SEO in India after AI Overviews — the honest 2026 playbook

Half of Google search results in India now show an AI answer first. Traditional keyword stuffing is dead. This is what still moves rankings — and what moves revenue.

1. Technical SEO is table stakes (not a service)

Core Web Vitals, mobile UX, schema, crawlability, internal linking — if these are broken, nothing else matters. Any Indian SEO agency still selling this as “premium” is 5 years behind.

2. What actually ranks now

• Topical authority — 15–20 deeply linked posts around one theme beats 200 random ones.
• EEAT signals — real author, real business address, real reviews. Google’s Delhi / India office is actively down-ranking anonymous sites.
• Original data & opinion — AI can rewrite fluff. It cannot invent your case study.
• AEO / GEO — Answer Engine Optimization and Generative Engine Optimization: structuring content so ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews cite you.

3. The India-specific angle

• Bilingual (English + Hindi) schema markup.
• Local pack optimisation for Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad.
• WhatsApp click-to-chat schema (huge for Indian SMBs).
• INR currency + IST timezone in structured data.

4. Pricing reality — what SEO costs in India

• Local SEO (single city): ₹15,000 – ₹35,000/month
• National SEO (India-wide): ₹40,000 – ₹1,20,000/month
• Global SEO (US/UK/UAE): $600 – $2,500/month

Anything under ₹10k/month is link spam or PBNs — you will get penalized.

5. How I do it

I run a lean 3-pillar stack: technical audit → content clusters → AEO/GEO schema. First rankings usually move in 6–10 weeks. See my services or book a free audit call.