- If your site traffic is dipping, it’s likely not just your rankings—it’s the entire structure of search that’s changing.
Why This Matters for Bay Area and Silicon Valley Law Firms and Professional Services
The Bay Area and Silicon Valley are home to some of the most competitive professional service markets in the country—especially for law firms, consultants, and other expert providers. Your potential clients are sophisticated, time-strapped, and increasingly turning to AI-driven tools for quick, reliable answers before they even consider contacting a firm.
If your website isn’t optimized for this AI-first landscape, you risk losing visibility to competitors who are embracing these new technologies. For law firms and professional services, where trust and authority are paramount, appearing as a top, trusted source in AI Overviews can mean the difference between winning a new client or being overlooked entirely.
How to Measure Success in an AI-First Search Landscape
Traditional metrics like keyword rankings and pageviews still matter—but they don’t tell the whole story anymore. Now, you need to layer in:
- Engagement metrics: Are users staying? Clicking deeper?
- Brand visibility: Are you being mentioned or cited in AI Overviews?
- Featured snippet and “answer box” performance: Are you showing up in structured highlights?
This is the era of presence, not just position. And your analytics setup should reflect that.
What Actually Drives Growth Now (and What to Stop Doing)
Let’s be clear: SEO isn’t dead—it’s just evolving. The strategies that work now are focused on quality, clarity, and authority.
What Still Works:
- Clear, concise answers to search intent
- Well-structured content with schema markup
- Topical authority and trust signals (E-E-A-T)
- Fast, mobile-optimized, technically sound websites
What to Stop Doing:
- Obsessing over keyword density
- Publishing content just to hit a volume quota
- Ignoring UX in favor of “SEO hacks”
- Expecting traffic from outdated ranking tactics
This isn’t your grandma’s SEO. Success today means being the source AI pulls from, not just a link buried in page two.
Adapt or Fade
The search landscape is changing fast—but that doesn’t mean opportunity is gone. It just means the bar is higher, and the game is different.
We’re helping clients not just survive this shift, but thrive in it—by creating AI-ready content, optimizing technical SEO, and building brands that show up everywhere the algorithms look.
With Love, Laney
