AI overviews are filled with low-quality links, dead sites, and spammy content. These links are crucial as they are sources of AI answers and highly coveted for organic search traffic. Although there's no specific CTR data for AIO links, Sundar Pichai claims they drive more traffic to a broader set of publishers.
Key issues identified:
- Parked domains and dead sites: Many links lead to parked domains, dead sites, and pages with 404, 410, and 405 response codes, even for health queries.
- Site reputation abuse: Instances of "parasite SEO" with spammy LinkedIn Pulse articles filled with affiliate links.
- Random, outdated posts: Numerous citations from old Reddit and Quora posts.
- Non-US sites: Content from Indian blogs and ecommerce stores, despite AIO being live only for US users.
- Low-quality blogs and ecommerce sites: Links to sites with little organic traction and spammy AI-generated content.
- Biased informational content: Links to biased content, such as blogs on plastic surgeon websites or K-beauty brands promoting their products.
The current SEO landscape includes dead sites, low-quality and spammy AI content, biased/salesy content, content lacking E-E-A-T on YMYL topics, international sites, parked domains, and outdated Reddit/Quora posts, all eligible for top rankings in Google Search.
