SEO Copywriting Tips in the Age of AI Overviews and Zero Clicks

How Your SEO Copywriting Can Still be Effective

This image is AI-generated. I wanted to see how Perplexity does images. And I wanted to save some time. Frankly, i don’t like this one. Drab, boring, and it did images twice in this white-grey-black combination (if you don’t specify the colour). And it gave me these 3 SEO copywriting tips for improving website content.

The landscape of SEO copywriting is pretty much shaken in 2025. Why?

There are two trends that are changing the way we look for information and how we engage with the results we get from search engines (and we even tend to get more lazy when it comes to being satisfied with what we see in the answers).

Engaging SEO copywriters (copywriter and SEO strategist) who know how to craft texts that propel readers to act and generate revenue for businesses has been the best option so far. They help your website appear in the top 10 of Google (if that’s what you are craving.)

Until Zero Click Searches and AI Overviews became a normality.

(If you want to know my opinion on AI’s impact on copywriting, you’re welcome to read the blog article written several years ago).

For businesses that depend on their online presence to attract and convert customers, these trends present both significant challenges and new opportunities.

Before and Now - SEO Copywriting for Google and AI Overviews

Until now we had to think about Google and modify our way of writing to appeal to its algorithm.

Now, here’s AI Overviews, and even the very likely possibility that SEO copywriting won’t make it and bring the potential visitor and customer to click on our website listed in the search results, because they’ll get their answers right away. And that’s all they want. Nothing else. They won’t come near your doorstep.

SEO copywriting now has a new place to occupy, that of the AI Overview.

It will be topmost priority of marketers and business owners to appear in the AI overviews.

So, is SEO copywriting still effective and a necessity for businesses that rely on awesome content and want to drive traffic to their websites?

Understanding how to adapt your SEO copywriting strategy is crucial for maintaining—and even growing—your visibility in this evolving environment.

AI Overviews: Changing the Rules of Visibility

Google’s AI Overviews now generate AI-powered summaries at the very top of search results, often occupying more than 1,700 pixels of screen space and highlighting just three links for further exploration.

The three links in yellow are highlighted. It’s there now where your website should appear, if you want to be more visible. And Google puts these three according to the usefulness of the answer to the question the searcher (your potential customer) asks.

This means that unless your content is among these top spots, your traditional organic listing is pushed far down the page—sometimes by more than 140%—making it much less likely to be seen or clicked.

While this can result in a drop in organic traffic (read an earlier blog post on how to increase website traffic), businesses that do earn a spot in these overviews can benefit from highly qualified, targeted visits.

Zero-Click Searches: The New Normal

Zero-click searches—where users get their answers directly on the search engine results page (SERP) without visiting any website—are now the majority, with estimates suggesting that up to 60% of Google searches end without a click.

These include featured snippets, knowledge panels, and AI-generated previews. For marketers, this means that traditional goals like increasing page visits are less relevant.

Instead, the focus must shift to maximizing brand visibility and authority directly within the search results pages.

So, it’s to no avail if you put super content on your webpage (or blog content), when people just want to get the answers to their questions right away.

Is this manageable with short-form videos, considering searchers don’t want to spend a lot of time on reading

That’s why these content formats (like featured snippets etc.) work better.

You’re shown them immediately below the search bar where you inserted your query.

It seems as if people are unwilling to learn more.

Just that what they want as an answer. No explanations.

Nothing to extend that basic info by.

Which is sad, but that’s how it is.

So, how can SEO copywriting still help you when you have AI Overviews and Zero Click Searches threatening to take away visitors to your website?

SEO Copywriting Tips Can Thrive in This Environment

These are 5 SEO copywriting tips to combat AI Overviews and Zero Click Searches.

1. Create Concise, Direct Answers

It seems that we, SEO copywriters, need to structure content for easy extraction by AI in order to help your clients get more visibility.

So, you have to use clear headings, concise bullet points, and scannable lists.

Apart from that, you have to provide direct, succinct answers to common questions at the top of your content.

This increases the likelihood of your information being featured in AI Overviews or as a snippet.

As always, break down complex topics into simple, digestible sections to help AI and users quickly understand your expertise.

2. Use Structured Data and Schema Markup

Implement FAQ, How-To, and Article schema to help search engines interpret your content and feature it in zero-click results.

Use structured data to highlight reviews, product details, and local business information, increasing your chances of appearing in knowledge panels and local packs.

3. Target Conversational and Question-Based Keywords

Shape your content around natural language queries and long-tail keywords that reflect how users actually ask questions.

Build FAQ sections (see No. 2) that address specific, high-intent user queries (for example, these are intents of searchers for hotel accommodation and how to use seo copywriting there), making your content more relevant for both AI Overviews and zero-click features.

4. Prioritize E-E-A-T Principles

Demonstrate Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) in your copy.

Cite reputable sources, include statistics, and offer unique insights to stand out as a trusted authority.

So, look here. I’ll cite Kate Toon here on what she said about SEO copywriting.

“SEO copywriting focuses more on those looking to buy stuff, converting traffic. It’s about converting browsers into customers. It persuades, it explains, and it sells.”

Quoting a source that’s credible as Kate Toon is (she’s been in the SEO business for a long, long time) also says a lot about you as a provider of content.

It says that you can be trusted because you know who’s an authority (while you are on the way to becoming one yourself) and you want to share that knowledge with others. To profit from it.

5. Optimize for Feature Snippets and AI Overviews

Visibility and engagement within the SERP are now as important as direct website traffic (even though there’s less engagement due to zero-click searches).

So, you should now track brand mentions, featured snippet appearances, and engagement with on-SERP features as key indicators of SEO success.

While AI Overviews and zero-click searches pose challenges for traditional SEO strategies, they also reward brands that adapt their copywriting (SEO copywriting).

In this blog article, you read about SEO copywriting tips that can still benefit you, despite these two developments that prioritize immediate answers and AI as tools helping out searchers.

But by focusing on content structure, schema markup, and user intent, SEO copywriting can still drive meaningful visibility and qualified leads—even when users never leave the search results page.