Google’s search results page looks nothing like it did twelve months ago. AI Overviews now sit above traditional blue links for a growing share of commercial queries, spam enforcement just tightened again, and the way AI models decompose a single prompt into dozens of subqueries has created an entirely new optimisation surface. Our team is actively retooling client strategies around these shifts. Here is what matters right now and what we are doing about it.

Key Takeaways

• AI Overviews are expanding fast, and tracking visibility inside them is now a core reporting requirement.
• Google’s August 2026 spam update has finished rolling out, penalising thin and manipulative content more aggressively.
• New website launches need a strict 90-day SEO sequencing plan that accounts for AI-generated answers.
• Query fan-out means a single AI prompt can trigger a dozen or more subqueries — each one an opportunity or a blind spot.
• Prompt research is emerging as a repeatable discipline, letting us map exactly where a brand appears (and where it doesn’t) in AI responses.

Track AI Overview Visibility or Fly Blind

We no longer treat AI Overviews as a curiosity. They are a primary traffic signal. When a client’s content appears inside an AI Overview, click-through behaviour changes — sometimes positively, sometimes not. Either way, we need the data.

Our analysts have rolled out dedicated tracking dashboards, a workflow informed by Semrush’s guide to tracking AI Overviews. The process involves monitoring which queries trigger overviews, whether our clients’ pages are cited, and how citation frequency correlates with organic sessions. If you are not measuring this yet, your SEO reporting has a hole in it.

Google’s August 2026 Spam Update: Read Your Data Carefully

The update finished rolling out on 21 August 2026. Early signals from our portfolio suggest that sites relying on programmatic, low-value pages took the hardest hits. Sites with strong editorial standards held steady or gained.

Key patterns we are seeing:

• Thin affiliate pages with no original commentary lost rankings.
• Auto-generated content that lacked genuine expertise dropped sharply.
• Sites with clear authorship signals and robust internal linking were largely unaffected.

We have compiled a detailed checklist for clients based on the specifics outlined in Semrush’s breakdown of the August 2026 spam update. The short version: invest in original, expert-led content and stop scaling pages that exist only to capture long-tail traffic with no real value behind them.

New Website SEO: The First 90 Days Define Everything

We launch between eight and twelve new client sites per quarter. Every one follows a strict sequencing protocol. Technical foundations go in before a single blog post is published. Schema markup, crawl architecture, and Core Web Vitals are non-negotiable pre-launch items.

Post-launch, the priority shifts to content velocity and early authority signals. Critically, our 2026 playbook now includes optimisation for AI-generated answers in tools like ChatGPT, a step detailed in Semrush’s 90-day sequencing guide for new websites. If your new site is not structured to be cited by AI models from day one, you are already behind.

Query Fan-Out: One Prompt, Many Ranking Opportunities

When a user asks an AI model a broad question, the model does not treat it as a single query. It splits the prompt into multiple subqueries — a process called query fan-out. Each subquery pulls from different sources, meaning your brand might appear for some and be completely absent from others.

Our content strategists now map these subquery clusters for every primary topic a client targets, using the framework described in Semrush’s explainer on query fan-out and subquery optimisation. Covering these gaps is one of the fastest ways to increase AI-surface visibility right now.

Prompt Research: The New Keyword Research

Traditional keyword research still matters, but it is no longer sufficient on its own. We now run parallel prompt research — testing how AI models respond to the natural-language questions our clients’ audiences actually ask. This reveals citation gaps that keyword tools simply cannot surface.

We have adopted a repeatable process aligned with Semrush’s prompt research methodology for AI SEO. The output feeds directly into our editorial calendars, ensuring every content brief is designed to win both traditional rankings and AI citations.

The direction is clear. AI-driven search is not a future concern — it is the current operating environment. Our team is embedding these practices into every client engagement, from new-build launches to ongoing content programmes, ensuring visibility across both traditional SERPs and AI-generated answers throughout the remainder of 2026 and beyond.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is query fan-out in AI Search?

Query fan-out is the process where an AI model breaks a single user prompt into multiple subqueries, each retrieving information from different sources. Optimising for these subqueries gives your brand more chances to be cited in AI-generated answers.

How do web designers prepare a new site for AI search visibility?

Start with clean technical foundations — proper schema, fast load times, and logical site architecture — before launch. Post-launch, publish expert-led content structured to answer the natural-language prompts AI models decompose during query fan-out.

Why does tracking AI Overviews matter for SEO in 2026?

AI Overviews now appear above traditional organic results for a growing number of queries, directly affecting click-through rates. Without dedicated tracking, you cannot measure whether your content is being cited or how it impacts traffic.

How do marketers recover from Google’s August 2026 spam update?

Audit your site for thin, auto-generated, or manipulative pages and either improve or remove them. Focus on publishing original content with clear authorship and genuine expertise to rebuild trust with Google’s spam classifiers.