How Are You Measuring SEO Success in the AI Overview Era?

This is something I have been trying to wrap my head around lately.

From what I can see, the metrics that used to clearly show SEO success like rankings and organic traffic are not painting the full picture anymore. AI Overviews are answering a lot of queries directly on the search results page so users are getting what they need without ever clicking through. That makes it hard to measure actual visibility just by looking at traffic numbers.

What I am curious about is how people are tracking brand citations inside AI generated answers. Like if Google or Perplexity references your content in an AI Overview but the user never visits your site, does that count as a win? It feels like it should but I have not seen a clean way to measure that yet.

I am also wondering whether engagement metrics like time on site, return visits, and assisted conversions are becoming more important than pure traffic volume. If the people who do click through are more informed and more likely to convert, maybe lower traffic with better engagement is actually a better outcome than it looks on paper.

Still figuring this out honestly but would be really interested to hear how others are reporting SEO value to clients in this environment because that seems like one of the harder parts right now.

I think SEO success can no longer be measured by rankings and organic traffic alone. While I still track keyword positions, clicks, and conversions, I'm paying much closer attention to how often my brand and content appear in AI Overviews and other AI-generated search experiences. Many users now get answers directly on the SERP, so visibility and citations have become just as important as clicks.

For me, the key metrics today are:

• AI Overview visibility for target keywords
• Brand mentions and citations in AI-generated answers
• Growth in branded searches
• Organic leads and conversions
• Engagement from high-intent users rather than raw traffic numbers

I've noticed that some pages receive fewer clicks than before, but they still contribute to brand awareness because users see the brand repeatedly in AI-generated responses. So instead of asking, "How much traffic did this page generate?", I'm increasingly asking, "How visible is our brand across search and AI platforms, and is that visibility driving business results?"

In my opinion, the SEO industry is shifting from measuring rankings to measuring influence and authority. Rankings still matter, but being cited, trusted, and referenced by AI systems is becoming an equally important indicator of success.