South Africa, June 3 -- Every week, I speak to businesses who are worried. Sometimes panicked. It does not matter whether they run a local plumbing business, a fast-growing Shopify store or a large, content-led site, the question is always the same:

Is Google's new AI search going to wipe out our organic traffic?

It is an understandable fear. The headlines are dramatic. Zero-click search. The end of SEO. AI answers replace websites.

But when you step back and look at how Google's AI Overviews work, a more grounded picture emerges. One that is far less apocalyptic, and in many cases, more commercially promising.

Because this is not a new search engine. It is the same Google, using the same ranking systems, asking tougher questions abou...