How to Get Cited in AI Overviews: A Tactical Guide 

Love them or hate them, Google’s AI Overviews aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

In fact, Google recently gave its AI-powered search feature a Gemini 2.5 upgrade. 

AI Overviews also expanded into more than 200 countries in over 40 languages, so it’s become a true mainstay of Google Search. 

Since they inhabit the very top of the search results page, getting cited in AI Overviews is now vital for improving online visibility. 

For example, here’s an AI Overview for the keyword ‘what is reckless driving in california,’:

This is an important keyword for law offices in California that specialize in traffic violations. 

Getting cited as one of the AI Overview’s sources (like Wells Call Injury Lawyers above) is fantastic for brand exposure and can drive more traffic to your site. 

But how can you get your brand to appear in more AI Overviews? Do the principles of traditional SEO apply?

They do to some degree.

However, generative search optimization (GSO, also called generative engine optimization or GEO) is quickly becoming its own marketing methodology. 

In this tactical guide, we’ll teach you the factors that matter the most for getting cited in AI Overviews, which are all backed up by the latest research. Keep reading to learn what they are! 

Why AI Citations Matter for Online Visibility 

Google still accounts for the vast majority of the search market, but AI-powered search tools like Perplexity and Claude have been exploding in popularity.  

While AI tools only account for a minuscule piece of the overall market at the moment, they’ve seen consistent double-digit growth year-over-year since 2022.

Their rapid success is no doubt why Google began experimenting with its own generative AI search features like AI Overviews and its newly released AI Mode.

Also, recent research by Semrush and Statista discovered that 1 in 10 US internet users use AI search platforms as their first choice when searching for information online. 

Since this type of search behavior is becoming more common, it provides a strong incentive for brands to improve their visibility in AI summaries and overviews.

How’s that?

It’s because AI citations will enable more users to discover your brand, products, and services! 

For instance, a user interested in purchasing fitness equipment might search on Google for something like: 

What are some of the best fitness equipment brands?

Well, this long-tail keyword triggers an AI Overview that recommends some popular brands:

If you sell fitness equipment, getting your brand cited here would be a huge win for your business. 

Not only would you gain significant brand exposure and credibility, but you’d also have the opportunity to generate lots of traffic and conversions. 

New research by Semrush discovered that AI search visitors convert 4.4x more often than visitors from traditional search engines. 

Why is that?

The jury is still out, but it’s likely because they were educated by the AI Overview (which contains a ton more information than your average meta description). As a result, they arrive at your website more informed about their needs (like what they need to buy). 

How do AI tools retrieve information and sources?

It’s crucial to understand that AI search tools are NOT traditional search engines. 

A search engine like Google crawls the internet.

By that, we mean Google uses crawler bots to continuously discover and index new content online. 

This is how Google’s search results are able to contain the most current content, even from relatively new websites. 

Google’s index is unfathomably massive since they’ve been in the search game for decades now, which also gives them a huge head start (and giant advantage) over newcomers to the search market. 

A crawler bot reads a website just like a user does, and it follows internal links to find new content (which is why internal links are so important for SEO).  

Whenever Google needs to provide results for a user search, it references and ranks the most relevant content found within its index. 

AI-powered search tools like Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Claude DO NOT crawl the web. 

Instead, they rely on:

1. Their training data 
2. A custom search tool that blends indexes and APIs to access publicly available information online 

While they can’t access Google or Bing directly, they do rely on their massive indexes to browse the web. 

Here’s what ChatGPT has to say about it:

However, while these AI tools rely on search engine indexes, the way they source information differs drastically. 

For example, AI tools focus on things like brand mentions (whether they’re linked or not) and brand search volume when determining which sources to include in summaries. 

Traditional SEO ranking factors, like keyword usage and backlinks, aren’t as important, but they still matter to some degree. 

Here’s a table breaking down the differences:

However, as we’re about to explore, there are some areas where these factors overlap. 

Key Signals that Influence AI Citations 

Now, let’s learn which signals matter most for improving brand visibility on AI search tools. 

As we’ve already pointed out, AI search tools weigh different factors than traditional search engines when determining which sources to use. 

Instead of keywords and links, AI tools pay attention to things like brand mentions, author credibility, and structured data. 

Here’s a closer look at the most important signals for GSO. 

Brand mentions and brand search volume 

All the currently available research suggests that brand mentions are the most important factor for appearing in AI-generated summaries. 

This study by Ahrefs analyzed 75,000 businesses to determine which factors led to more AI visibility, and the top 3 factors were:

1. Brand mentions 
2. Branded anchors 
3. Brand search volume 

In other words, you need to create lots of buzz about your brand if you want to boost your AI visibility. 

As such, brands eager to appear in more AI-generated summaries should engage in digital PR (public relations). 

Digital PR is all about getting your brand to appear on trusted and relevant news sites and media outlets, which is exactly what you need to score more brand mentions. 

