A delicate however profound transformation is underway – one which’s redefining how individuals search and what content material Google considers value discovering.
We’ve all seen the headlines and the information: youthful customers are turning to TikTok and YouTube for discovery.
Seeking to type wide-leg denims? TikTok.
Interested by learn how to unclog a drain? The best way to arrange monitoring codes? YouTube has you coated.
However what had been as soon as thought-about “micro search engines like google and yahoo” are actually shaping the outcomes of the primary participant within the recreation: Google.
With the rise of AI Overviews, Google is pulling from a broader set of content material than ever earlier than, together with video. And never simply video hosted on owned-and-operated platforms like YouTube.
More and more, user-generated content material from platforms like TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube are shaping Google search outcomes.
The road between search and social is blurring even sooner than many manufacturers understand.
Video’s evolution: From nice-to-have to must-have
To grasp why this second issues, let’s rewind.
Google and YouTube have been intertwined since 2006, when Google acquired YouTube. Over time, SERP actual property devoted to video has grown considerably. Suppose video carousels, wealthy snippets, and “Key Moments” highlights.
However for many manufacturers, video was nonetheless thought-about elective. A pleasant-to-have.
That’s not the case.
AI Overviews, which started rolling out in 2024, signify Google’s greatest change to the search expertise in over twenty years. As an alternative of serving solely the standard “10 blue hyperlinks,” AI Overviews present AI-generated snapshots on the prime of the outcomes web page, designed to reply complicated queries shortly by pulling from a number of sources throughout the net.
And right here’s the kicker: these sources aren’t restricted to neatly structured weblog posts and webpages anymore.
AI Overviews are pulling from a wider mixture of sources than ever earlier than. Every part from Reddit threads and Quora discussions to TikToks, Instagram Reels, and naturally, YouTube movies.
And these aren’t tucked away in a carousel midway down the web page. They’re exhibiting up entrance and heart, shaping the way in which Google responds to person questions. It’s core to the way in which Google solutions queries.
Google is redefining what counts as “credible” supply materials.
Google’s shift from textual content to video-first search
Traditionally, Google has closely relied on written content material. Structured web sites, optimized weblog posts, and long-form guides have lengthy been the foreign money of web optimization.
However with AI Overviews and the emergence of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), we’re seeing a wider vary of sources feeding Google’s index, a lot of them video-based.
This evolution presents a couple of key implications:
Video is changing into the supply materials
AI Overviews summarize from a wide range of sources (e.g., boards, how-to articles, weblog posts, and many others.) and more and more, video content material.
Google is treating video as a reputable, authoritative reply supply, particularly for experiential, tutorial, or product-related searches the place visible demonstration serves customers higher than textual content.
For instance, a question like “learn how to tie a bow tie” might need as soon as surfaced text-based step-by-step directions. In the present day, the AI Overview is much extra prone to pull from YouTube movies, TikTok tutorials, or each.
Quick-form is influencing long-form
Platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels aren’t only for leisure anymore. They’re now thought-about discovery engines in their very own proper.
Google is citing discovery engines in its outcomes, mining them for key takeaways, and utilizing them to validate intent. That is very true for youthful audiences like Gen Z or Gen Alpha, who worth fast, visible solutions.
This doesn’t imply long-form content material is lifeless. However it does imply short-form helps set the agenda for what customers look forward to finding.
Conventional web optimization isn’t sufficient
Optimizing a weblog put up alone received’t get your model into an AI Overview. To get there, you want larger selection in your content material:
Video.
Visuals.
Transcripts.
Structured information.
Pictures.
Finally, you want a presence on the platforms the place your viewers is already speaking.
This requires a mindset shift: from optimizing pages to optimizing content material ecosystems.
Do all manufacturers actually have to be on TikTok?
Quick reply: possibly.
Longer reply: The worth of your content material continues to be what issues most. However manufacturers have to suppose like publishers, not simply entrepreneurs.
In case your viewers is exhibiting a desire for video-based solutions, and if Google is surfacing these movies as authoritative supply materials, then your content material technique wants to fulfill that second.
That doesn’t imply each model has to bop on TikTok. However it does imply each model ought to suppose via these questions:
The place is my viewers looking and what codecs do they belief? Gen Z could look to TikTok first, whereas professionals would possibly want YouTube demos or LinkedIn video explainers.
Can my content material reply a posh query higher via video than textual content? If sure, then video needs to be the default, not an afterthought.
