Imagine a potential customer searches for “how to reduce acne scars” and, instead of immediately clicking a website, they see an AI-generated overview at the top of Google’s results summarising the answer. This is Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) in action, known as the Google AI Overview, and it’s reshaping SEO.
For beauty brand owners and marketing teams, the rise of AI overviews means adjusting your content strategy so your brand remains visible and authoritative in search results. In this guide, we’ll explain what Google’s AI overviews are, why they matter for e-commerce beauty brands, and provide practical tips (with real examples) on how to optimise your site to thrive in the era of AI-driven search.
Understanding Google AI Overviews (SGE)
Google’s AI Overview is essentially an AI-generated answer box that appears at the top of search results, above the traditional organic listings. Instead of the user having to click multiple results, Google’s AI provides a concise summary of information pulled from multiple sources on the web, presented in a few paragraphs or bullet points.
In the example above, Google’s AI overview gives a brief description of the query (“brightening serums” in this case) and even shows a related product and guides on brightening serums. When users click “Show more,” the overview expands with additional details such as key ingredients and benefits and citations linking to the websites that provided the information. In short, Google’s becoming both a search engine and even more of an answer engine with this feature.
Why Google’s AI Overviews matter for beauty brands
If you’re in the beauty e-commerce space, you might be wondering how this new search feature impacts your website’s traffic and visibility. The short answer: AI overviews are changing the game for top-of-funnel searches, and you need to adapt your SEO strategy accordingly. As of early 2025, roughly 13–15% of Google searches now show an AI Overview by default.
According to a SEMrush study, it doubled from about 6.5% of queries in January 2025 to over 13% by March 2025. Of course, this varies by industry and according to Search Engine Journal “Telecommunications had the highest percentage of keywords linked to AI Overviews at 56%, while Beauty and Cosmetics had the lowest at 14%.” That means an increasing number of your potential customers will see an AI-generated answer before any regular search results or organic links. Why does this matter? Because when an AI overview appears, it steals some of the spotlight (and clicks) from the traditional search results. Users might get their answer straight from Google’s summary without ever visiting a website. However, it’s not all bad news. Being featured within an AI overview can offer a new kind of visibility for your brand. The AI overview cites its sources, which means if your content is one of the sources Google trusts, your brand name and a link can appear right inside that AI box. This is prime real estate at the top of the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Even if users don’t click immediately, seeing your brand mentioned as an authority can build brand awareness and trust.
Informational vs. transactional & commercial queries, when does Google show an AI Overview?
Not every Google search triggers an AI overview. Google is much pickier about when its AI will step in, and the trigger largely comes down to search intent. Generally, informational searches (when the user is looking for knowledge or advice) are far more likely to get an AI-generated summary than transactional or commercial searches (when the user intends to buy something or navigate to a specific site). According to another SEMrush study, over 80% of AI overviews came from informational keywords.
This means that if someone searches an obvious commercial or product query – e.g. “buy MAC lipstick online” or even simply “lipstick”, Google’s AI typically does not generate an overview, likely because the user’s intent is to shop, not to learn. Instead, that kind of query will show the usual results: ads, shopping carousels, and organic links (like your product page or Amazon). Google seems to avoid AI answers for purely transactional queries, maybe to prevent interfering with shopping ads revenue or because those queries are better answered by letting the user browse products. On the other hand, longer-tail informational queries, especially question phrases, are the sweet spot for AI overviews. Searches starting with words like “how…,” “why…,” or “best…” are much more likely to trigger an AI summary, whereas searches starting with words like “buy…” rarely do.
For example, a query such as “how to choose the right foundation shade” or “best serum ingredients for glowing skin” will often prompt Google’s AI to generate an overview with tips or explanations, citing beauty blogs or expert sites.
Why does this distinction matter for your beauty website? It means that the content most at risk of being summarised by AI (and thus possibly reducing direct clicks) is your informational content, things like blog posts, guides, ingredient explainers, how-tos, and advice articles. Meanwhile, your product and category pages are less likely to be affected by AI overviews for now, since Google isn’t showing AI answers for most pure shopping queries.
So your product pages still rely on traditional SEO services to rank well. But all those top-of-funnel queries that your content marketing team has been targeting (“how to contour face shape,” etc.) are exactly where AI is muscling in.
How to optimise your beauty website for AI Overviews
The good news is that many SEO best practices will help with AI overview visibility. According to a Writesonic study: “There’s an astonishing 81.10.% probability that at least one source from Google’s top 10 search results will be cited in an AI Overview. If your page ranks first, the chance of AI citation skyrockets to a remarkable 33.07%” Below are some practical tips, to help your beauty brand’s website shine in the age of AI overviews, while still maintaining good SEO techniques.
