Nearly Half of Tracked Google Queries Now Show AI Overviews, KL SEO Expert Warns

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 18 September 2026 – As tools like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Gemini increasingly influence how consumers search for products and services, Malaysian SEO specialist Terence Lim is warning that businesses optimising only for traditional Google rankings may be missing a growing share of potential customers.

The shift is measurable. AI Overview presence in Google search results has grown from roughly 30% to 48% of tracked queries over the past year, according to BrightEdge's Generative Parser Research (February 2026) — meaning AI Overviews appeared in nearly half of the queries tracked by BrightEdge. The same research found only about 17% of sources cited in AI Overviews also rank in Google's organic top 10.

Locally, AI adoption is accelerating — 38% of Malaysian businesses now consistently use at least one AI tool, up from 27% a year ago, according to a 2026 Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Strand Partners study. However, the same study found 67% of adopters still rely mainly on basic tools like public chatbots, and only 19% have a formal strategy to scale AI use — suggesting most Malaysian businesses have yet to apply AI strategically to areas like how customers find them through search.

"In my view, this citation gap shows that ranking #1 on Google is no longer enough on its own," said Terence Lim, founder of JinMatic, a Kuala Lumpur-based SEO agency. "AI search tools summarise answers directly, often without sending users to a website at all. If your business isn't structured to be understood by these systems, you can be technically ranking well and still be missing from where customers are actually looking."

Terence Lim, who has worked in search engine optimisation since 2010 and holds a MOZ Advanced SEO Certification and Google Analytics Individual Qualification, says the gap is particularly relevant for small and medium enterprises, which often rely on SEO agencies or in-house teams still focused solely on traditional keyword rankings.

Terence Lim recommends business owners start by asking three questions: whether their website content directly answers common customer questions, whether their business information is structured in a way search engines and AI systems can easily read, and whether they are tracking visibility in AI-generated answers, not just standard search rankings. A practical starting point, he suggests, is a technical SEO audit to identify what's currently limiting visibility, paired with keyword research to understand what customers are actually searching for.

JinMatic offers a free SEO Opportunity Review to help Malaysian businesses assess where they stand.
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https://jinmatic.com/
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JinMatic

JinMatic is a Kuala Lumpur-based SEO agency specialising in both traditional Google SEO and AI search optimisation (AEO/GEO). Founded by Terence Lim in 2010, JinMatic has worked with businesses across healthcare, e-commerce, and F&B, and has been featured in Sin Chew, Vulcan Post, Malay Mail, Yahoo Finance, SME Magazine, and HR Asia.