AI Overviews are expanding further into commercial search.
Google is continuing to push AI-generated answers into more commercially driven queries, especially hybrid searches that combine research and buying intent, such as “how much does commercial cleaning cost in Perth” or “best forklift for narrow aisles”.
That reduces the number of clicks available to traditional organic listings, even when rankings stay stable.
Action:
Audit your top-of-funnel content. If it only answers basic questions without adding original insight, it is at risk of being replaced by an AI summary.
Forum content is now being extracted, not just ranked.
Google is not just surfacing forums more often. It is extracting specific responses and using them directly in search results. This is part of a much bigger shift where Google is no longer just ranking pages, it is using them as sources. We break this down in detail in our article on how Google is extracting answers instead of ranking pages.
Action:
Move away from generic “optimised” content. Use “I” and “we” statements, add case studies, mention local challenges, and publish opinions that an LLM would normally flatten into a generic summary.
PunkFox Take
This is the new split in SEO.
Google is no longer just ranking content. It is deciding whether your content deserves to exist in the results at all.
If your strategy relies on templates, scaled pages, or safe SEO tactics, you are not competing for position. You are competing for eligibility.
The businesses that win in 2026 will not be the ones producing the most content. They will be the ones producing the content that Google cannot afford to ignore.
