Google AI Overviews Are Killing Your Garage's Organic Traffic. Here's What to Do About It.

If you've Googled anything in the last six months, you've seen it: a large AI-generated summary sitting at the very top of the results page, pushing everything else below the fold. Google calls them AI Overviews. For independent garages, they're a slow-moving disaster.

Here's why this matters to you directly, and what you can do about it before your competitors figure it out.

What Are AI Overviews and Why Should You Care?

AI Overviews are Google's attempt to answer search queries directly on the results page using generative AI. Instead of showing you ten blue links, Google now synthesises an answer from multiple sources and presents it in a box at the top.

For a query like "how much does an MOT cost in Derby", Google might generate a paragraph explaining typical MOT pricing, pulling data from various websites. The user gets their answer without clicking through to any garage's website.

According to research from Authoritas, AI Overviews appear on roughly 47% of informational queries and are expanding rapidly. When they appear, organic click-through rates drop by 30-40%.

The Impact on Independent Garages

Most independent garages were already struggling on page 2 or 3 of Google. AI Overviews have made this dramatically worse:

• Page 2 is now page 10. With an AI Overview, featured snippets, local pack, and ads all sitting above organic results, being on page 2 means you're essentially invisible.
• Zero-click searches are rising. Users get pricing, service information, and even reviews without visiting your website. Your traffic drops even if your rankings stay the same.
• Chain garages get cited more. AI Overviews tend to pull from authoritative, well-structured sites. Kwik Fit and Halfords have the domain authority to be cited. Most independents don't.

The Counter-Strategy: Become the Source

Here's the good news. AI Overviews need to pull their information from somewhere. If you become an authoritative source for automotive service information in your area, you don't just survive AI Overviews - you benefit from them.

1. Build Topical Authority With Depth

A 5-page brochure website will never be cited by AI Overviews. You need comprehensive, expert-level content that covers your services in depth. That means dedicated pages for every service, every vehicle make, every common question.

Think about it: when someone asks "how much does a timing belt replacement cost on a 2018 Ford Focus", do you have a page that answers that? If not, someone else does, and Google's AI is pointing customers to them instead.

2. Structure Your Content for AI Parsing

AI models don't read websites the way humans do. They parse structured data, headings, lists, FAQ sections, and schema markup. Every page on your site should include:

• FAQ schema with real questions your customers ask
• Service schema with pricing, descriptions, and coverage areas
• LocalBusiness schema with your exact address, hours, and service area
• Clear heading hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3) that AI can follow

3. Earn Authority Signals

Domain authority matters more than ever. AI Overviews preferentially cite websites with strong backlink profiles and established authority. This means you need real, editorial backlinks from automotive publications, local news outlets, and industry directories.

15 high-quality links per month from DR50-80+ sites can move the needle dramatically within 6 months. It's not cheap, but it's the single most impactful thing you can do.

4. Dominate the Local Pack

AI Overviews haven't replaced the Google Local Pack (the map results). In fact, for "near me" searches, the Local Pack is more important than ever because it's one of the few things that still drives clicks.

Optimise your Google Business Profile relentlessly: accurate categories, complete service list, fresh photos monthly, and - critically - a steady stream of genuine reviews.

What Happens If You Do Nothing?

Let's be blunt. If your garage currently relies on organic Google traffic from a small website with no authority, your traffic will continue to decline. AI Overviews are not going away. They're expanding.

The garages that adapt now - building content depth, earning authority, and optimising for AI parsing - will be the ones that thrive. The ones that wait will find themselves paying more and more for Google Ads to compensate for disappearing organic traffic.

The window of opportunity is still open. Most independent garages haven't reacted yet. That means there's a genuine first-mover advantage for shops that start building their AI-proof digital presence today.