Top of funnel content strategy in the age of AI Overviews

Top of funnel content still earns its place in a content strategy, but only where it gives a reader something an AI Overview cannot offer in a few lines. Guides, glossaries and broad explainers used to bring a steady flow of first visits. That flow has thinned as Google answers more informational queries on the results page itself. The shift affects how SEO for B2B content teams should be planned from the first piece of awareness content onwards.

Search Engine Land put the question directly in Is top of funnel content still worth it in 2027?, opening with the point that organic search clicks have fallen 42% since AI Overviews began expanding in Google Search. The same piece notes that AI writing tools have let publishers flood results pages with informational articles, so competition for each remaining click has gone up.

Why top of funnel traffic has fallen

Top of funnel traffic has fallen because the questions it targets are the ones AI Overviews answer most completely. A search for what a lead funnel is, or how often a website should be updated, can be settled by a summary at the top of the page, so the searcher has no reason to visit.

A study from the Pew Research Center found that Google users clicked a traditional search result in 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, compared with 15% of visits when no summary appeared. The study tracked the browsing of 900 adults in the United States. No equivalent click study has been published for the UK.

The pressure is also coming from supply. When anyone can publish a full article on a basic topic in minutes, a results page fills with near identical answers to the same question. The AI Overview then sits above all of them.

How often AI Overviews appear in the UK

AI Overviews now appear on a large share of searches in the UK, so the drop in clicks is not a US effect that British websites can ignore. Ofcom’s Online Nation research found that about 30% of searches now show AI overviews and that 53% of adults say they see these summaries often. The same research found that Google Search is used by 82% of adults, with 3 billion searches a month. Most people are not seeking the summaries out, because their search services now include them by default.

For a business that relies on informational search to reach new prospects, that matters more than any single ranking report. A guide can hold its position on page one and still lose visits, because the summary above it answers the question first.

That pattern shows up in Search Console as impressions holding steady while clicks fall. Our guide to winning visibility in zero click searches covers how to read that gap and respond to it.

Why some industries keep their top of funnel traffic

Some industries keep their top of funnel traffic because their buyers need more than a quick summary before they act. The Search Engine Land analysis found the steepest losses in finance, healthcare, legal and consumer technology, while content in B2B software, cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure held up or grew.

Many of the declining topics fall into what Google calls Your Money or Your Life. A quick answer about a symptom or a tax rate often satisfies the searcher without a click.

The analysis also found that middle of funnel content moved in the same direction as top of funnel content within each industry. Shifting budget from awareness content to comparison content does not escape the problem when the whole sector is affected.

The difference comes down to how much research a buyer does before a decision. The table below compares the main types of search journey.

For B2B organisations in technology, healthcare, professional services and maritime, the research stage is long and involves several people. Each of them still needs material to read, share and check, which keeps well made awareness content useful.

What AI Overviews cannot replace

AI Overviews cannot replace direct experience, original data or a clear opinion earned from doing the work. Summaries are careful and balanced by design, so they rarely take a position or explain how a process looks when it goes wrong.

Google’s own guidance on creating helpful, reliable content asks whether a page provides original information, reporting, research or analysis. It also asks whether the content shows expertise and a depth of knowledge that a reader can trust.

An explainer written by someone who has run a website migration, managed a procurement process or handled a clinical governance review reads differently from a generic summary. It is also more likely to contain the original insight that AI systems cite rather than skip.

Our guide to appearing in Google AI Overviews explains how pages earn those citations. The same principles apply to answers in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.

The top of funnel formats that still earn clicks

The top of funnel formats that still earn clicks are the ones an AI summary can point to but cannot reproduce. Search Engine Land identified three that hold up across industries.

Interactive tools stand out because an AI system can recommend a calculator by name but cannot run it for the reader. A cost estimator, a readiness checklist or an eligibility screener gives a reason to click that a summary cannot remove.

Local content works when it reflects what a specific area needs rather than swapping a town name into a template. Construction firms and professional services practices with real local knowledge have an advantage here.

Plain how to content is the format under most pressure. AI models already write competent generic answers, so a page that offers nothing more has little chance of being cited or visited.

Why scaled AI content is a risky shortcut

Scaled AI content is a risky shortcut because it competes on the one thing AI Overviews already do well. A page of generic informational writing produced at volume adds another near identical answer to a crowded results page.

Google’s spam policies describe scaled content abuse as generating many pages mainly to manipulate search rankings rather than to help users. The policy applies no matter how the content is created. It names generative AI tools used to produce many pages without adding value.

That does not rule out AI in the writing process. The difference is whether a skilled writer uses AI workflows as a tool or whether AI has replaced the writer with nobody checking the result.

Readers are also getting better at spotting text that says a lot without saying anything. A page that reads as generic loses trust before it has a chance to build it.

How to measure top of funnel content now

Top of funnel content should now be measured on visibility and influence as well as clicks. A guide that appears as a cited source in an AI Overview or a ChatGPT answer can shape a buyer’s thinking without producing a session in Google Analytics.

Search Console shows impressions and clicks for each page, so the gap between the two is the first thing to watch. Pages with rising impressions and falling clicks are likely being answered on the results page.

Assisted conversions matter too. Many B2B buyers read a guide weeks before they fill in a form, so a report that only credits the last page visited will undervalue awareness content.

Where top of funnel content fits in a B2B strategy

Top of funnel content fits into a B2B strategy as the first step in a connected journey rather than a traffic target on its own. Each awareness piece should link to a deeper resource, a service page or a tool that moves the reader towards a decision.

Topic clusters make that structure work. Our guide to building topical authority with topic clusters explains how a pillar page and its supporting articles strengthen each other.

Technical foundations still decide whether any of it is found. A technical SEO review makes sure crawlers and AI systems can read the content, while conversion rate optimisation makes sure the visits that do arrive turn into enquiries.

Fewer, stronger pages often beat a large library of thin ones. Merging overlapping guides into a single authoritative resource gives search engines and AI systems one clear page to rank and cite.

Planning top of funnel content for 2027

Planning top of funnel content for 2027 starts with asking whether each page deserves to exist. If an AI Overview can answer the topic fully in a few lines, the page needs a tool, original data, local detail or expert opinion to justify the effort.

AI tools like Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity now answer many queries that once needed a click. We develop content strategies that build topical authority and increase user engagement.

The AI SEO service extends that work to the answer engines where buyers increasingly start their research. Visibility there depends on the same qualities that keep awareness content worth writing.

Top of funnel content has not stopped working, but the bar has risen. Every new page now competes with the AI Overview above it as well as with other websites.