Search has changed, and you’ve probably already seen it. Google now shows AI overviews at the top of some results pages. That summary pulls from a handful of websites, replacing what used to be the most valuable space on the page. For brands that depend on search visibility, this change has consequences, even for pages that rank well.
In this guide, we’ll explain what Google’s AI-generated summaries are and how they can affect your traffic. You’ll also find practical tips to rank in AI Overviews and ways to adapt your SEO strategy for this new layer of search so that you can keep attracting potential customers and remain visible online.
- AI Overviews are a new Google feature that uses Gemini to answer user questions directly in the SERP.
- An Authoritas study found that AI Overviews appeared in about 30% of searches, based on data analysis from users with Google’s Search Labs enabled.
- Getting mentioned in an AI overview won’t always bring more clicks, but it puts your brand in front of more people and can influence their decisions over time.
- Most of the searches that trigger generated summaries are informational in intent.
- Well-optimized websites that already rank in the top 10 results are 52% more likely to appear in AI overviews, which shows that a strong SEO foundation is still important.
What are Google AI Overviews?
Google’s AI Overviews (formerly known as Search Generative Experience) are summaries that appear at the top of some search results. These overviews aim to give users a quick answer without clicking through. You’ll see them show up in Google’s search like this:
In contrast to featured snippets, which mostly use only one source, AI Overviews pull information from several websites at once. And being cited here can significantly improve your brand visibility, not just for rankings, but for credibility too.
While these summaries don’t appear for every search, they’re becoming more common. According to Authoritas, AI Overviews show up in about 30% of all U.S. searches, and even more frequently for broad, informational queries.
For people, it means they can get a better user experience. For content teams and brands, it shows that they need to adjust their SEO strategies.
Even though there’s no shortcut or guarantee to AIO placement, combining traditional SEO with AI strategies massively increases your chances, and we’ll show you exactly how to do it in the sections that follow.
Why Are AI Overviews Important for SEO?
As you’ve previously seen in the screenshot, AI Overviews are showing up at the top of search results, above the usual featured snippets and organic links.
When your content is selected for one, it gets extra visibility in a prime spot: the top-right corner of the page. So, brands that adapt to these strategies will certainly have an advantage over those that don’t. As Neil Patel put it:
“The way most people think about SEO is clicks to a website. But if you don’t show up, you are missing out on the opportunity to promote your brand and gain impressions.”
Neil Patel
Being featured in an AI Overview also gives your site authority in your niche. It’s a sign that Google sees your content as the right answer, which can help you gain trust with potential customers.
How Do AI Overviews Affect Website Traffic?
Most businesses are concerned about whether these machine-generated summaries cut into their traffic. And the truth is, they do change how users engage with your website. In some cases, they lead to zero-click searches, where users get the information they need directly from the results pages and don’t visit a website at all.
Ahrefs analyzed 300,000 keywords and estimated that the presence of AI Overviews correlates with a 34.5% lower average clickthrough rate for position one results on informational keywords—compared to what would have been expected without AI Overviews.
As Kevin Indig, a growth advisor at HyperGrowth, said on LinkedIn, some websites are seeing “clicks down, impressions up.” This means AI Overviews increase a site’s visibility (your name or link might appear more often), but fewer users visit your site.
In other words, ranking in AI overviews is a tradeoff: you may lose clicks, but you’re not invisible. And that kind of brand exposure can still influence user decisions later.
The takeaway? AI summaries are resulting in more zero-click searches, which means that organic traffic is going to be harder to win. But visibility of your business in these summaries still matters for your SEO goals, and understanding how to earn it is the first step.
Strategies to Get Featured in AI Overviews
There’s more than one way to improve your chances of being featured in an AI Overview, and most of them look a lot like traditional SEO best practices. The difference is how those practices are applied and what signals Google’s AI seems to pick up on.
1. Understand How AI Search Engines Work
Before we move on to strategies for how to rank in Google AI overviews, let’s first look at how these pages get selected in the first place.
When a user searches, Google’s proprietary language models — likely based on its Gemini technology — analyze multiple web pages to build a concise response that appears at the top of the results.
