𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗜
Google AI Overviews answer many search queries without a click. You search for "best AI video tools" and Google gives you a list right there.
I am building three directory sites: Top AI Tools, Find Games Like, and Open Alternative To. My competitors are not just other websites. My competitor is the search engine itself.
I am making a public bet. By October 2026, at least one of these sites must get 200 organic clicks per month for two months straight. If this does not happen, I will publish my failure and explain what I got wrong.
I do not think Google will stop sending clicks. I think they will change what people click for. AI Overviews are good at summarizing what exists. They are bad at three specific things:
- Attribute filtering: If you need an "offline Notion alternative with a mobile app," AI gives you a paragraph. My sites use structured data to let you filter by exact needs.
- Critical details: AI usually stays positive. My sites use AI to find "avoid if" reasons. I tell you who should skip a tool.
- Real freshness: AI relies on old web mentions. My sites pull GitHub data weekly to show if a tool is actually being maintained.
I am also targeting the second step of research.
People use AI to discover a list. Then they use search to compare two specific items, like "Appflowy vs Anytype." This is a high-intent query. Users want a verdict and a comparison table, not a long paragraph of text. Structured data wins this battle.
My setup is cheap. It costs about $25 per month to run. This low cost allows me to run this experiment for a full year without needing immediate revenue.
I will watch for three signs that I am wrong:
- High impressions but zero clicks on comparison pages.
- Google rejecting my site for "thin content" even after I add depth.
- People stopping search queries and moving entirely to AI chat.
I will share the raw data and screenshots in October 2026.