Each day, marketing leaders everywhere face a similar problem. Website traffic is dropping, the C-Suite wants answers, and teams are siloed and scrambling.
Google Search is now a complex, AI-infused ecosystem, and marketers want to know how to operate in this unfamiliar territory.
Today, it’s possible to rank No. 1 and still be invisible.
As a result, brands cannot just be focused on optimizing webpages; they need visibility across every part of the SERP, every search surface, and every stage of the funnel.
We call this “SERP visibility.”
We are now in the business of driving traffic, not just siloed optimization. To achieve this, we must unify business silos.
This article unpacks how some brands are rethinking search and how you can lead with the same playbook.
Search has changed – have you?
We’re used to change in the SEO industry. But for many, recent shifts feel very different.
With the rise of AI-generated summaries and other SERP features, organic listings are being pushed even further down the page.
Now we’re seeing drops in traffic and clicks even when rankings are good. The average drop in CTR from AI Overviews is about 35%, according to Ahrefs.
I know I’m not the only one who feels that Google is effectively “stealing” content.
Nevertheless, focusing only on blue links is not a viable strategy, not when AI Overviews answer the question before your content gets a chance.
Or, when featured snippets, People Also Ask, or videos grab attention first.
For brands to compete, they need to stop optimizing for a slot on a list and start designing strategies for total presence across the SERP.
At the same time, marketing leaders are expected to deliver more with less – coordinating siloed teams, making sense of fragmented data, and chasing a mile-long to-do list.
This is not a sustainable strategy in the current search environment. But there is a better way.
Dig deeper: 6 easy ways to adapt your SEO strategy for stronger AI visibility
From chaos to cohesion
In SEO, we optimize for the opportunities.
Whatever it is that is stealing attention on the SERP, we go after it.
If you want to build trust and authority and show up on the SERP where it matters most, you need SEO.
The bottom line is that it’s the baseline strategy for competing in the SERPs. There’s no way to get around it.
What does this look like in today’s search environment?
Well, let’s first look at the problem: Rarely do organizations look at their entire presence in the SERP and execute on it as one cohesive strategy.
The good news is that this can be fixed. Let’s walk through how to rethink your SEO approach, starting with a more unified strategy.
Get everyone on the same page
Oftentimes, actually getting things done in SEO is the biggest hurdle.
But when business silos have a unified vision of how search can impact their objectives, you create a common goal and more resources to get things done.
So, get the buy-in, call a meeting with the decision-makers of relevant business units to discuss SEO.
Work together to tie corporate objectives (such as revenue, market expansion, brand authority, customer experience) to SEO initiatives and precise digital KPIs.
This is no longer a “nice to have.” What drives SEO results is how you move from disconnected tasks to coordinated execution.
One dashboard to rule them all
Next, you’ll want to translate those KPIs into an analytics and reporting approach that offers a clear view of progress in addition to the more granular data.
With Looker Studio, you can create a custom SEO campaign dashboard to effectively track all your KPIs in one place across paid search, organic, and SERP features into one unified scorecard.
This can completely transform ambiguity in reporting and help highlight what needs to happen next.
Prioritize like nobody’s business
Another big roadblock is analysis paralysis. With hundreds of “things to do” to succeed in digital, it can be hard to know where to focus first.
Here are some different approaches to help you create a roadmap of what to focus on:
- Technical audits, such as website audits, content audits, or PPC account audits. This will help you fix the foundational things that are really hindering your success.
- A SERP audit. After you fix what’s wrong, focus on being where it matters. Take the time to understand which features you’re showing up in for your top queries and where you need improvement.
- The 20% of tactics that will deliver 80% of early wins. Now it’s time to grow. Focusing on quick and early wins helps you build momentum faster. Rinse and repeat during multiple sprints.
With a clearer picture, it’s time to shift from planning to visibility – where should your brand be to start driving more SERP traffic?
Dig deeper: SEO prioritization – How to focus on what moves the needle
Where to show up and why
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty details of getting more visibility and traffic in today’s SERPs.
SERP visibility happens when you take a unified, channel-agnostic approach to appearing in every relevant SERP feature for maximum visibility and traffic.
This helps a business:
- Maximize market coverage: Create the potential to appear in multiple SERP features for the same query.
- Diversify leads: Generate traffic from intent-rich queries across multiple entry points.
- Build brand authority: When you dominate the SERP, you reinforce brand trust and market leadership.
- Create resilience: If one channel or SERP feature dips, others fill the gap.
So, here’s where to begin: Start by mapping your top 10 to 20 high-value queries against Google’s SERP features.
Then ask:
- Where do we already appear?
- Where are we completely absent?
- Which features are our competitors dominating?
This simple audit gives you a clear picture of your current SERP footprint and highlights the areas that need attention.
After that, you can take a methodical approach to optimizing for SERP features.
How to optimize for each SERP feature is out of the scope of this article, but it’s important to get a sense of how different digital channels and features work together to create a traffic-driven strategy for the whole SERP:
| Visibility channel | Example SERP feature |
| Paid search ads | Top search ads, sitelinks, callouts |
| Local ads | Local Services Ads (LSA carousel) |
| Organic | Organic ranking, site links |
| Snippets | Featured snippets, paragraph/list/table |
| People Also Ask | People Also Ask |
| Local | Local Pack, Google Maps listing |
| AI | AI Overviews |
| Ecommerce | Shopping results |
| Video | YouTube results, carousels |
| Things to know | Informational dominance |
| Social signals | “What People Are Saying” panels |
Ultimately, this approach to driving traffic in the SERPs is about owning the decision moment.
For example:
- When someone searches for “best HVAC company near me,” it’s your brand that shows up in LSAs, the Map Pack, and organic.
- When someone Googles “how much does estate planning cost,” your video appears, your blog earns the snippet, and your PPC ad shows a price estimator.
- When they scroll down the SERP, they see your brand again in People Also Ask, with glowing reviews in What People Are Saying.
This approach is also built for how Google thinks.
Google is not indexing pages; it’s ranking experiences that ultimately make Google money.
Your new mantra: Own the SERP
SEO is not dead, but old SEO strategies are morphing: slowly dying and growing.
Today, it’s about being in the business of traffic, wherever that comes from on the SERP.
It’s about building a strategy that supports business outcomes and unifying your teams, tools, and tactics for better performance.
Leading with this approach helps brands stay visible, own the decision moment, and drive traffic in an environment where the rules are changing daily.
Dig deeper: Your 2025 playbook for AI-powered cross-channel brand visibility