How do I prioritize content for AI snippet inclusion and funnel depth?

Overview

Prioritizing content for AI snippet inclusion isn’t just about keyword selection — it’s about building layered, well-structured answers that satisfy both AI models and real users across different stages of the funnel. Google’s Gemini-powered Overviews often prefer concise, semantically rich, mid-funnel content that answers what, how, and why questions in context. To appear, your site must offer original value, clarity and markup that guides AI summarization.

In this article, we’ll show you how to structure your strategy so that AI prioritizes your content — and how to align those inclusions to drive deeper funnel actions.

• What I Think
• Deep Dive: Map and Optimize for AI Visibility
• 24-Step Action Plan
• Quick Solutions
• About Us

What I Think

In my experience, the brands that consistently appear in AI Overviews aren’t publishing more — they’re prioritizing the right pieces of content with greater depth and alignment. What you write and how you structure it matters more than ever. It’s not just about SEO hygiene; it’s about strategic funnel modeling.

The real differentiator is how well your content speaks to AI answer logic. Most teams are still optimizing for user search behavior. The shift is toward optimizing for AI summarization behavior. This requires a mindset shift — and a new kind of editorial prioritization matrix.

Deep Dive: Prioritize and Structure Content for AI Snippet Dominance

AI snippets — particularly from Gemini models — tend to favor content that clearly maps to middle-of-funnel (MOFU) queries: “how does,” “why should,” “compare,” and “what is the difference.” These queries signal intent to evaluate, which makes them ideal citation targets.

To get included, content should feature tight headings, answer-focused paragraphs, and embedded microdata. Gemini doesn’t index pages the same way traditional crawlers do. It assembles understanding from sections — not just full-page rankings. That’s why your layout must be semantically scannable.

You must also model your snippet prioritization strategy around three layers:

1. Triggering Intent – Questions that activate Overviews.
2. Answer Structure – Clean paragraphs, bullets, schema-enhanced content.
3. Conversion Connectivity – Internal links and layout CTAs that guide users from the summary to deeper content.

In funnel terms, content that earns snippets needs both topical completeness and forward motion. A snippet alone does not convert — but when it leads to a conversion-optimized page, it becomes a gateway.

To prioritize effectively, map your site’s strongest MOFU assets, score their AI-readiness, and optimize layout and trust signals.

See also: How Google’s AI Overviews are changing click behavior and SEO metrics and How to unify your marketing disciplines under a single operating system

24-Step Action Plan

1. List your existing MOFU content assets by traffic and engagement
2. Identify which match common AI Overview triggers (how-to, what-is, vs.)
3. Map keywords that currently activate AI snippets
4. Cross-reference these with underperforming or missing pages
5. Build a MOFU visibility matrix across verticals and personas
6. Prioritize pages with comparison, procedural, or definition formats
7. Add schema markup for FAQs, How-Tos, or QAPage where applicable
8. Break long-form pages into discrete, self-contained semantic blocks
9. Use clear headings with natural language questions
10. Write lead-in paragraphs that directly and concisely answer the heading
11. Add citations or sources to reinforce E-E-A-T signals
12. Include internal links to deeper TOFU and BOFU content
13. Use tables, bullets, and bolded summaries where useful
14. Test how your pages are summarized via Gemini (e.g., Search Generative AI previews)
15. Identify which pages show up in snippets but don’t click-through
16. Restructure those with stronger CTA and in-line engagement prompts
17. Evaluate competing pages for layout and structure clues
18. Refresh stale MOFU content with new insights or examples
19. Add original data or quotes to establish expertise
20. Use Search Console to track AI snippet impressions if available
21. Flag pages with no impressions and cross-check for AI triggers
22. Adjust internal linking hierarchy to surface prioritized pages
23. Monitor crawl behavior on re-optimized URLs
24. Create a monthly review cycle for snippet-oriented content

Want your high-quality content to finally earn its place in AI Overviews?

We help brands prioritize and structure their content so it earns visibility and drives action — not just impressions.

Meet With Us Today

About Us

Bruce Clay Inc. is an industry-defining SEO consultancy with decades of experience navigating every evolution of Google Search. From technical frameworks to editorial roadmaps, we help clients lead in both rankings and AI-assisted visibility.

Read more about our story.

Quick Solutions

• How do I unify my marketing disciplines under a single operating system?
• How do I diagnose visibility gaps in Gemini and AI Overviews?
• How do I prioritize content for AI snippet inclusion and funnel depth?
• How do I govern real-time AI SERP shifts without losing rankings?
• How do I partner with an agency that operationalizes this AI SERP framework?

Bruce Clay is founder and president of Bruce Clay Inc., a global digital marketing firm providing search engine optimization, pay-per-click, social media marketing, SEO-friendly web architecture, and SEO tools and education. Connect with him on LinkedIn or through the BruceClay.com website.

See Bruce's author page for links to connect on social media.