The sources it pulls from usually rank well for the query in the traditional SERPs, though it’s not always the case. Based on what we’ve seen across clients’ websites and our SEO case studies, the pages that tend to be included usually follow a few consistent patterns:
- Prioritize search intent: AI models look for content that directly satisfies the underlying intent of a query, not just keyword matching (we’ll talk more about it later on).
- Focus on relevance and context: AI parses semantic meaning, so the content that’s contextually relevant is more likely to be selected.
- Optimize for NLP: Pages written in natural language and answering questions the way a helpful expert would are preferred over those that are only written to rank.
That said, let’s look at several ways you can optimize your site to meet these criteria, along with some AI overview ranking tips.
2. Create High-Quality, Authoritative Content
Pages that show up in AI-driven search results tend to answer the user’s question directly in their content, back it up with context and data, and show signs of expertise. Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- Meet E-E-A-T expectations: Google favors pages written by people who understand the topic. It means your content needs to demonstrate authority and first-hand experience to rank in AI overviews.
- Start with the concise answers: The first 2–3 lines in your pages should answer the main question directly. This also supports voice search optimization, since voice assistants tend to read short, direct responses. If the topic is layered, use subheadings to break it down, one per related question.
- Include supporting details: Once you answer, expand with comparisons, pros and cons, or related concerns. Think one step ahead of your reader. What’s the next thing they’d ask? That’s often what gets pulled into follow-up boxes, related queries, or even voice responses.
At SeoProfy, we combine time-tested SEO with new strategies built for how AI reads and ranks content. We’ll help you:
- Appear in AI-generated answers
- Build authority as a trusted source
- Grow your visibility online
3. Structure Your Content for AI Readability
It’s easier for AI to extract data from pages that are well-structured and easy to scan. So, when creating high-quality content, organize it for better readability.
One format it especially loves is lists. We’ve seen this firsthand. In our article on AI SEO statistics, the key takeaway section was displayed almost exactly as written in an AI Overview, pulled straight from our page.
Apart from lists, you could also try these formatting best practices to:
- Incorporate jump links and #:~:text= fragments to highlight main facts or phrases in your content.
- Use the FAQ and Q&A format, as AI often lifts data from structured question-and-answer formats.
- Use structured data types relevant to your content, such as FAQPage, HowTo, and Article. QAPage should only be used for user-submitted Q&A forums.
4. Optimise Technical SEO to Rank in AI Search Results
Your site also has to be technically sound, as it’s the foundation to rank in both traditional search results and AI Overviews. Here are the areas you’ll need to monitor when you create an SEO strategy:
- Crawlability and indexing: Check if your main pages are accessible to search engines and review your sitemap and robots.txt file to confirm nothing important is being blocked.
- Page speed: Run your site through PageSpeed Insights and fix what’s slowing it down. If needed, optimize images, scripts, and the way your site handles returning visitors.
- Mobile optimization: Prioritize the mobile version of your site, since Google uses it as the main version for indexing and ranking.
- HTTPS: Secure your site with a valid SSL certificate (that little padlock in the browser). It shows your visitors and search engines that your site is trustworthy and helps with SEO.
If you don’t have a team in-house to do the technical optimization, you could always outsource it an an expert SEO agency. That way, you won’t have to worry about breaking anything or wasting time on the hiring process.
5. Optimize for Featured Snippets
Featured snippets still show up in traditional Google search results. However, the same formatting that helps you earn one can also increase your chances of ranking in AI Overviews.
You’ve probably already noticed that AI Overviews don’t follow a fixed layout. Some look like short paragraphs. Others include bullet points, numbered lists, or comparison tables.
What you see in search results often depends on the query. If the user is looking for a list of options, a decision-making guide, or a side-by-side breakdown, the AI model formats the response to match that need.
This is partly thanks to Google’s Knowledge Graph. It helps Google connect the dots between things like products, services, people, and brands and figure out how to present the results in the most useful way. These systems, combined with signals like keyword rankings, relevant content, and how well a page matches user intent, are core to Google’s search algorithm and how it determines visibility in traditional organic search results.
Let’s look at this example. For a broad travel query like a “trip to Italy”, the results returned a wide-format overview with images and skimmable blocks. This presentation often leverages a delivery network that quickly renders diverse formats depending on device and location.