The more your brand appears in reputable outlets online, the more likely you are to appear in AI Overviews and AI-generated summaries. 

It’s important to note that these brand mentions don’t need to contain backlinks to improve your GSO. 

However, our recommendation is to go ahead and request backlinks for them anyway since that will improve your traditional SEO (which still accounts for the vast majority of searches). 

Structured data 

Structured data, in particular schema markup, is a way of ‘labeling’ certain things so that search engines (and AI tools) can better understand your content. 

Schemas are agreed-upon formats for structuring data to add context and special features for things like:

• Recipes 
• Reviews 
• Products 

For instance, adding the AggregateRating and cookTime schemas for a recipe lets you display the average 5-star rating and total time to prepare straight from the Google results, like this:

These two features will not appear on Google results unless you include the right schema markup.

Schemas also help AI-powered search tools parse your content, which makes it easier for them to find what they need. 

In particular, the most important schemas for AI parsing are:

1. FAQPage. Your frequently asked questions contain some of the juiciest tidbits for AI tools, so don’t neglect this schema. 
2. HowTo. You should master this schema if you produce lots of ultimate guides and tutorials. 
3. Product. This schema helps AI tools understand which products you offer (extremely important for eCommerce stores). 
4. Author. Credibility is a big factor for AI, and the Author schema identifies who created a particular piece. Be sure to include detailed author biographies that highlight their experience and expertise!  

Topical authority and content clarity (overlap with SEO) 

Here’s where there’s some overlap with traditional SEO ranking factors, as topical authority matters for GSO.

Brands build topical authority by comprehensively covering certain topics and themes. 

Check out our guide on using content clusters to build topical authority to learn more. 

While we’re on the subject of overlap, studies have shown that 75% of the links found in AI Overviews come from pages that already rank in the top 12 organic search results. 

This means that, at least for Google’s AI Overviews, strong SEO can translate into strong GSO. 

In terms of content clarity, AI tools want to see:

• Concise sentences and paragraphs 
• A logical structure to the piece (i.e., proper use of subheadings) 
• Few to no grammatical or spelling errors 

Review signals and star ratings 

AI search tools will check your brand’s reviews to ensure that you’re trustworthy enough to appear in summaries and overviews. 

Accordingly, you need a stellar review profile if you want to attract attention from AI tools (this also helps regular SEO). 

Our hands-free review management service is perfect for this! 

How to Optimize Your Content to Get Cited in AI Overviews

Next, let’s use what we’ve learned so far to develop an effective AI SEO strategy. 

Here are some tips for optimizing your content to appear in more AI Overviews and summaries. 

Build brand mentions with digital PR 

Expanding on what we said about digital PR earlier, some viable ways to earn brand mentions using it include:

1. Building relationships with online journalists, bloggers, and media outlets
2. Conducting outreach through platforms like HARO (Help a Reporter Out)  
3. Creating original research and thought leadership content to get audiences talking 

Use proper subheadings, FAQs, and summary boxes 

Your content needs to be as concise as possible to appeal to generative AI tools. 

That means making proper use of subheadings. You should only use 1 H1 tag, and then use H2s, H3s, and H4s from there. 

Also, summary boxes and call-out boxes will catch AI’s attention, so include important information in them. The same rule applies to your FAQ sections, so fill them with concise, keyword-rich answers.  

Manage your review profile 

You need to actively manage and monitor your review profile, and that includes more than just Google Reviews. 

AI tools will check more than just Google for your business’s reviews, so you should also monitor your reviews on platforms like:

1. CNET
2. Amazon Verified Reviews
3. Yelp 
4. Tripadvisor
5. Better Business Bureau (BBB) 

Also, receiving the occasional negative review isn’t the end of the world (nor should you delete them). As long as you respond and do your best to resolve the issue, your reputation will remain intact. 

Use some helpful tools of the trade 

Lastly, there are some tools that will help you track your visibility on AI tools. 

Tools for tracking brand mentions:

1. Brand24 
2. Mention 
3. Google Alerts 

Tools for managing your reputation:

1. Sprout Social 
2. Reputology 
3. Hootsuite Insights 

Tools for monitoring Google AI Overviews:

1. Ahrefs 
2. Advanced Web Ranking’s Google AI Overview Tool 
3. Keyword.com’s AI Overview Tracker

With these tools by your side, you’ll know whether you’re actually improving your visibility on AI tools. If you aren’t seeing the results you want, you’ll need to try new tactics. 

Final Thoughts: Getting Cited in AI Overviews 

Remember, citations equal visibility on AI search platforms, so do your best to get the web buzzing about your brand. 

Brand mentions, whether they include a backlink or not, are the most important factor for appearing in more AI-generated summaries. 

Other factors, like your reviews and structured data, are also massively important. 

Follow the advice found in this guide, and you’ll be well on your way to a thriving GSO strategy. 

Do you need expert help navigating the current search landscape?

We’d love to help you forge a successful path forward, so don’t wait to book a free strategy call!