Google’s AI Overviews Don’t Care About Links
Big news for anyone doing SEO. Court papers from Google’s antitrust case reveal that AI Overviews, which are the AI answers at the top of some Google searches are not ranking pages by backlinks.
Instead, Google uses a special system called FastSearch. It finds a smaller set of pages super fast and sends those to the AI for answers.
What Is FastSearch?
FastSearch is like Google’s own shortcut search engine. It works faster than normal Google Search and grabs only a few results. It’s powered by a deep-learning model called RankEmbed.
RankEmbed is an AI system that looks for patterns in giant sets of data. It doesn’t look at links the way the old Google ranking system does. It just tries to find the most relevant info as quickly as possible.
How RankEmbed Picks Pages
RankEmbed uses two big things to decide what to show:
- User activity: Clicks and search data from people using Google.
- Human ratings: Scores from real people who rate page quality.
Even with less data than older systems, it’s better at finding answers for long, tricky questions.
What This Means for Your SEO
Links still matter for regular Google Search, but AI Overviews are different. If you want to show up there:
- Focus on useful content that answers questions fast.
- Write in plain language people actually use.
- Keep users on your page with clear info and easy navigation.
Google’s AI Overviews use FastSearch and RankEmbed instead of counting links. For businesses, that means great content and strong user signals matter more than ever. We help brands stay ahead of Google changes like this every day.
If you need help adapting your site to these changes, Digital 1 Group is here to guide you.