So, to make higher chances to be visible in Google AI overviews and featured snippets, you need to structure your content for direct, scannable answers:
- Use bulleted and numbered lists, tables, and comparison charts: AI Overviews often extract these formats for clarity.
- Include long-tail queries: (e.g., “best time for a family trip to Italy”)—they’re more likely to surface in overviews than generic keywords.
- Add clear section headers: (H2/H3) to break down topics logically and make it easy for AI to understand your content’s structure.
- Place answers at the top: Ensure each section starts with a direct response in the first 1–2 sentences—this positioning helps search engines index and understand your page, supporting successful SEO outcomes.
6. Target the Right Queries for AI Overviews
Ahrefs’ research shows that 99.2% of keywords that trigger an AI Overview are informational in intent. That includes queries like “how to,” “what is,” and other question-based searches. In contrast, commercial or transactional terms only show up in about 10% of cases.
You can see this in action across many live SERPs. For example, here’s the results page for the informational search query in the legal industry:
This suggests that if you want to show up in AI-generated content, choose keywords that show informational intent. Think of how-to guides, definitions, comparisons, and walkthroughs.
At the same time, check which of your pages are already shown. Ahrefs, for example, has a filter in its Organic Keywords report called SERP features.
When you click on it, it’ll show you a list of user queries that get mentioned in SERP features and Google’s AI Overviews.
Similarly, you could use Semrush or Advanced Web Ranking for this step. Once you see the results, study the structure and style of those sources and see if you could replicate them in your other pages.
7. Build and Show Your Authority
In traditional SEO, a lot of attention goes into high-quality backlinks. Although they still matter, AI-driven search depends more on credible citations — the ones that link to you and the ones you mention in your content.
This lines up with what Matt Lerner (Ex-PayPal) and Amanda Natividad (SparkToro) mentioned in their recent webinar on Content Marketing in a Post-SEO World. They recommend businesses find relevant and credible websites in their niche and try to get cited there.
Such mentions send trust signals to AI tools and carry even more weight in YMYL (Your Money Your Life) topics, such as health, finance, or legal.
To show your credibility even further, here are some additional best practices you can try to rank in AI overviews:
- Cite trustworthy sources in your content and include reference data, studies, or expert opinions.
- Add detailed author bios, credentials, and even links to your professional profiles. If you have certifications, awards, or years of experience, mention them too.
- Use the author property within the Article or BlogPosting schema to provide structured author data. While it doesn’t directly influence rankings, it helps clarify authorship.
All of these tactics will help position your content as a trusted source, which makes it more likely to be featured in AI-generated responses. It can also improve your SEO ROI over time, since you’re getting more visibility without having to spend more on content or ads.
8. Use Multimedia and Rich Content
Visual elements do more than make your content look good. They also help users understand it better and give Google more context to work with. In fact, AI models can sometimes pull these elements directly into AI Overviews.
Depending on your niche, you could add rich content to your pages in several ways. Here’s what you can do:
- Add screenshots: Show people exactly what to do. For example, walk them through a setup process, form submission, or dashboard view. Screens with short captions or labels tend to work best.
- Embed videos from YouTube: Videos are one of the most effective content formats, especially in SaaS. They keep people engaged longer and often appear in search results.
- Use charts, tables, or visual summaries: If you compare tools, explain a process, or share specific results, a simple chart or table can help your visitors better understand the information.
- Include structured data to help machines interpret what’s on the page: You can add simple code to signal that something is a how-to guide, a video, or a Q&A. This helps your content show up with extra features in search.
9. Manage Your Brand’s Online Reputation
Ranking in AI Overviews also has a lot to do with how your business appears across the internet. We’ve mentioned earlier that getting cited in credible sources builds trust, but it also increases brand awareness, as more people get to see the name of your company.
Other places where it’s worth being present are social media and community platforms like Reddit and Quora. Over the past few years, Google and other search engines have given these platforms higher visibility in traditional search results, and, as you can see in the screenshot, AI Overviews are following the same trend.
You don’t have to post every day. But answering questions related to your expertise, sharing your experience, or adding value to relevant conversations can help your content (and your brand) show up when people search. Although Reddit and Quora have gained visibility in organic results, their inclusion in AI Overviews is more selective and typically query-dependent.
