AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that Google displays above the classic search results: the model composes an answer from several trusted sources and links to the pages it cites.
For the user it's a ready answer without visiting any page. For site owners the change is twofold: some queries end on the results page, so there are fewer clicks, but presence in the summary itself builds the brand and captures those who do click through for details. Being cited in AI Overviews is now contested as seriously as position 1 in the classic results.
The summaries draw on pages a model can easily quote: a direct answer in a section's first sentences, headings phrased as questions, structured data (FAQPage, HowTo), named authors and specifics instead of generalities. It's the same craft we describe under AEO, which is why we implement them together.
AI Overviews vs AEO and GEO: AI Overviews are a specific Google feature; AEO is the practice of optimising for all answer engines (AI summaries, featured snippets, voice assistants), while GEO targets citations in conversational AI such as ChatGPT or Perplexity.
We check whether your company appears in AI Overviews as part of our AI visibility audit, and we describe a practical action plan in our article on visibility in AI search.