𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗜
Google AI Overviews answer many questions without a click. If you search for "best AI video tools," Google gives you a list immediately.
I am building three directory sites: Top AI Tools, Find Games Like, and Open Alternative To. Many people ask: why build these if Google already answers the query?
I am making a specific bet. By October 2026, at least one site will get 200 organic clicks per month from specific comparison or filtered pages. If this fails, I will publish my data and admit I was wrong.
I am not fighting for broad discovery. I am fighting for three things AI Overviews do poorly:
• Attribute-based filtering: AI gives prose answers. My sites use structured data. If you need a tool that "works offline and has a mobile app," you can click a filter. An AI cannot easily query those specific fields in a chat.
• Editorial negative space: AI usually stays positive. My sites include "avoid if" sections. These tell you who should skip a tool. This structured criticism is hard for generative models to replicate.
• Freshness: My system checks GitHub activity weekly. It marks tools as "low activity" if they are not maintained. AI Overviews often rely on old web mentions and miss when a project dies.
I am also targeting the "downstream" user.
A user finds a list via Google AI. They then search for a specific comparison, like "Appflowy vs Anytype." That user wants a verdict and structured data, not a paragraph of text.
My technical setup is cheap. I spend about $25 per month on infrastructure. This allows me to run this experiment for a year without needing immediate profit.
I am watching for three failure signs:
- High impressions but zero clicks on comparison pages.
- Google rejecting my site for "thin content" even after I add depth.
- Users moving from search engines to ChatGPT for all research.
I will publish my results with raw screenshots in October 2026.