Are my movies optimized throughout channels? Clear titles, transcripts, schema markup and captions all assist search and discovery engines perceive your video content material. With out these, even nice movies could by no means floor in AI Overviews.
The chance is much less about being in every single place and extra about being in the best place, with the best format, on the proper time.
Search visibility issues greater than virality
One of many greatest misconceptions is {that a} video wants tens of millions of views to make an influence. It doesn’t. And that’s not the aim.
The aim is to indicate up when individuals are trying to find questions your model solutions greatest. In actuality, search visibility works otherwise.
For manufacturers, which means prioritizing readability, demonstration, and problem-solving in each piece you create. Suppose much less “marketing campaign” and extra “content material library.”
A few of the most dear content material you may create could by no means go viral (and that’s A-OK!), but it surely:
Can present up in Google’s AI Overviews.
Can affect buy choices.
Will construct belief by answering buyer questions higher than anybody else.
A 30-second TikTok exhibiting learn how to measure your canine for a brand new mattress could not break the web – however in case you’re a pet model, that video may very well be precisely the sort of content material Google needs to floor in an AI Overview for “greatest mattress dimension for French Bulldog.”
6 methods to align video together with your search technique
Listed here are a couple of sensible issues:
Audit your content material codecs. Have a look at your top-performing key phrases and queries. Which of them lend themselves to video solutions? The place would a visible or demonstration be extra helpful than textual content? And when are movies among the many prime search outcomes or showing in AI Overviews?
Audit your present presence in video SERPs. Search your model, your merchandise, and your class. Which movies present up? Are they yours, or another person’s? If the reply is another person’s, that’s a chance.
Spend money on video that solves issues. Not each model wants a TikTok technique. However each model ought to have academic, evergreen video content material that solves actual buyer issues. Begin small. Establish the highest questions your prospects ask, the troubleshooting queries they Google, or the “how-to” moments in your purchaser journey. Use that analysis to create quick, clear movies that reply them straight.
Optimize for discoverability. That is the place we show the entire “web optimization is lifeless” narrative flawed. It’s nonetheless vital to make use of descriptive, keyword-rich titles. Add transcripts for accessibility (and crawlability). Apply schema markup (e.g., VideoObject). Host content material on platforms that Google is already pulling from (YouTube is desk stakes, TikTok is more and more related).
Embrace the bigger search panorama. Don’t restrict your self to YouTube. In case your viewers is on TikTok, experiment there. If user-generated content material is already rating, contemplate partnerships with influencers who can authentically create for these areas.
Combine video into your broader content material technique. Don’t silo video. Each bit ought to tie again to your core model narrative, help web optimization objectives, and combine with different channels. Embed it in weblog posts. Share it in e mail campaigns. Repurpose snippets for social. The extra indicators you ship a few video’s worth, the extra probably Google is to floor it.
What this implies for web optimization
We’re getting into a brand new period. web optimization is not nearly being on Web page 1. It’s about proudly owning your model presence throughout codecs.
For manufacturers: The problem is constructing a library of helpful, high-quality video content material throughout channels that enhances text-based web optimization.
For SEOs: The skillset is increasing. Understanding cross-channel technique is simply as essential as conventional key phrase analysis. As I’ve written about earlier than, all the things from person expertise to social media advertising and public relations are actually required web optimization abilities.
For customers: The expertise is richer. They get the “present me” content material they need, sooner, and within the format they like.
What’s subsequent
As AI Overviews evolve, so will Google’s definition of credible sources.
However the throughline is obvious: manufacturers can’t afford to disregard video as a part of their search technique.
The way forward for web optimization isn’t nearly rating webpages; it’s about aligning with how individuals study, uncover, and make choices. It’s about proudly owning moments of discovery, wherever and nevertheless they occur.
In case your content material educates, demonstrates, or solves a person’s drawback higher via video than textual content, it belongs in your ecosystem. And more and more, it would belong in Google’s rankings.
The manufacturers that embrace this shift now, experimenting with video, optimizing for AI Overviews, and assembly audiences the place they’re, would be the ones who future-proof their web optimization technique.
On this new period of search, video isn’t simply a part of the story. It’s changing into the supply materials itself.
Contributing authors are invited to create content material for Search Engine Land and are chosen for his or her experience and contribution to the search neighborhood. Our contributors work underneath the oversight of the editorial employees and contributions are checked for high quality and relevance to our readers. Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush. Contributor was not requested to make any direct or oblique mentions of Semrush. The opinions they specific are their very own.
