AI Overviews
Definition: AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that Google shows at the top of some search results, built from its search index and linking to the web pages that support the answer.
Also called: Google AI Overviews, AIO, Search Generative Experience (SGE)
Updated
From experiment to default
Google first tested generated answers in Search Labs in 2023 under the name Search Generative Experience (SGE). It renamed the feature AI Overviews and began showing it to all US users in May 2024, with wider rollouts since. An overview appears above the classic results on some queries, typically longer or more complex ones, and lists the pages it drew on.
How a page becomes a supporting link
Google says there are no additional requirements: a page has to be indexed and eligible to appear in Search with a snippet, and no special files or schema are needed (AI features and your website). AI Overviews use the same index that normal Googlebot builds. There is no separate AI Overview crawler, and blocking the Google-Extended token does not remove you from them.
Google may also run a query fan-out, searching several related sub-questions at once, so a page can be cited for a sub-topic it covers well even if it does not rank for the original query.
Limiting how your content is used
The nosnippet and max-snippet robots rules apply to AI Overviews as well as to regular snippets. Google says nosnippet also stops the content being used as a direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode (robots meta tag documentation). The trade-off is real: the same rule removes your normal text snippet.
Measuring the effect
Clicks and impressions from AI Overviews are counted in Search Console’s Performance report under the Web search type, without a separate filter. Track impressions alongside clicks, since a citation can raise visibility while lowering click-through. The post on AI Overviews optimization covers what to change on the page, and the SEO audit guide covers the indexing checks that decide eligibility in the first place.