AI Overview
An AI Overview is a summary generated by Google's artificial intelligence, shown at the top of search results, which answers the question and cites a few linked sources.
Definition
Google launched AI Overviews in the United States in May 2024 (Google I/O 2024) and subsequently expanded them to many other countries and languages. In France, they only arrived on July 22, 2026, following more than a year of delays related to neighboring rights. For certain queries, Google generates a multi-paragraph response based on web pages, including links to the sources used.
How it works
AI Overviews rely on Google's index. The cited pages are therefore largely those that are already well-ranked, featuring clear passages that directly answer the question. Not all queries trigger an AI Overview; they appear primarily for informational searches.
Why it matters for your site
An AI Overview captures a portion of clicks. According to Ahrefs, the click-through rate for the first result drops by 34.5% when an AI Overview is displayed (Ahrefs, April 2025). On the other hand, being cited in the overview provides visibility at the very top of the page.
The We-R perspective
The goal is not to "avoid" AI Overviews, but to be the cited source within them. At Sparagus, well-structured glossary entries were cited in AI Overviews in Belgium within their first month.
Learn more
See also:AI Mode,AEO,AI Citation. And to put it into practice:the Sparagus client case studyorour SEO & GEO consulting services.
Sources: Google I/O 2024 · Ahrefs (April 2025) · Google Search Central, generative AI reports (June 2026) · Sparagus client case study (We-R).
Last updated: October 2026.
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