SEO

AI Overviews

Google's AI-generated answer box that synthesises search results into a written response, citing a handful of sources above the traditional links.

AI Overviews are the AI-written summaries Google now places at the top of many results pages. Instead of ten blue links, the searcher gets a synthesised answer with a short list of cited sources. For the queries where they appear, the citation slots are the new page one.

That changes the economics of ranking. Position three of the organic results may see fewer clicks than a single citation inside the Overview, and the pages Google cites are not always the pages that rank first. Models favour content that answers the question directly, states facts a summary can reuse, and comes from an entity Google understands and trusts.

Practically, earning citations looks like disciplined fundamentals: precise headings, answer-shaped paragraphs, valid structured data, consistent entity signals, and genuine topical depth. The sites that lose in this shift are the ones that ranked on volume rather than substance. The playbook for adapting is covered in our guide to Generative Engine Optimization.