10. Update Content Regularly
Anyone familiar with SEO knows that Google prioritizes up-to-date content. This applies to both traditional search engine results pages and AI responses. So, a page that’s frequently refreshed with new information stands a much better chance to appear in the AI overview section.
One way to stay on top of this is to schedule regular updates. You can keep track in a simple Google Sheet, for example. Make a note to check your content, links, and keywords. After updating, don’t forget to submit the new URL via Google Search Console so Google can re-index it faster.
11. Strengthen Internal Linking
Internal links are an essential element in every SEO campaign setup because they reinforce your topical authority, spread link power, and help users and search crawlers find valuable information. Generative AI models also look at your internal links to find out how each of your pages fits into the broader context of your site.
To build an internal linking strategy that supports better visibility and helps you rank in AI overviews, you can follow these best practices:
- Create topic clusters and interlink related articles: Pages that cover similar angles (pricing, features, or use cases) should link to one another. This shows that your site explains the topic in depth, which can influence how your content is summarized in overviews.
- Fix orphan pages with a site crawl: Use tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, or Sitebulb to find pages that don’t receive any internal links. Then, add relevant links from other pages to help connect them to the rest of your site.
- Strengthen underperforming pages by linking from top URLs: Open Google Search Console or Google Analytics 4 to find your highest-traffic pages, and use them to link to relevant but lower-ranking content.
The final tip is to run a crawl once a month and clean up any broken links or ones that point to outdated pages. This will prevent you from sending users and Google to 404 errors.
12. Track and Improve with AI-Centric Metrics
Just like in traditional SEO, you’ll need to track AI overviews to see your performance. Some of your articles might already appear in the summaries without you knowing. And once you’ve applied some of the strategies above, it makes sense to check whether your content is starting to surface more often.
Luckily, you don’t have to do it manually, as most SEO tools already offer this functionality. In Semrush, go to Organic Research, enter your domain, and scroll down to the SERP Features section on the left. You can also filter it to AI overviews only.
This will show you the number of keywords that trigger these results. Similarly, you can do this from the Positions tab:
- Click on the SERP Features filter
- Select AI Overview from the dropdown
- Look through the keywords
If you want to check your results in real time, you can use plugins. Google AI Overview Citation Analysis and AI Overview Impact Analysis show you which keywords are currently triggering summaries and whether your site is mentioned.
Additionally, you could monitor your data and measure SEO in Google Search Console. In the Performance tab, you can find the top queries your site is being surfaced for and the number of clicks and impressions they are getting.
From there, head to the Pages tab and check which URLs are getting visibility. If any of your important pages aren’t on the list, they might not be indexed. You can confirm that in the indexing report.
The other section worth looking at is the Enhancements tab. That’s where you’ll see the types of structured data Google has detected. Each one will show a status: valid, warning, or error. If you aim to get featured in AI overviews, these need to be marked as valid.
To go into advanced mode with your findings, export your query data from Search Console or Semrush and feed it into AI SEO tools like ChatGPT. These can save you the headache of analyzing it yourself and summarize which formats perform best, so you can spot patterns.
Enhance Your AI Overview Mentions with Strong SEO Optimization
It’s clear that AI Overviews affect SEO of many businesses and are changing the rules for staying visible in SERPs. Still, one thing remains the same: websites that perform well in traditional search are the ones most likely to be featured in these summaries.
We’ve seen it across our own content and client projects. Pages that are well optimized, fast, organized, and match what the users are looking for perform well in both.
The team over at SurferSEO backs this up. Their research showed that 52% of websites that get cited already rank in the top 10 results.
And everything we’ve shared in this guide on how to rank in AI search results builds on that idea. The technical setup, the way your content is written, and how it’s linked — it all plays a part.
That said, if you’re looking to improve your digital marketing and SEO efforts or adapt them for better results, our team at SeoProfy offers AI SEO services. We create personalized strategies that go hand-in-hand with new advancements and can help you stay visible in the AI-driven search landscape.
Andrew is the Head of SEO at SeoProfy, leading a team of more than 20 experienced SEO specialists. He has been involved in search engine optimization and digital marketing since 2016, gaining hands-on experience across various niches and regions. Andrew possesses strong analytical and strategic skills, particularly in planning SEO strategies for highly competitive projects.