1. Identify your audience’s burning questions (and answer them):
Start by researching the informational queries in your niche. What are people asking about skincare, makeup, hair care, etc., that relates to your products? Use tools (Ahrefs for keyword research, People Also Ask (on Google), community forums, questions you get yourself from customers) to find those “how to…” “what is…” and “best…” questions. These long-tail queries are where AI overviews often appear. Create high-quality content on your blog or resource center that directly answers these questions. Aim to be the best answer on the web for that query because Google’s AI will only showcase the top insights. A great example is Paula’s Choice, they noticed consumers wanted to decode ingredients, so they built an extensive ingredient dictionary that demystifies thousands of ingredients with research-backed info. Think about similar educational content your brand can provide (e.g. a makeup glossary, a skincare routine builder, an FAQ hub on common beauty problems).
2. Write authoritatively and cite facts:
Content that gets featured in AI overviews tends to have a tone of expertise and trustworthiness. Make sure your content is accurate, up-to-date, and evidence-based where applicable. If you mention facts (like “retinol can increase collagen production”), consider citing a reputable source or at least have the information vetted by an expert. This aligns with Google’s emphasis on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). In the beauty space, that could mean involving a dermatologist or cosmetologist in your content creation, or at least quoting them. Avoid thin content, a 300-word blurb won’t cut it if the top results are comprehensive guides. Remember, an AI overview might pull info from half a dozen sources; so to be one of them, your content must bring something valuable to the table.
3. Leverage your unique expertise and data:
As a beauty brand, you might have access to insights or expertise that generic publications don’t. Use that to your advantage. For example, a skincare brand could publish data from product trials (“X% of users saw improvement in 4 weeks”) or a makeup brand might have a pro makeup artist share tips that aren’t widely known. Unique content is harder for others to duplicate and can make your site a go-to reference. If Google’s AI finds a fact or tip on your site that isn’t found elsewhere (and it’s useful), it has a strong reason to include it.
- Use descriptive headings (H2s, H3s) that align with common questions. For example, on a page about “Winter Skincare,” a section titled “How should I change my skincare routine in winter?” is user-friendly and tells Google exactly what you’re addressing.
- Provide direct answers near the top of the relevant section. If the question is “How to cover dark circles with concealer,” start the section with a straightforward answer or summary of steps, then elaborate. This increases your chances of getting a featured snippet and also makes it easy for the AI to pick out key points.
- Utilise bullet points or numbered lists for step-by-step guides or tips. Google’s AI overview often presents information in bullet form or numbered steps for clarity.
- If your content already has a well-formatted list (e.g., “5 Steps to Perfect Winged Eyeliner”), it’s more likely the AI will use that format in its answer.
- Include relevant images or videos if they enhance understanding (e.g., a before-and-after image for a skincare tutorial). Google’s AI can incorporate images into the overview. While we don’t fully control which images Google chooses, having descriptive alt text and captions on your images can help Google associate them with the topic. For instance, an infographic on the “layers of skin and how retinol works” could be something the AI might show for a query about retinol.
4. Structure your content for users and AI:
Google’s AI tends to grab concise answers and well-organised information from pages. Help it (and your human readers) out by structuring your content clearly.
5. Digital PR, authority & brand mentions matter more than ever:
Getting a backlink from a highly credible, relevant source has always been a staple of SEO. These days some publications are not willing to give a link, merely a brand mention. But in the modern world, that’s not the end of the world. A Ahrefs study on factors that correlate with brand appearance in AI overviews found that branded web mentions showed the highest correlation with AI overview appearances.
So your brand web presence is still everything. Continue to use digital PR services to target highly credible, relevant domains to link to and mention your brand name in a positive light.
6. Don’t neglect technical SEO:
All the content in the world won’t help if Google can’t properly crawl or trust your site. Make sure your technical SEO is solid: good site speed, mobile usability, proper indexing of your content, and using structured data where appropriate. A technically sound site is the foundation for any SEO, AI or not. Also, keep optimising your transactional pages (product and category pages) for their keywords. Since those likely won’t have AI summaries competing above them, you want to capture those clicks by ranking as high as possible. For example, ensure your product & category page SEO (title tags, meta descriptions, keyword distribution, internal linking, core web vitals, structured data with ratings/prices, etc.) is on point for queries like “<Brand Name> <Product> review” or “buy <Product> online”. Those are still going to be traditional search results, and you want to win them. Basically, balance your efforts. Dedicate resources to content for informational queries and maintain your e-commerce SEO for the transactional keywords.
By implementing these strategies, you’ll be positioning your beauty website to work with Google’s AI, not against it. You’ll capture the informational queries by providing genuinely helpful content, and you’ll preserve your transactional & commercial traffic by continuing to excel in traditional SEO areas that AI hasn’t touched.
Conclusion
Traditional SEO and AI optimisation work best together. Think of AI search optimisation as an evolution of what you already know.
At Foundation, the beauty marketing agency, we often tell clients that lasting SEO success comes from mastering the three pillars: technical SEO, content, and digital PR. The same principles apply in the new era of AI search. Optimising your beauty website for AI-driven search is simply the next step in SEO and content marketing. It’s about showing up in front of your customer’s eyes where your customers are asking their questions.
