A Dubai clinic can hold the same Google ranking for a year and still get fewer enquiries from it. One increasingly common reason sits above the results: an AI-generated answer that settles the question before anyone scrolls.
Google brought AI Overviews to the Middle East and North Africa, and to Arabic, in May 2025. AI Mode, its conversational search tab, followed in English across the region in August 2025 and in Arabic that October. UAE searchers can now get AI answers in both languages.
SEO still works. But several habits built for the old results page now deliver less than they cost. Here are ten worth rethinking.
- Treating position one as the finish line
Ranking first matters less when an AI summary sits above you. In a Pew Research Center study of US users in early 2025, people clicked a traditional result in 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, against 15% when one didn’t, a finding Google disputed. SEO software company Ahrefs found that, as of December 2025, an AI Overview correlated with a 58% lower average click-through rate for the top-ranking page.
Neither is a UAE benchmark, but both point the same way. Track rankings alongside AI impressions, enquiries and sales, not instead of them.
- Publishing content for volume
Twenty generic posts a month once felt like progress. Basic answers are the kind of content AI summaries tend to cover. Google’s spam policies also target scaled, low-value content, whether people or AI produced it, and that can include automatically translated pages.
Publish fewer pieces containing something a summary can’t replace: your pricing logic, local case studies, first-hand expertise. If you serve Arabic-speaking customers, localise properly rather than translating at scale.
- Building one page per keyword
Separate pages for “villa management Dubai” and “property management for villas in Dubai” were already losing value as Google got better at understanding meaning. AI Mode adds pressure: Google says it breaks a question into subtopics and searches them at once, and its users ask longer, multi-part questions.
Organise content around customer problems instead. One strong page covering costs, process, timelines and objections usually serves people better than five near-duplicates, and gives AI systems a clearer source.
- Writing pages that only exist to win a click
“What is…” content is among the most exposed, because AI answers handle definitions well.
Give searchers a reason to visit: a fee calculator for a school, a comparison of payment plans for an off-plan project, a checklist for a B2B buyer.
- Relying on FAQ schema as a shortcut
Since 2023, Google has shown FAQ rich results mainly for well-known government and health sites, so the markup was already a weak shortcut. It doesn’t unlock AI citations either: Google states there are no special technical requirements for appearing in its AI features.
Keep accurate schema, but put the effort into the answers: specific, evidenced and based on questions customers actually ask.
- Creating thin neighbourhood pages
Pages for Marina, JLT and Business Bay that differ only by area name add little for readers, and Google’s spam policies treat near-identical pages targeting different cities or regions as doorway pages.
Build a location page only when you have something specific to say: who you serve there, local projects, directions, parking, the right contact.
- Treating backlinks as the whole authority strategy
Links still count. But Google says local results depend on relevance, distance and prominence, and prominence includes reviews and how well known a business is, not just links.
Keep your Google Business Profile accurate, earn genuine reviews and reply to them, and keep your business details consistent across your website, directories and booking platforms.
- Running SEO and paid search separately
When AI Overviews launched in the region, Google said ads would keep appearing in dedicated slots above and below them. It has since started placing ads inside AI Overviews in some markets, so check what your own commercial searches show.
Plan them together. Use paid search where organic visibility is weak, and test bidding less where organic presence is strong. Judge both on cost per qualified lead, and on ROAS for ecommerce.
- Reporting rankings and traffic only
Google says its generative AI performance reports in Search Console reached all websites worldwide on 31 August 2026, though sites with few AI impressions may not see one. At the time of writing, they show how often your pages appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode as impressions only, with no click or query data.
Connect Search Console and analytics to your CRM, call tracking and WhatsApp enquiries, then report qualified leads, customer acquisition cost and revenue by landing page. Whether SEO sits in-house or with an SEO agency in Dubai, a report without those numbers tells you very little.
- Ignoring what happens after the click
Fewer clicks means each one matters more. A slow page or a buried phone number wastes visibility you worked to earn.
Check Core Web Vitals and mobile usability, and make calling, WhatsApp and booking easy from every key page. Where bookings or sales happen inside an app, your SEO team and your app development company in Dubai should work from the same conversion data, so demand doesn’t drop off between site and app.
Where to start
Open the generative AI report in Search Console and list the pages earning AI impressions. Compare them with the pages producing leads in your CRM. Visible pages that don’t convert need a better post-click experience. Converting pages with little visibility need stronger content and local signals.
Ask any SEO partner to show you that comparison. Performance-focused firms such as Wisoft Solutions report SEO against qualified leads, acquisition cost and revenue, not position alone.
FAQs
How are AI Overviews changing SEO for Dubai businesses?
AI Overviews and AI Mode answer many informational questions on the results page, which can reduce clicks to websites even when rankings hold. SEO still matters, but its value now shows in AI visibility, local presence and measurable enquiries, not rankings and traffic alone.
Is SEO still worth investing in?
For most businesses, yes. AI answers tend to affect informational searches most, while people ready to book, buy or visit are more likely to click through to websites, map listings and ads.
What should an SEO agency in Dubai report now?
Rankings and traffic, plus AI impressions from Search Console, connected to qualified leads, customer acquisition cost and revenue by landing page. If a report can’t show which pages produce enquiries, it can’t show whether SEO is working.
Can an agency guarantee we appear in AI Overviews?
No. Google decides when an AI Overview appears and which sources it cites. Treat any promise of guaranteed placement as a warning sign.
Should we opt out of Google’s AI features?
Search Console now has a setting that removes a site from AI Overviews, AI Mode and generative AI features in Discover. Opting out means no traffic or impressions from those features. Google says the setting isn’t a ranking signal elsewhere in Search, and it doesn’t control AI training. Review your AI impressions report before deciding.
